>
> Greetings
>    I have been told that blueberry pollinators in Quebec have had success in
> turning their hives end-for-end to get the bees to change their foraging
> patterns. This is done instead of moving the hives to a new location.
>    Can anyone give me information on this?
>
> Dick Bonney
> [log in to unmask]
>
 
Hi Dick,
 
        I know from practical experience that moving
colonies end for end disrupts normal flight patterns and forces
bees to re-establish foraging patterns. I have not seen evidence
that doing this forces them to change floral source however, it
may provide an opportunity for scout bees to evaluate new floral
sources during the course of the day, in addition to the routine
morning scouting mission.
 
        After maintaining pollen traps and collecting pollen for
a number of years I am aware that there may be 40 colonies in an
apiary with traps and that not all hive work the same floral source
each day. Routinely when collecting pollen,hives would have multiple
layers of pollen coinciding with the number of days since the last
collection of pollen. In some hives these layers were from different
floral sources, while in other hives from the same floral source.
The point is that bees scout for floral sources in the morning and
tend to lock on to a floral source as long as it continues to yeild.
If the volume is low they work multiple sources but tend to stay specific
for that day. Each new day bring about the scouting cycle for foraging
activities for that day and may be alterated by disrupting normal
foraging behaviour.
 
        As far as sugar syrup and floral sources. I have been
told that the chinese feed sugar syrup to their bees very earily
in the morning before scouting activity starts. If they want bees
to work a specific floral source, they make a sugar syrup and
flower puree and the feed this to the bees. This feeding
appearently predisposes the bees to forage and pollinate selected
floral sources, which when in competition with other floral sources
would be ignored.
 
Robert Rice
 
CSIRO Division of Entomology
Canberra
 
E-mail  [log in to unmask]