In a message dated 6/20/2012 10:33:04 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

. A  video ...showing Australian
bees flying an hour earlier than U.S. bees and  an hour later at night in
almonds. The Australian bees flying in  rain.
 
Bob
 
Our counters indicate that two different things may be at play here - and  
it may not be Aussie bees.
 
1) With any group of colonies (we had 50 with counters) SOME of the  
colonies respond differently to weather.  Whereas most will stop foraging  for the 
day with a later afternoon rain, some go back to work while its still  
misting rain.  Most  give themselves plenty of time to get home at  night (the 
foraging gradually slows down in late afternoon, evening.  But  SOME race 
home as a group just before DARK - waves of bees coming in at the last  minute.
 
2) When we get bees from CA in the spring, our overwintered bees from MT  
work at considerably lower temperatures, start to forage earlier in the day, 
and  forage later into the afternoon and evening, then the bees from CA.  
After  about two weeks, all is the same.
 
In #1, we suspect a genetic difference.  The foraging behaviors are  
consistent over weeks, months.  The outlier colonies show the same behavior  - fly 
in light rain, go to work immediately, work later, etc.  To be clear,  each 
outlier colony tends to show a SPECIFIC variant behavior, such as resuming  
work immediately after heavy rain - but that doesn't mean this same colony 
will  necessarily work of colder termperatures, or forager for more hours.  
 
When we did this work, I often said that queen breeders needed  counters.  
If I was a Seattle beekeeper, I'd probably want a bee that kept  going 
except in pouring rain.  But in our semi-arid prairies, where the  infrequent 
rains often trigger a bloom, waiting to go back to work until the  next day may 
be a good thing.
 
In #2, it seems that the bees need to adjust their 'expectations' if such a 
 behavior exists in bees.  The overwintered MT bees work at cold temps  
because they have to to get things going, support brood, etc. in our cold  
springs.  If they wait for hot temps, they're going to starve.  The  bees from 
CA have already had warm to hot weather.  They appear to be  'waiting' for 
the sun to come out, thing warm up, before foraging.  After a  few days to a 
couple of weeks, they seem to get the point - its NOT GOING to get  hot.
 
Jerry

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