Many insects release oleic acid when they die. This is considered a “death pheromone” and is actually also a component of olive oil, so if you put a dab of olive oil onto a bee, she will relentlessly be carted out of the hive by the undertaker bees, until the scent wears off. Not a happy thing for the bee involved… 
1 Like
I think it’s more to do with the bees communicating the message quickly rather than a death scent. That’s my humble opinion.
Once you become aware of how quickly bees get rid of dead & dying bees, then it’s easy to see how as soon as a few workers spot the dead/dying queen to discard, you can easily imagine the whole colony finding out very quickly through their communication system.
It might be that “queenless roar” Dawn talks about that starts from those first few bees.
2 Likes
1 Like
