ORIENTATION FLIGHT BEHAVIOR IN HONEYBEES RELEASED FROM OPEN OR COVERED CONTAINERS - AFTER OR WITHOUT DISPLACEMENT

Bees captured at the feeding site were released either at a novel site or at the site at which they had been captured. Containers used durin g transport were either open or covered, thus allowing or preventing, respectively. free view of the panorama. Shortly before release, each bee, regardless of the covering mode used during displacement, was eit her (i) granted a view of the release site, (iii) allowed to see only overall brightness by covering the container with translucent drawing paper, or (iii) denied any view of the release site. Orientation fligh ts performed by each bee upon release were recorded. Irrespective of w hether they had been transported in open or covered containers, bees g ranted a view of the release site prior to release usually flew away w ithout performing orientation flights, whereas bees prevented from vie wing the release site performed intensive orientation flights. An inte rmediate intensity of orientation flights was displayed by bees leavin g translucent containers. Assuming that the intensity of orientation f light is a measure of the state of orientation of the released bee, nl e conclude that view of the release site, but not view of the environm ent during displacement. is crucial for orientation.