The discovery, detailed in a paper in the February 23 issue of the journal Current Biology, which appears online February 11, resulted from a series of experiments on honey bees foraging for food that were attacked by competitors from nearby colonies fighting for food at an experimental feeder. The bees that were attacked then produced a specific signal to stop nest mates who were recruiting others for this dangerous location. Honey bees use a waggle dance to communicate the location of food and other resources. Attacked bees directed "stop" signals at nest mates waggle dancing for the dangerous location.
The stop sign is a brief vibrating signal made by the bee that lasts for about a tenth of a second with the bee vibrating at about 380 times a second. "It is frequently delivered by a sender butting her head into a recipient, although the sender may also climb on top of the receiver," Nieh said.
---
An interesting discovery. If biologists could develop a little keychain sized tool people could use stop bees, it could potentially save lives.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100211121800.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment