>I once observed a swarm that (for teaching purposes) had been placed on a
>tree with the queen caged.  After about an hour they "decided" to take off.
>They flew across a field for about 500 yards but then came back.  An
>impressive mid-flight and unanimous decision!
>
>Regards
>
>Glyn Davies, Ashburton, Devon UK
 
Cool! /// I have twice watched a swarm leave -- as I was preparing to hive
them, of course.  It is very difficult to follow or keep up with them, as
they fly upward and away.  I found it impossible.  If you watch any one
single bee, she will not appear to be flying directly towards the
destination, but more flying in ever widening loops, up and down, or back
and forth.  Then she becomes lost in the melee.  It is a great wonder to me
that they can move as a unit like that, when it all seems like mass
confusion.
 
I guess you could say the bees are "hard-wired" for behaviors like this,
but the characteristics of preference or decision-making are in the mix,
too.  All in that tiny bundle of ganglia.  Simply amazing.
 
'Reminds me of a swarm I once found in a small apple tree at one of my
yards.  I set up a hive (with comb) on a ladder adjacent to the cluster,
and tried to get them to go in.  No problem, right?  I expected them to be
all excited about that hive; I was offering them a real bargain.  It
smelled all nice like a beehive should -- like old wax and propolis, very
dry and dark inside.  Sure, they started entering right away. I waited and
watched.  Ho hum... (Yawn). After a large portion of the bees had made
their way inside, however, they suddenly started a mass exodus -- back out!
What the... ! I tried and tried to coax them in, but they just didn't like
that hive. I was baffled.
 
I went over to my truck and found a cardboard (corrugated paper) box which
I had used for dumping my cats' used cat-litter. It didn't smell very nice,
of course.  Still, it was the only other container I had.   Guess what?
Yup.  The bees loved that box!  They went running in like mad.   Go
figure...
 
(I gave them a real hive later, & they developed into a great colony.)