Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Jerrymac on November 09, 2004, 08:05:15 pm
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No, not a new contact sport.
If you read my introduction post you know what I did to some poor defensless bees. Something I noticed was after I sprayed some wasp/hornet killing stuff I saw bees "squirting" out some fluid as they were flying over the pesticide, like planes dropping water on a forest fire. What's up with that?
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Since most pesticides are nerve poisons, it may be an involuntary "cleansing" as a result of the poison. My best "guess".
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I think it was more than that. The ones I could keep up with and saw this stream falling from them seemed to happen in the same location, like they were dumping on an area of the lid that the pesticide was on. Were they trying to delute to poison? Were they placing a scent as directions for a massive attack? I thought this was some normal response by the way it was done. Have I discovered something unknown about bees?
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Well, since the experts say that everything a bee does has been genetically implanted in their miniscule brain over the last few million years, I can't imagine this being a conscious response to your poisonous stimuli. I don't believe that man has been spraying Raid on bees long enough for them to 'learn' an appropriate response. I also can't imagine another natural stimuli that would get 'learned' reaction from them.
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Well I am far from being an expert....
Ex; One that was and is no more
Spirt; A drip under pressure.
Anyway, You are probably right, as I mentioned I couldn't stay focused on any individual all the time she was buzzing around, so I don't know if the secretion was done elsewhere. Just the two or three times I did see "the drop" it was about the same spot.
But they could have been doing it in the nearby weeds as that is where I would lose sight for a bit. Or even off to either side as I was looking to see if I saw what I thought I was seeing. I also do not know if it was the same bee, but I figure they have a limited payload.
I would not know how to research this or even duplicate it again as it could have been a fluke with many variables.
OH, one thing you did say "I also can't imagine another natural stimuli that would get 'learned' reaction from them." How about an unknown presents of danger?
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Bees spray an alarm pheremone when they perceive an emminant danger, perhaps that is what you saw.