Christine Gray proposes one way that smell may trigger a stinging reflex in honey-bees. I have a related query that results from purely anecdotal observation. I have only one hive, (and the hornets may not even have left me that), so my approach does not signal any invasion by foreign bees. In fact, it does not seem to signal any sort of invasion at all. I can do major relocation on the hive (wearing mask and gloves, of course) and I have no sense that the bees, who are definitely cross, have any idea that it is me who is doing it. They mill around, saying "What, what? where?" but do not target the mask, the gloves or any other part of me. My suspicion is that the first sting is what counts. Is it possible that the human reaction to being stung is an inadvertent change in odor which the bees can recognize and home in on? Back to the hornet experience. . . . I tried sitting outside the hive after applying my own hand-made excluder (cardboard with ring-binder holes punched in it and a clear plastic flap over half the hole diameter) and must have squashed some 70-80 hornets in two hours as they emerged. Since their nest must be a fair distance away---I cannot find it---they must have signalled to one another that there was a good target nearby. Do hornets (huge whitefaced black hornets) dance like honey-bees? Pierre MacKay :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::