>> How would that effect the nurse bee population? They don't go out to
>> forage.
>
> Yes they do. Bees start as field bees at some point of their life.
> ...Some bees start as field bees at age of 10 days. Normally at
> day 25 100 % of bees are working outside of the hive.

This discussion illustrates how many of the 'rules' and lore of beekeeping
are approximations or turn out to be falsehoods when subjected to closer
scrutiny and tested under special conditions.  Although much of that
material has some basis in fact, and may apply passably in limited, 'normal'
conditions, it does not represent nearly the whole truth.

In everyday practice, when people see things that do not fit what they have
learned, many try to force observed anomalies to fit the current beliefs,or
ignore the the contradiction; however, progress in science and education
often depends on finding anomalies and then challenging the current theory.

For years, I have noticed and reported that, during a strong flow, virtually
all bees in a hive must be aware of the hive location, since we have been
able to sucessfully use abandonment as a method of removing the crop.  All
the bees leave the supers and go home, and this implies to me that even the
youngest bees in the supers must have been outside and must have oriented at
least once.

The abandonment technique involves removing the supers when full of honey,
then placing them on end beside or behind the hive.  After a few hours, or
even within minutes sometimes, the bees all leave, one by one, and fly back
to their hives, leaving the supers completely free of bees.

This applies to even the supers that were right next to the brood chambers
(we use excluders, so there is normally no brood in the supers), and must, I
would think, contain bees of all ages.  I don't know about the very newly
emerged bees; perhaps they stay very close to the brood?  At any rate, all
the bees in the supers do leave, and all seem to find their hive (or some
hive) quickly and without any fuss (no searching, etc.).  They fly up, make
one circle and in they go.

I have played around with different placement of the supers on the ground a
bit, and have noticed that, in some cases -- particularly where the supers
are in contact with the hive, forming a bridge, and the wind is right --
that the the bees will walk back, following scent like ants, but normally,
they fly one by one.

As Pooh said, "When it comes to bee, you never can tell".

allen
A Beekeeper's Diary: http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/

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