>>For example, setting out a "dish" with feed, even heavily scented
feed may be an exercise in frustration during any bloom period.

I have seen reports of this method working with pictures on the net and in the ABJ or Bee Culture.  This time of year - Bill was asking about finding bees at this time of year: March - not a lot of plants are offering strong nectar flows so a dish with a scented somewhat thick syrup should be attractive to bees.  This easy set-up should help determine if there are any bees in an area at all.  

I don't have a lot of bee lining experience so, for an impression, I took a frame with what appeared to be new nectar out of a hive yesterday and drove about a 1.5 miles in the direction where I think there are no beekeepers.  We had a high of about 53F and occasional gusts of cold wind.  Not great flying conditions but the bees were flying and coming back with good pollen.

I set up the frame atop of my dark car so that convective heat off of the car body would keep the frame's scent going off.  Within minutes a few bees came to the frame.  I watched them fill up and take off in the general direction of my house.

I assumed these were my bees but I did not have more time to try to follow them to where ever they were going.  I thought that if I drove a 1/4 mile back towards the house and set up the frame again, the returning scouts and recruits might be able to find it en route to the original location.  Will have to try it some time!  I live in suburbia so chasing after the bees on foot would not be easy.  Unlike the bees, I have to respect human property lines :) and would have to zig zag along public streets...

Triangulation should be a good method of locating the general area where the hive is located.  If there are more hives in the vicinity, one has to be extra careful not to get misguided.  Tom Seeley's bee hunting in the Arnot forest was splendidly illustrated in one of the bee magazines.

Waldemar

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