reference: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5215022.stm

Thanks Steve for that article.

When I read through it I found these flaws, either by the hand of Louisa 
Cheung who wrote the article for the BBC or the investigating University 
group:

For instance it was written: "The University of Newcastle-led group took 
some 100 bumblebees belonging to the common species Bombus terrestris and 
tagged some of them with tiny identification numbers". I personally don't 
believe that it went like that, surely the University guys took and tagged 
the full 100 bumblebees not just some of those 100. The fact that the 
accompanying photo shows a tagged bee with number 53 also suggests that at 
least more than 50 were used, but even around 50 would seem a low number 
anyway. And why were 100 selected in the first place if they were not meant 
to be tagged all? What could any untagged bees have to add to the study?

The BBC article did not specifically state if the 100 or so bumblebees from 
the study were taken from only one colony or perhaps from several colonies, 
the only indication could be the singular form used in the sentence: "a 
webcam in the hive".

Ron van Mierlo 

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