Hi all
I am trying to track down interesting bits of beekeeping folklore. This came up:

> A reported effect of magnetic fields is that, in an otherwise featureless hive, the worker bees are said to build their sheets of comb in the  same magnetic direction as the comb in the parent hives. Strong magnetic fields are reported to disrupt comb orientation (Lindauer and Martin 1972). There would certainly be a selective advantage if the thousands of comb-builders in a swarm could agree on a consistent comb orientation, and the "cultural" transmission of comb direction is an established piece of beekeeping folklore. However, our  attempts to replicate this fascinating result have so far failed.   Author: James L. Gould. Source: American Scientist , May-June 1980.

If anyone has any other snippets, I would be grateful to hear them

Pete B

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