>Anyway, does anybody have an opinion or knowledge on the question of the >randomness or otherwise of bees' leaving the hive? Perhaps someone might >be interested in making some observations. I've noticed a similar phenomenon with yellowjackets that I've been collecting as they _return_ to the nest (when I start collecting the "cadres" _leaving_ the nest seem to correlate highly with my thumping on on the nest envelope ;-). Anyway, even before disturbing the nest it seems that foragers returning to the nest do so in small groups (the vacuum unit will be drawing air only and then "thwip, thwip, thwip" a number of yellowjackets will fly into the nozzle on their way home. If the observation is legitimate and not merely an artifact of my only _noticing_ the clumps then I would guess that it is a result of orientation behaviour-- either the rearguard of a cadre are following a more experienced forager (or one genetically better able to orient to the nest opening) or, alternatively, pheromonal cues become intermittently more acute as wind or air movement from within the nest increase the signal amplitude of the chemical message. If you would like to look at this scientifically perhaps we can come up with a protocol-- seems like tallying the number of entries or exits per unit time would be a fairly simple procedure. - Conrad Berube " ` ISLAND CROP MANAGEMENT " ` 1326 Franklin Terrace _- -_`-_|'\ /` Victoria, B.C. _/ / / -' `~()() V8S 1C7 \_\ _ /\-._/\/ (604)480-0223; fax (604)656-8922 / | | email: [log in to unmask] '` ^ ^