> I respect your questioning the premise, but do you then also question the bee dance language?

In the case of the dance language, it has been shown that humans can take the information from the dance language and translate into coordinates. A famous example was when Tom Seeley was studying bees on Appledore Island. They set up bait hives and then studied the bees' dancing, which indicated which bait hives were more attractive to the bees. 

One time bees were dancing indicating a direction where there were no bait hives. Tom followed the direction and distance indicated by the dance and found the bees were planning to swarm to a chimney in a house nearby. 

The point is, the theory is predictive. In order for an acoustic based system to be useful it must accurately predict what we will find if we open the hive up. What is the sound signature of a hive with a failing queen? for example. On the other hand, using a camera to analyze flight traffic may give an accurate picture of actionable conditions within the hive. 

But again, all I am saying is "show me." I am sorry if I come off as overly skeptical. 

Peter L Borst

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