I occasionally dump 500 lbs of bulk bees on the ground--10 lbs ea in front
of 50 hives full of drawn comb, each with a freshly-caged queen in full
lay, during the middle of the day.  The air is full of bees, and the photos
are impressive.

The hives are irregularly scattered about and close together.  Most of the
bees march right in to the smell of the queen and/or combs coming from the
hive in front of them, following the first fanners to release orientation
pheromone.

There is some imbalance from drift, which we try to equalize by swapping
hive positions in the following days.  I've haven't observed rigorously,
but it appears to me that some queens are simply more attractive than
others, as is commonly observed with caged queens.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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