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Date: | Wed, 23 Sep 1998 12:36:04 -0400 |
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Hello,
I will try to answer your questions as best I can, it's good to
see
young people learning about a really interesting insect.
1) Drones don't leave the hive to collect nectar, they are fed by the
"house" bees inside the hive, older drones may feed themselves
directly from
honey cells, once the drones become older.
2)Drone frequently drift into neighboring hives, the guard bees seem
to
pretty much ignore the "strange" drones, indeed this is one way in
which
disease can be spread from hive to hive, worker bees are a different
and the
acceptance of a drifting worker will vary from hive to hive, during a
good
nectar flow a drifting worker is more readily accepted into a strange
hive,
during a nectar dearth the strange bee is likely to be turned away (
by
various means) or even stung.
3) Bees actually "learn" to pollinate alfalfa, they must "trip" the
flower,
which can actually hit the bee quite hard, experienced bees can be
observed
avoiding being hit by the structure, some say this is evidence of
learning
conditioned response).
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