At 04:03 PM 1/11/98 -0700, you wrote:
>At 10:34 AM 07/01/98 -0600, you wrote:
>>Reply-to:      Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
>>From:          Bill Bartlett <[log in to unmask]>
 
This approach could lead to a real problem - bees seem to be able to find a
point in space with little or no local reference that is obvious to a human
observer.  In the early 1980's, we used lots of test hives mounted on long
stands.  Three hives stood on one end of the stand, three on the other.
 
 
XXX___________________XXX
 
Hives                 Hives
 
 
At one site, the bees were on a grassy lawn with a hedge parallel to the
hives.
 
We had two of these stands about 60 ft (20 m) apart.
 
Due to the position of the hedge, the stand on the right was in the shade
longer than the stand on the left.
 
 
 
xxx__________________XXX   <  60 ft>               XXX_________________XXX
 
 
 
Because of the shading from the hedge at sunrise, the bees on the right
went to work later in the day than those on the left.   Also, the stands
were in front of a very long hedge.
 
 
So we assumed we could just move the right hand stand a bit forward and to
one side - the bees would never know.
 
 
XXX__________________XXX
 
                                        XXX________________XXX
                                        123                 456
 
We checked the hives 24 hrs later.
 
Hives 1, 2, and 3 had only the queen and a small bee population.  Hives
4,5, and 6 were overflowing with bees.  Because hives 4,5,and 6 were closer
to the original position than hives 1,2, and 3  the forager bees joined up
with the hives closest to their original position.
 
 
The two stands were still almost 60 ft apart.  The whole move was only a
matter of a few feet.  We assumed that the grouping of hives in the absence
of other landmarks would be sufficient to orient the hives - or - that the
hive odor would guide them to their proper homes.  Not so!
 
Cheers
 
Jerry
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
>
>About moving bees a short distance.  I was required to move a yard about 50
>metres down a fence line one year.  There were 40 colonies on 10 pallets and
>it was in August.  In the middle of the day I moved them but kept them in
>the same position relative to each other.  The bees were in full flight at
>the time.  When I finished there was a lot of flight over the old site but
>with in about 30 minutes that stopped - no clusters on the ground and flight
>in an out of the colinies appeared to return to normal.
>
>I have made similar moves on 10 - 20 mtres and found the same results.  I
>suspect it may be different if the bees have significant markers like
buildings.
>
>
>>
>>> At that time I noticed about 50-100 bees from this hive at the old hive
>>> location looking for the entrnace that was now 15 feet to the South.
>>> Over 8 weeks and these ladies still remembered!    How long will
>>> "confined" bees remember the previous hive location?
>>
>>I took an observation hive to the county fair 10 miles away.  They were
there
>>for 6 days.  When I brought them back home, I put them in a different
>>location thinking they had been away long enough. The new location was about
>>15 feet away.  The field bees (I assume) went back to the old location.
About
>>a third of the bees. I scooped them up and dumped them in front of the
>>observation hive and most, but not all went back into the hive.
>>
>>I bet someone out there has more info on this or at least more stories.
>>
>>billy bee
>>
>Eric Abell
>Gibbons, Alberta Canada T0A 1N0
>Ph/fax (403) 998 3143
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
Jerry J. Bromenshenk, Ph.D.
Director, DOE/EPSCoR & Montana Organization for Research in Energy
The University of Montana-Missoula
Missoula, MT  59812-1002
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel:  406-243-5648
Fax:  406-243-4184