Our eyes have rods and cones. Dim light does not stimulate the cones, which
is why the world becomes colorless to us a night. Some nocturnal animals,
such as toads, mice, rats, and bats, have retinas made up almost entirely
of rods, and some diurnal animals, such as some reptiles, have almost
entirely cones.

R.E. Snodgrass writes this: “It is particularly difficult to understand how
colors are distinguished, since there is no known mechanism in the insect
corresponding to the rods and cones of a vertebrate eye.”

Eva Crane writes this: “It has been known for some time that tropical
African A. mellifera forages on moonlit nights. Dyer (1987) has shown that
A. dorsata can forage when the moon is between half-full and full, and when
she dances, her wagtail run indicates the direction not of the moon, but of
the (hidden) sun.”

So, does the bee see in color at night?

This discussion began when Trevor, located down there toward the lower part
of the planet, asked for a simple list of colours beekeepers might be using
to aid in queen returns. I wonder if he isn’t, perhaps, sitting in front of
his computer display, shaking his head and thinking: ‘Those damn fools up
there!’

Regards,
Dick Allen (thinking [as Aaron might say] there is more to bee vision than
meets the eye.)

P.S. no feral bees in Alaska that I’m aware of Yoon.