>
>Well, the lecturer stated that bees not only hear, but also
>that they make 'squeeks' during their waggle dance and that
>these squeeks, like the number of waggles, are closely related
>to the distance between colony and crop. If I remember correctly
>it was an inverse like the number of waggles.
>
>Does anyone out there have any knowledge of this area and, if
>so, just how does it fit into the waggle-dance conundrum? (is
>that a fair word?)
Dear Gordon:
        The answer to your question is contained in the article:
"The Sensory Basis of the Honeybee's Dance Language" by Wolfgang Kirchner
and William F. Towne in the June 1994 issue of Scientific American, which
should be available in the Hampshire public library.
        I will quote one paragraph from the article which goes directly to
your question and which other Bee-L members who have not read the article
might find interesting:
 
"If we now put the pieces together, we can see how the dance language works.
The dancer emits sound signals that help the dance followers determine where
the dancer is and how she is moving, which in turn offers them critical
information regarding the direction and distance to the feeding site.  The
dance attenders receive these signals through the
Johnston's organs located in their antennae, which are always held near the
dancer.  Because these organs are bilateral-one on the left and one on the
right-the dance followers can use them to judge their position with respect
to the dancer and therefore understand the direction to the food.  At the
same time, the followers emit sounds that vibrate the comb.  The forager
stops her dance when she receives these signals and delivers samples of the
food she has collected.  These appetizers give the dance followers
additional hints about the taste, smell and quality of the food source.  The
bees attend the dancing for a while and then fly out to find the food source
on their own.  If they are lucky, they will find the food.  If they fail,
they will return to the nest and try again."
 
I expect we will hear from Adrian Wenner eventually on this specific matter,
as he evidently has very strong opinions still against dance language as a
real means of communication, and yet he was one of the first to investigate
the ability of bees to "hear" (Wenner, A.M.; SCIENCE  138:446;  1962)
 
        Sincerely,     Stan Sandler,  Milk and Honey Farm,  Prince Edward Island
 
P.S.  I hardly think you should apologize for raising this matter.  Unless
the title is a misnomer, Bee-L is supposed to be "the discussion of bee
biology"!!