In a message dated 21/08/2008 18:15:28 GMT Standard Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:
"I've personally watched them fly about 9 km to oilseed rape."
I am astounded at 9 km!
Professor Francis Ratnieks, when at Sheffield University, had his students
observing marked bees working heather (which blooms at a season when there is
little else giving a reasonable amount of nectar) 12 km from the hive. I am
told that marked bees based in Poole, Dorset (UK) were once seen foraging on
heather on the Isle of Purbeck, the far side of Poole Harbour (second in size
only to Sydney Harbour) about 10 km from the apiary, despite Canford Heath,
which usually has abundant heather, being closer.
Chris
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