Hello All

Thanks to Allen Dick for his post. I will attempt to deal with the points
which Allen has raised and for which I thank him.

Allen's questions and a restatement by him of my earlier points (where
appropriate) are preceded by  >> or > , my replies follow underneath.


>> What puzzles me is how can highly experienced beekeepers differ on what to
>> me, at any rate, appears to be a fundamental point?.
>
>Well, there has been little but assumptions throughout this discussion.
> Frankly -- to start with -- we don't even know what you are feeding or how or
>why, although some apparently assumed they knew.
>

I was feeding 1:1 syrup - 1 litre of water to 1 kilo of sugar, in a 1 litre
container inverted over the crown board (inner cover). The reason for
feeding is to get the queen laying early so as to build up the colony for an
early flow.


>The answers to any question can hardly be better than the question itself.


I do not understand this. Perhaps it is a philosophical comment which has
gone over my head, but I would have thought that an answer to any question
would at least have been a development of the question.

>As for the general term 'feed bees',
>what are we to assume?  Feed them what?  Pollen, water, honey, syrup, fondant,
>dry sugar?  And how?  Maybe if you fill us in on the details we will be more
>inclined to agree.

I fed the bees as stated above 1:1 - sugar syrup - in 1 litre containers
inverted over the crown boards (inner covers).

>> If seems to me, that feeding bees causes them to be aware of the presence of
>> the food initially but not of its location, and if they can fly (the non
>> dusk and weather OK situation), the entire area up to about 100 metres from
>> the hive will be searched. This seems to equate to their response to the
>> 'round' dance. This is a fundamental behaviour pattern and never varies (is
>> that so?).
>
>This is highly speculative and theoretical, and the subject of a current raging
>debate right here on BEE-L.

The answer given above by Allen seems to me to contradict or at least to
question Von Frisch.


Sincerely

Tom Barrett
49 South Park Foxrock
Dublin 18
Ireland