>Hi
>
>Because we now have the capability to continuously measure bee flight in
>and out of 21 hives located in Maryland, we are in the process of
>examining the effects of a wide array of external stressors on honey bee
>behavior.
>
>We looked at smoke.  Two small (and I mean really small) puffs of smoke at
>the entrance, wait 2 minutes, puff twice more and then watch the results.
>
>Because the wind was blowing perpendicular to the row of hives, only one
>got most of the 4 puffs of smoke, others got less than 4 puffs, and some
>adjacent "unsmoked" hives got a bit of smoke drift.
>
>In less than two minutes, the numbers of outgoing bees dropped off
>dramatically in the "smoked" hives.  But closer examination showed the
>numbers of outgoing bees decreased in all hives, even those just getting a
>bit of drift.  Numbers of incoming bees, as expected, did not change much.
>
>But here's the interesting part, we smoked the bees early in the afternoon
>and the effect lasted through the evening - they never returned to full
>activity as compared to flight for the previous or following days.  Not
>surprisingly, the more smoke, the more obvious the effect.
>
>Remember though, we only injected a bit of smoke.  We did not open, bang,
>or handle the hives.
>
>Our thought for the day.
>
>Jerry J. Bromenshenk
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Jerry,
 
Interesting stuff!  While generally, I concur:
 
Unscientifically, I've observed that sometimes the opposite can happen.  On
early or cool mornings colonies can seem to "still be drinking their
morning coffee" when a visit, even with smoke, can arose the field troops
and kick-off the days activities.  There can be a clear increase of
activity after a visit.
 
regards, Ed