Word: frisch
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Among scientific apiarists. Austrian-born Dr. Karl von Frisch of the University of Munich is widely icgarded as the know-all of the bee-alls. More than 20 years ago. Von Frisch discovered that bees communicate in a highly complex code by dancing on the honeycomb. A decade...
Still active at 74, Von Frisch has now reported his latest discovery: subspecies of the honeybee (Apis mellifera) have a language, or dialect, all their own that cannot be understood by or taught to other subspecies. Explaining his findings before the Austrian Academy of Science...
...Frisch reported that when one of Yugoslavia's Carniolan bees does her "wagtail dance." shaking her abdomen while walking a figure eight, it means that food is more than 300 ft. away. When an Italian bee does the same step, it means that the pollen is more than 250 ft. away...
...same sort of differences exist, said Von Frisch, in interpreting the other basic dance steps-the "round dance," conducted without posterial shimmying, and the "sickle dance." a semicircular pattern accompanied by a slightly wagging rear end-that locate the pollen. Moreover, he added, when an individually marked bee of a primitive species was introduced into the hive of an Apis mellifera, the breakdown of communication was almost complete...
...dean of apiarists concluded that the Carniolan bee is the most energetic, produces the most honey. The Italian bee he found less vivacious and easily distracted. But Von Frisch was quick to warn against comparing the behavior of his honeybees with the human inhabitants of the same regions. "Look at the German bee," he said. "It shows distinct signs of sloppiness and lack of industriousness. I intentionally refrain from drawing parallels between the social habits of bees and the human race, except when I can prove that bees are more democratic. On the whole, drawing such conclusions should be left...