• Question: did you know bees and dogs can smell fear

    Asked by laquifasdictaterjobby to Alex, Ali, Kerry, Philip, Theo on 11 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Philip Ratcliffe

      Philip Ratcliffe answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      No, I didn’t and I’m afraid I don’t think they can really. Certainly not bees, dogs do have a very developed sense of smell (much more than humans), but what they actually smell is what your fear cause like sweat or adrenaline – fear is something inside your brain and doesn’t have a smell.

    • Photo: Kerry O'Shea

      Kerry O'Shea answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      Hi, I didn’t know that actually! Although I’m guessing that they can’t smell fear itself, but they can probably sense from your body language that you’re frightened. If you start to panic when you see a bee and flap your arms, then I guess that is what the bees will sense. I have a funny picture in my head now of bees with little noses :-).

    • Photo: Alison Thomson

      Alison Thomson answered on 12 Nov 2014:

      Hi! I agree with Kerry, I don’t think they can smell fear, but they can certainly read our body language!

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