Scenting (Fanning Behavior)
Verhalten der Bienen
The bee raises her abdomen, pulls back the last tergite, and thereby exposes the Nasonov gland.
The bee raises her abdomen, pulls back the last tergite, and thereby exposes the Nasonov gland. She fans the scent away with her wings. The main component of the secretion is geraniol, and the smell is described as floral.
The pheromone on its own is not colony-specific. Only together with the hive scent does a scent trail form that returning bees can use to find their way back. Scenting can be seen when a colony has moved into a new home, when young bees fly out on orientation flights, and after the beekeeper has brushed bees off. Scout bees use the same secretion to point to a new home or to a nectar source.
At the apiary this is a useful sign. Scenting at the entrance after hiving a swarm means the queen is inside and the colony is staying. And anyone who has brushed bees off in front of a hive can tell from this that they are finding their way back.