This isn't about bees, but it is a real eye-opener. The results of 40 years of lab work was refuted by moving into the real world

> A first-of-its-kind experiment tracking fruit fly behavior in a natural setting challenges 40 years of assumptions about circadian clocks. The research, published (April 4) in Nature, suggests that much of scientists' current understanding about Drosophila circadian behavioral rhythms may actually be wrong. It also emphasizes the importance of studying organisms in natural environments.

> The results were dramatic. Numerous aspects of fly behavior previously recorded in the lab were dramatically different outside. First, flies outdoors were most active during the day, rather than at dawn and dusk as seen in the lab -- demonstrating the flies' diurnal (daytime) rather than crepuscular (from the Latin word for twilight) activity patterns. This difference stemmed in part from the fact that flies did not take an afternoon "siesta," a period of decreased activity in the middle of the day, as observed in the lab. Instead, they exhibited a burst of midday activity. 

> We cannot simply transfer what we know in the lab into natural conditions, said Costa. 

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