Hi all
Speaking of annual behaviors, perhaps you haven't heard of this:

The Asian giant honeybee Apis dorsata forms massive single-comb colonies which usually hang from a tree branch or the eaves of buildings. Although colonies regularly migrate over many kilometres, we find that they often return to their original nest site — even after an absence of up to two years. How the bees do this is unknown, as workers live for only a few weeks.

A. dorsata colonies are often found in dense aggregations: there can be more than 200 on a single tree. Their migration pat- tern is seasonal and may be related to food availibility or predation. After occupying a nest site for several months, all or most colonies abscond and travel to an alterna- tive site, which may be 200 km away.

... results show that migrating A. dorsata swarms are astonishingly faithful to their nest sites. Returning swarms usually have hundreds of alternative nest sites, but seem to return to the same structure or tree in preference to all others. They may even return to the same eave or branch. It is not known how they do this ...

NATURE | VOL 406 | 3 AUGUST 2000 | www.nature.com (page 475)

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