John B wrote.

 Or do bees find food sources by random search? 

Wind direction might be considered random.The search behavior of 
bees,''zigzagging up wind while in the odor plume'' is consistent and predictable when a 
bee is searching for a land mine or a flower. When a bee loses the plume it 
switches to a casting mode; a wide zigzag or a looping up that drops it back 
downwind in position to relocate the plume. Bee researchers watching bees approach 
a feeding station with binoculars have documented this behavior. The recent 
BEE-L posts are an indication we will be looking at more experiments designed 
to prove the DL hypotheses .The millions spent on this type of research is 
creating it's own unsavory odor plume.

Don Cole

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