> "In the case of bees, Wenner argued that the dance information 
> may well be only a symptom of what a foraging bee has 
> experienced as it flies between hive and food place, not a 
> signal for other bees."

Well, if it is NOT a "signal", and is, instead, a mere
"symptom", then why would bees exhibit starkly different 
dance behavior in tropical locations when the sun rises 
and sets to the North of the hive from their behavior when 
the sun is consistently South of the hive? 

http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/39/2/271.pdf

Given that the dance angles associated with the same 
foraging area are different when the sun is near, at, 
or on one side or the other of zenith, one seems
forced to accept:

a) That there is a deliberate attempt to demonstrate a 
   vector with a specific direction

b) That the vector is consistently demonstrated in
   terms of an angle from the sun's position, subject
   to the limits of a bee's ability to sense and/or
   project the movement/position of the sun.

c) That the bees are forced to make these changes in
   their dancing, and even dance less during periods  
   when the sun is at or very near zenith exactly 
   because it is more difficult to deliver information
   of value to other bees at these unique times.

If the dances were a mere "symptom", then they would
not change by a predictable amount as the sun moves 
through zenith on its seasonal path from north to south 
or south to north, nor would dances be less frequent 
and/or "confused" when the sun is exactly at zenith.

If there are other possible interpretations, I'd sure like
to hear them, as this is yet another case where conditions
appear to force the bees to act in highly unusual ways, yet 
their actions consistently appear to be very good examples 
of expressing the same information using the same simple rules.

Changing conditions that force obvious changes in the expression 
itself, in this case the "angle" of the waggle runs, tend to
support the contention that there is purpose behind their
actions, and that the information content is not some sort of
anthropomorphic jump to a conclusion

    

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