Tomas Mozer has made the Discover article on Quantum mechanics more understandable and given me some other interesting material to read. Many people on this list appear to have more wisdom, time and ability to search for the latest developments in beekeeping research than I, so at the risk of being told to search the archives I would like to ask a few questions.

 1. It has been three years since the article on quantum bees was published. Has there been any further research or development?

 2. The latest edition of ' The Hive and the Honey Bee ' ( also published three years ago ) says a drone only flies about three kilometres from the hive (pg. 350).  I remember reading about an experiment done by Don Peer in a bee-free area of northern Ontario in which he used Cordovan markers to prove queens fly up to 9 miles(?) away from the hive to mate. Presumably this is to avoid their sons. What is the average distance a queen flies from the hive during mating?

 3. How do queens know where drone congregation areas are? If pheromones are involved do queens always fly up wind to mate? If landmarks are involved, what direction does a virgin queen head in central Saskatchewan ( think flat ) or some place like the Gobi Desert.

 4. Certain moths can detect a bat's radar and as soon as they sense it they go into an erratic flight pattern in an attempt to escape. Do queens have any similar behaviour to avoid capture by birds?

 5.  Why have drones evolved the behaviour of  congregating in one area? Drones are so hard wired that they will try to mate with a good looking clothespin ( I know men like this ) yet they won't pursue a queen below a certain level above the ground ( 12 feet? ).  Could both these behaviours have evolved so that the queen is less visible to birds?

6.  I have seen two or three worker bees pursuing swallows.  Are they chasing them away from the beeyard?  Has this been documented in research?  If so, does this mean that swallows etc. only eat queens and drones or can they catch a worker unaware and eat it without getting stung?  I worked for a beekeeper once who offered a fellow employee $50.00 to swallow a worker.  The kid tried it - chewed hard then swallowed, and got stung as he swallowed.  The beekeeper refused to pay, saying he hadn't gotten the whole bee down.

7.  On page 392 of the Hive and the Honeybee Schmidt and Buchmann refer to drone powder made from drone larvae and pupae and its value in raising beneficial insects.  Is anyone doing this commercially?  Would a few varroa mites ruin the powder?

8.  Has it been determined how many drone congregations there are in, say, 10 square miles?

9.  After mating, drones are apparently paralyzed with the exertion of it all, and the wind drag on their wings rips the penis from their body with an audible pop, and they fall to the ground with nothing but a smile on their proboscis.  Has anyone in the world ever been hit on the head by a spent drone?  If there are drone congregation areas, does it mean there are corresponding drone graveyard areas i.e. a concentration of penisless, smiling drones?  Is it at Microsoft? 

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to respond,  Ted Hancock