Dave Green reported "I am not scientific enough to put it in formulae, but
I've always said that bees are "creatures of habit."  If the scouts guide a
particular hive to forage in one area, they  will all tend to go that way,
and will continue to do so. Other hives may go in other directions.  That
doesn't seem very random. There is a certain amount of intelligent
guidance."

In his outstanding book The Wisdom of the Hive, Thomas Seeley discusses the
organization of foraging behavior in single hives and reports that while
most bees in a hive will forage together (in the same general area and on
the same plants), not all will do so.  He attributes that to defensive
behavior in case of a sudden cessation of flow from that species.  In other
words, honey bees do not put all their eggs in one basket.

Lloyd
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Lloyd Spear Owner, Ross Rounds, Inc.  The finest in comb honey production.
Visit our web site at http://www.rossrounds.com.