Hi:
We are writing this up for publication - but in the meantime this might
be of interest. We just completed a series of tests concerning the fate
of bees that fall off trucks while being transported.
The results clearly indicate that:
The bees immediately start to search for home
These bees located and moved into colonies in a nearby apiary
The "lost" bees selected specific colonies in the beeyard
The marked and released bees found the beeyard in ten minutes from 250
yards, about 1 1/2 hrs from 750 yards.
Bottom line, bees dropped off a truck in an area totally new to them
don't just sit around. They go out, find, and move into other colonies.
Cheers
Jerry Bromenshenk
The University of Montana-Missoula
Melissa Webber
Matt Loeser
Quin Carver
[log in to unmask]http://grizzly.umt.edu/biology/bees