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Subject:
From:
Jerry J Bromenshenk <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 26 Nov 1994 16:15:04 -0700
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> The following is edited heavily and follows discussions of drone drift:
> FWIW - At the Alberta Beekeepers Association convention, a speaker mentioned
> the following anecdote, which I repeat without attribution as just that:
>
> As a test, a US beekeeper shook some bulk bees from one of his yards and then
> sprinkled flour on them.  He then drove through another county where he
> had bees and threw some of them off the truck here and there along the
> highway.
>
> A survey shortly thereafter revealed bees with flour on them at hives as far
> away as one and one half miles from the release points!!!!
>
> This might have some implications regarding loads of supers on the way to
  beeyards.
> Allen Dick
>
> Allen,
> Some years ago, One of my undergraduate students, Quinn Carver, performed
just such an experiment.  Working with a Montana migratory beekeeper, he shook
packages from colonies just delivered from California.  He marked
thousands of bees with blue paint.   He then drove down the highway
sprinkling bees out of his pickup truck.  Along the highway were beeyards
that had been in place for more than a month.  As I remember, he also
started about 1 1/2 miles from the nearest apiary.  Having exhausted his
"painted packages", he then went to a beeyard about 1000 meters from
the highway.  He sat down to eat his lunch, expecting to put in a very
boring day.  However, before he had even settled in, a blue bee flew by,
landed on a hive entrance, and walked in the door.  Soon other painted
bees showed up.  Before the end of the day, not only had he seen painted
bees arriving at the hives, he also had a photograph of two blue bees
near the queen on a brood frame!!
 
Quinn's experiment was not very sophisticated, but it certainly indicates
that bees lost off of trucks don't: 1) sit in the barrow pit and wait to
die, or 2) wander aimlessly.  Since all of the bees cames from the same bee
operation, we can't rule out the possability that the marked bees weren't
to some degree related to the queens in the hives that they entered.
However, this was a several thousand colony operation using queens from
various suppliers  and  the target apiary had been in place for some time
prior to the arrival of the colonies from which the packages were made up.
 
Quinn submitted a paper to ABJ, but they decided it was too long.  Since
it was only two typewritten pages, that surprised me.  I encouraged him
to publish his findings as a short note or even a letter to the editor,
but I don't think he ever got around to it.
 
This little test was conducted after the Montana beekeepers debated and
defeated a resolution that advocated using nets on loads of bees being
transported through our state.  Although not definitive, Quinn's test
confirms the anecdotal report of a beekeeper dusting bees and finding
them at hives.
 
Finding them in the hives beside the queen is worrisome.  It certainly
suggests that mites could be distributed in this manner.  Oh, yes, Quinn
was working with mostly worker bees - not drones.
 
In our ongoing research, we have seen worker bees infested with either
tracheal mites or varroa mites or both.
 
Personally, I'd recommend netting those loads of bees.
 
Cheers
Jerry J. Bromenshenk
The University of Montana
[log in to unmask]
406-243-5648

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