[Sensitivity of bee antennae to binary mixtures of fragrant substances]

An olfactory stimulator was built to study the sensitivity of insect antennae to binary mixtures. This apparatus can deliver nine kinds of calibrated odorous stimuli: the two pure components at three different concentrations, separate and mixed. The flux which reaches the preparation remains constant before, during and after each stimulation, in order to obtain a pure olfactory response, without any mechanical or thermal contamination. Theoretical models used in psychophysics are applicable to the recordings. Preliminary results on honey-bee workers are illustrated and discussed.