>The movement of the sun, celebrated at the autumnal equinox, makes me >wonder how honey bees living between 15 S and 15 N deal with the sun's >passage overhead. Certainly somebody has looked at waggle dancing in >these latitudes. Is the sun's movement so slow that new foragers >"imprint" during their orientation flights? > >David Kesler >Rhodes College >[log in to unmask] 0745 - 9/21/93 Dear David, Yes, the team of New and New worked in Trinidad in the 1960s (?) on this issue. However, their studies should be repeated in light of new interpretation. Foragers apparently use landmarks as they traverse the distance between hive and food source. Recruits apparently exploit odor molecules and wind patterns as they locate the same type of food as that visited by experienced foragers, just as outlined by von Frisch in 1937 (just re-published in BEE WORLD: Vol. 74 (2) 90-98, Summer, 1993). That article and a spectrum of studies are reviewed in AMERICAN ZOOLOGIST: Vol 31:768-782, 1991. Cheers! Adrian M. Wenner Adrian M. Wenner Prof. of Natural History, Emeritus Dept. of Biol. Sciences [log in to unmask] Univ. of Calif., Santa Barbara Phone: (805) 893-2838 Santa Barbara, CA 93106 FAX: (805) 893-8062 *************************************************************** * Adrian Wenner E-Mail [log in to unmask] * * Department of Biology Office Phone (805) 893-2838 * * University of California Lab Phone (805) 893-2838 * * Santa Barbara, CA 93106 FAX (805) 893-4724 * ***************************************************************