In my earlier posting today about the Nasanov gland pheromone (10:07a.m., 7 April), I failed to address Bill Bartlett's relevant comment of 6 April, as follows: ******** "Today I am wearing my scientific hat. <grin> "Here in the State of Maryland, USA, upon request you can get a small plastic vial containing synthetic pheromone to use as an attractant to bait hives in hopes of catching a swarm. "Preparation: Rub small amount ( one dab from open end of vial) on fingers of right hand. "Action: Place hand on landing board at front of hive. Very slowly at first until whole hand is resting on board. Observed action of bees going in and out of hive and around my fingers. Moved fingers slowly. Moved fingers faster. "Conclusion: Nothing happened. Final thoughts: Bees didn't care if I was there with or without the pheromone. ******* Bill is quite correct. We have there further evidence that the Nasanov gland exudate is not a general attractant, per se. By contrast, swarm scouts searching for an appropriate cavity will find that same chemical very attractive, as covered in the following article: 1992 Wenner, A.M. Swarm movement: A mystery explained. Am. Bee J. 132 (1):27-31. ******* Consider, instead, that the Nasanov gland substance is a "swarm movement" pheromone, an "orientation" pheromone, and/or a "settling" pheromone. Suddenly, all the behavioral pattens observed by beekeepers around the world make a lot more sense. If, for example, Bill Bartlett had shaken a number of bees out onto the ground and placed the plastic vial (lure) just upwind of that spot, he would have found that those displaced bees would have moved toward the lure. If he had observed scout bees checking out cavities, an addition of the lure to one of those cavities would have resulted in an increased activity there. Also, some of those searching scouts would have even approached his fingers from downwind --- as has happened to me when setting out swarm hives. When will the beekeeping books incorporate this sort of information? Don't hold your breath. Rely, instead, on what the bees tell you. I covered that issue in an invited 1989 review article ("Concept-centered versus Organism-centered Biology." American Zoologist. 29,1177-1197). That is, we should attend more to what animals do than to what theory dictates that they should do. Adrian Adrian M. Wenner (805) 893-2838 (UCSB office) Ecol., Evol., & Marine Biology (805) 893-8062 (UCSB FAX) Univ. of Calif., Santa Barbara (805) 963-8508 (home office & FAX) Santa Barbara, CA 93106 *********************************************************************** * "...scientists are paradoxically resistant to change, even when * * confronted with evidence that virtually demands change of them." * * * * Barber, 1960 (in Greenberg, 1983) * ***********************************************************************