On 20 Aug 1995 Bob Webster wrote in newsgroup rec.backcountry:
 
> I've seen honeybees above 13,000 feet on flowers. Where do they live?
> How far do they climb to get nectar? I asked one, but no answer. Does
> anybody know?
 
On 22 Aug 1995 15:20:47 Tony Morgan was wondering:  <[log in to unmask]>
 
> Could they really have been honeybees? I've seen bumblebees out
> foraging both in terrible weather and up high (8000 feet anyway) but
> never honeybees.
 
> Observation of honeybees must be dependent upon both temperature and
> distance to the nearest hives, but do they have a height limit in
> addition? Any one have any ideas?
 
Hi bee-lovers, Hi Tony !
 
This week-end, I was on a mini-trip in the swiss and french Alpen
(mountains) with a jump to Lausanne (Apimondia).  We visit a small
beekeeper (7 hives) in a ski station (1850 m = +6000 feet). In the
talk, he said in the summer, his mother was living in a house(chalet?)
at about 2500 m (8200 feet).  Without any car way.  This year, a swarm
from his uncle's bees (1900 m hth) came in an empty hive at the
balcony.  They are working a lot and he was thinking to have a good
crop of at least 8-12 kg (16-24 #) of mountains honey he shall get
down in a case on his back.  The blooming was almost quite finished in
the village (Bonneval-sur-Arc) but, at 2800-3000 m (9200-10000 feet),
the alpine flowers are only fully blooming.  At this altitude, he
maked his first hay crop (he put it down on a cable).  He said : a lot
of bees on a lot of different flowers ....  He doesn't know if this
swarm will overwinter but he'll give them some sugar and under a few
meters of snow ... we'll see at the spring !
 
IMHO : if the bees come in a human hive at this height, they come also
in rocks holes and try to overwinter.  If they don't win, another
swarm will try the next year ... Seems it is as this they rise again
to the North (Norway ?) after the last ice age.
 
Hope this helps !
 
Jean-Marie Van Dyck <[log in to unmask]>
 
Local informations ...
Long. : 4deg 56' E - Lat. : 50deg 30' N  -  Alt. : 200 m  -  North sea : 200 km
 
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Jean-Marie Van Dyck                    Fax +32 81 72 42 72
B.P. 102                               email : [log in to unmask]
B-5000     NAMUR(Belgium)              Medical school - Biochemistry dept
 
This => C'est ma facon de parler !
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