Is there a difference in the way a bee responds to a wristwatch with
hands compared to a wristwatch with liquid crystal display? A wristwatch
with visibly moving parts might be perceived as more of a threat than one
whose face moves in a less "jerky" manner.

A combination of factors may explain why bees attack wristwatches: 1) The
strong smell of sweat, both stale and fresh on the band of the watch.
(Metal watch bands can smell just as strongly as leather ones if you
don't clean them.) What happens with plastic watchbands? 2) The gleam of
the metal surrounding the watch or the reflection of light off the clear
plastic or glass face of the watch, the so-called crystal. (As Dave
Cushman and Peter Borst have said.)This might partly explain why they
sometimes attack eyeglasses as well. 3) The color of the watchband or the
face of the watch or both. 4) The green luminous paint used to illuminate
the hands of some watches. (I've heard this paint is faintly radioactive,
but I may be wrong!) Could luminescence and radioactivity in some watches
play a role? After all, bees can see ultraviolet light. Couldn't they be
supersensitive to luminous dials too? 5) The steady "jerking" movement of
the watch's second hand, which might make the watch appear to be "alive"
and therefore a possible predator. 6) The vibrations of the watch, should
a bee who has been attracted by the smell of the band and the gleam of
the metal and crystal face land on the watch itself. Aren't the
vibrations of empty wax honeycombs thought to play a role in bee
communication, that is, when they are doing their dances in the hive?
(Adrian Wenner humor me!) Couldn't a watch's vibrations be interpreted as
a hostile communication of some sort? 7) The eyelike qualities of a
watch's face. (As Peter Borst has said.) Maybe the bees perceive the
watch as a human eye? An eye on the wrist! In mammals, the eye is usually
surrounded by eyelashes which move rapidly and frequently across the
surface of the eye. Okay, the movement of a watch's second hand across
the face (or "eye") is regular whereas the movement of a mammal's
eyelashes across its eyes is irregular, but might the second hand be seen
as some sort of eyelash? 8) Has anyone noticed how on a farm flies are
attracted to the eyes of horses and cows? Their eyes often have some
discharge around them which the flies appear to be feeding off. Would a
bee, like a fly, be interested in drinking the fluid produced by an eye?
Does the smell and appearance of a sweaty wristwatch mimic an "unwashed"
animal eye? Do bees drink human sweat? I hope this isn't too disgusting
to think about. 9) Are bees first attracted to a wristwatch because they
think it is an eye or because of the smell and sight of sweat or both,
but then become hostile because they perceive some aspect of the watch's
mechanism to be a threat?

Lastly, would bees attack a wristwatch that is hidden from view? By a
shirt sleeve, for example? This might put a dent in the eye theory.

Mark