Help on fly/bee behaviour

Hello,

The following quotation describes an experiment on insect
behaviour that seems to be well-known:

"...Place a bunch of flies in a jar, lay the jar so its bottom is
facing an open window, then open the lid. Flies will bump around
randomly then fly out the lid side, find the open window and leave.
Bees will continually try to go out the bottom and
will eventually die."

This quotation is by a Computer Scientist who has unfortunately
forgotten from which source he got this information, i.e., where
he heard or read about it. Similarly, all people I asked and
who happen to know this know it by hearsay and dont remember
the source.

I would need references where this and similar experiments are
described. Who has done such experiments? Where can I find them
in the literature? Are there textbooks on insect behaviour
describing them? Any starting point for a bibliographic research will
be appreciated.

Many thanks in advance,

Georg Gottlob

ggottlob@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello,
>
> The following quotation describes an experiment on insect
> behaviour that seems to be well-known:
>
> "...Place a bunch of flies in a jar, lay the jar so its bottom is
> facing an open window, then open the lid. Flies will bump around
> randomly then fly out the lid side, find the open window and leave.
> Bees will continually try to go out the bottom and
> will eventually die."
>
> This quotation is by a Computer Scientist who has unfortunately
> forgotten from which source he got this information, i.e., where
> he heard or read about it. Similarly, all people I asked and
> who happen to know this know it by hearsay and dont remember
> the source.
>
> I would need references where this and similar experiments are
> described. Who has done such experiments? Where can I find them
> in the literature? Are there textbooks on insect behaviour
> describing them? Any starting point for a bibliographic research will
> be appreciated.
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> Georg Gottlob
>

I did this as a boy. The bee doesn't seem to see the jar as a 'flyable'
space. It will try to walk up the side of the jar with wing assistance,
but when it hits the curve of the neck it will drop down and start over.
After a short while, it gives up and dies, for no reason of food or
environment. I've always found the ability of bees to 'turn themselves
off' extremely interesting.

	#1
ggottlob@gmail.com	Help on fly/bee behaviour Hello, The following quotation describes an experiment on insect behaviour that seems to be well-known: "...Place a bunch of flies in a jar, lay the jar so its bottom is facing an open window, then open the lid. Flies will bump around randomly then fly out the lid side, find the open window and leave. Bees will continually try to go out the bottom and will eventually die." This quotation is by a Computer Scientist who has unfortunately forgotten from which source he got this information, i.e., where he heard or read about it. Similarly, all people I asked and who happen to know this know it by hearsay and dont remember the source. I would need references where this and similar experiments are described. Who has done such experiments? Where can I find them in the literature? Are there textbooks on insect behaviour describing them? Any starting point for a bibliographic research will be appreciated. Many thanks in advance, Georg Gottlob

	#2
Triffid	Re: Help on fly/bee behaviour ggottlob@gmail.com wrote: > Hello, > > The following quotation describes an experiment on insect > behaviour that seems to be well-known: > > "...Place a bunch of flies in a jar, lay the jar so its bottom is > facing an open window, then open the lid. Flies will bump around > randomly then fly out the lid side, find the open window and leave. > Bees will continually try to go out the bottom and > will eventually die." > > This quotation is by a Computer Scientist who has unfortunately > forgotten from which source he got this information, i.e., where > he heard or read about it. Similarly, all people I asked and > who happen to know this know it by hearsay and dont remember > the source. > > I would need references where this and similar experiments are > described. Who has done such experiments? Where can I find them > in the literature? Are there textbooks on insect behaviour > describing them? Any starting point for a bibliographic research will > be appreciated. > > Many thanks in advance, > > Georg Gottlob > I did this as a boy. The bee doesn't seem to see the jar as a 'flyable' space. It will try to walk up the side of the jar with wing assistance, but when it hits the curve of the neck it will drop down and start over. After a short while, it gives up and dies, for no reason of food or environment. I've always found the ability of bees to 'turn themselves off' extremely interesting.