I currently have 8 hives being monitored in four different almond
orchards.  They have flight counters that count the number of bees exiting
or returning every 10 minutes.  Also collecting ambient temperature, weight
gain or loss, rainfall, etc.

We are finding the info to be valuable--one glance tells you the actual
amount of flight at which time of day, how long the foragers remain out on
the trees, and the proportion of exiting bees that manage to return.  The
weight gain or loss indicates whether they are successful at pollination,
as well as telling us the orchards in which our colonies are gaining
weight, and in which orchards we need to go down and feed, due to the
colonies losing weight.

I had set up the monitors in order to determine the effects of fungicide
sprays upon bee foraging, but what with rain every day, what we're getting
is proof for the grower that our bees are managing to do their job for a
short period most days.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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