Tanker bees?

[buckbee]

Has anyone else observed this phenomenon?

"Walt Woods in the US, a master dowser and bee keeper watched a bee run out of puff near its hive which was then 'refuelled' by a bee that came from the hive specifically (he intuits) to act as a helper. He calls these bees 'tanker bees' and how the tanker bee found the one that had run out of gas is speculation, particularly as the bee probably dropped out of any 'known' flight path but was found with surety by the tanker bee (in that it didn't buzz around looking for the other bee but came straight from the hive to the spot where his comrade had crashed)."

(from correspondence with a dowser in Australia on another board)

[BjornBee]

Its mental telepathy. Everyone knows that the bees are controlled and talk to each other in this manner. Many insects communicate with each other. How do you think they sent that bug astoid to blow up the south american City? Doogy houser, er I mean, the commander of the star fleet, has a way of knowing this. His famous "It is afraid" comment showed this, in the movie "stormship troopers". I may have the names a little off, but hey, I seen it on the tele. It must be true....... :rolleyes:

[George Fergusson]

>"stormship troopers"

Ah yes. Thank you Bjornbee for that memory. A fine example of documentary cinema at it's height.

Do you want to know more?

[BjornBee]

George>Do you want to know more?

I'll have to think about it George. If my answer to your question, will decide if you make another input on the subject....well thats alot of pressure. I'll let you know when I have pondered the circumstances a little more....

Oh, why not? please humor me...

[loggermike]

>Do you want to know more?
haha.Thats a great one right up there with Mars Attacks,think thats what its called.
I have never observed bees re-fueling each other.But I think I have seen them kneel and pray over injured co-workers.
OK Citizens-back to watching the sci-fi channel.

[buckbee]

I know it's Christmas Eve, but should you all be hitting the bottle that hard? ;)

[loggermike]

Busted!!

[BjornBee]

Rats, jumping the gun again....

[ December 24, 2005, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: BjornBee ]

[loggermike]

Inspite of my skepticism of rescue tanker bees,I will admit that bees are are tuned into some things more than we are.Did anyone notice the change in day length?I didnt,but I guarantee the queen bees did.

[George Fergusson]

>Oh, why not? please humor me...

Storm Ship Troopers was more than just a classic action movie, it epitomized the fighting spirit of mankind, united in the face of an almost insurmountable alien species threatening the earth's very existence!

Do you want to know more?

[Michael Bush]

>Its mental telepathy. Everyone knows that the bees are controlled and talk to each other in this manner.

Just look at how the bees control us and get us to buy them new houses and spend all our time and money and energy helping them. smile.gif

[buckbee]

I was sitting in a meeting of about 500 beekeepers recently. During a lull in the proceedings, the thought occurred to me that, while we regard ourselves as beekeepers, perhaps the bees think of themselves as people-collectors. They have, after all, enlisted the 'help' of all these folk, whose main concern in life is to preserve and maintain their species - to provide them with comfortable accommodation, feed them when they are hungry, treat their diseases and protect them from their enemies.

But then, I thought, I am clearly deranged...

[Sherpa1]

Actually this bee behavior was first observed by Sir Edmund Hillary (first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest) who was also a New Zealand beekeeper. In 1953 he related his observations to Father Gregory Moran, a missionary in Nepal, who recorded them in his diary which was published in 1968 as "Forty six years of Service" (Wexton & Sons). Hillary used the term "Sherpa" to refer to the rescue bee, after Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa climber who accompanied him to the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953. If you are familiar with the story of Scott Fischer's disaster on Everest in 1996, you know that these Sherpa "guides" often end up having to pull climbers up the mountain and almost carrying them back down. Thus the term "Sherpa bees" or you can still call them "Tanker bees". ;)


Merry Christmas!

[ December 24, 2005, 08:41 PM: Message edited by: NoviceBee ]

[loggermike]

>But then, I thought, I am clearly deranged...

Of course you are.Why else would you spend so much time thinking about bugs.
************Merry Christmas*******************

[FordGuy]

why do we assume the sherpa is attempting to assist the down tanker bee back to the hive?

Here's another theory - the downed tanker is not hungry, he is on his last leg. His wings are tattered past the point of no return. when down the bee releases a SOS pheremone that may be incercepted by any bee from any hive.

The sherpa is not saving the bee, but recovering the load from his honey stomach. the downed tanker may be able to make it back to the hive, but regardless is left to die.

[Robert Hawkins]

FordGuy it's Christmas Eve. We'll address your theory on Monday. Until then we will honor the sherpas. All together, Lift your glasses....

Makes me want to start drinking again. This egg without the nog don't cut it.

Hawk

[BjornBee]

[ December 24, 2005, 08:50 PM: Message edited by: BjornBee ]

[George Fergusson]

A profound statement Bjornbee, loaded with meaning and innuendo!

Sorry for jerking your chain. Perhaps you do not recall the line "Do you want to know more?" from the movie "Storm Ship Troopers". It was repeated many times and for me, was one of the more hilarious elements, and also a somewhat frightening harbinger of what TV might someday become... when TV and the WWW meld into one huge government-run propaganda machine.

Anyways... until then, we have Beesource, and Christmas. Enjoy smile.gif

George-

[buckbee]

Yeah, Bjornbee - that was moving. tongue.gif

I will happily vote for 'sherpa bees'.

And FordGuy - in terms of the bees' Prime Directive - the survival of the Hive - the sherpa was doing the right thing: the honey was delivered! Maybe she knew that her co-worker was on the point of death, or maybe not, but we cannot judge the actions of bees by our own standards. They are creatures of instinct: we are (in theory, at least) creatures of reason and compassion.

[Sherpa1]

Compassionate reason tells me that the Sherpa would assimilate the co-worker into the Collective. Resistance would be FUTILE! -
SEVEN OF NINE

[buckbee]

I didn't think the Borg did compassion ;)

[BjornBee]

George,
The real meaningful quote from the movie is when the hot trooper chick is about to die, and she turns to johney who is trying to comfort her, and she says "its ok Johnie, becuase I had you!". Then she dies. And they pay people to write this stuff...

The other post that turns out to a beesource favorite looked something like this prior to me erasing it:

udbvcsbvc;skjvsk vjbsk;bkjbVKJB

My comments following it were...Stupid cat, get off the keyboard!

I thought with so many a little more tipsy than normal, that the best thing was to just delete it.

[buckbee]

>udbvcsbvc;skjvsk vjbsk;bkjbVKJB

Your cat may have channeled a vital interstellar message by alien beekeepers, passing on the secret of forever banishing all bee diseases and parasites. And you erased it?

:eek:

OK, I will shut up and go to sleep.

[Jason Groppel]

MBush and Buckbee,
Yes, it has to be true. They have a mental control over us. How could I spend hours thinking about them and adoring them and going to meetings about them so suddenly without any kind of explanation. I think they must love me too! I was out cutting up the downed maple tree the other day when it was 54 degrees and one of them came to see me from the nearest unknown feral hive. She landed on my chain saw while I was taking a break and then I offered my finger which she eagerly kissed and crawled upon. Then again maybe it was the smell of the sugar in the maple sap!

[buckbee]

Yes, Jason, you are another victim. When you start to believe that they love you too, you are doomed. Your life will never be the same again.

;)