Well - my husband thought I was nuts - even I thought I was exaggerating...
We have a new hive, started 10 days ago with a new package. I go up every day to the beeyard to observe the bees from the outside of the hive - and was so pleased that the bees are not bothered by my presence. I squat down to one side of the hive and watch, and the bees don't even send the guards out - they just carry on with their business! One morning it was cold - no bees out - I went up and looked at the entrace - 4 little furry faces peered out (upside down!) and went straight back in. I made the joke that they had recognized me and were not bothered!
Recently I saw a great article, published recently - just google "bees distinguish human faces" (the forum won't let me post the link...)
Bees can (it seems) distinguish human faces! So maybe they really do know me!
On a serious note - it seems they can distinguish patterns at a very advanced level - which includes distinguishing human features from each other - and this sheds fascinating light on the way the brain recognizes patterns.
So once again the bees are teaching us something!
The article is at Journal of Experimental Biology (2010, February 8). Bees recognize human faces using feature configuration. ScienceDaily.
Very neat! Next time I hang out with my face at entrance level, I will remember this one :)
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/213/4/i (http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/213/4/i)
Is that the one?
Grid
This is one of the articles, yes!
Well, now I am glad that the ones that sting me die, so they don't point me out to the others saying "That's him, go get him!" :-D
Seems to me like the venom sac left behind is leaving a smell that says "Here she is!! The idiot!! Please don't let my death be in vain--you all come give her a sting, too!" ;)
Wait till they are all built up and you harvest your first super of honey off them after the flow is over and theres a dearth on. Might want to reconcider poking your face into the entrance. :shock: The best natured of bees tend to get a might pissy now and then wherther they recognize you or not.
I've seen some similar statements in bee literature, but no hard studies. Just casual stuff that people have noticed about the bees recognizing the keeper.
I'd heed the cranky bee warnings too, I had a kind of grouchy group of bees until the flow came back on. They should be ok this time, they have a good honey store and I'll leave them a decent share.