Review the fact that honey bees perceive pheromones with sensory apparatus on their antennae. Discuss the ways pheromones might be used and make a list on the board. Read Information Sheet 28 . For example, honey bees use pheromones to find and recognize each other and to locate enemies during defense of the colony. When the new queen bee flies out on her mating flight, she produces a special odor to attract drones called a sex pheromone.
Bees also use odors to help locate their hive, or their new home after swarming.
To humans this pheromone smells lemony. Finally, when a bee stings, it gives off an odor that smells like bananas called an alarm pheromone. It attracts other bees to come to the defense of the hive. Africanized honey bees are sensitive to odors and may be more easily aroused than European honey bees. For example, the odor of newly cut grass has been known to arouse bees.