>At 02:17 PM 7/11/98 -0600, you wrote:
 
>>>from storm fronts moving about. In many areas beekeepers are able to
>>>predict tomorrows weather change by the behavior of their bees
 
>>Andy goes on to say that this may be a reflection of floral responses.
 
>>Our electronic systems clearly demonstrate that bees know when storms are
 
Hi Jerry, Bee Keepers & Friends,
 
I ain't got no systems other then the seat of my pants and the end of my
noise. When I am working the bees bent over a hive and a bee comes out and
lands tail up on the end of my noise everything else being equal I grab for
a bee veil after pulling the stinger out of my noise. I don't need no
electronic gismo's to tell me that I should have put my veil on before
opening the hive.<G>
 
>>We can find days when the pressure drops and the bees come home.  But we
>>find as many or more days when the pressure is bouncing around or going up
>>and the bees are still racing home.  So -- like many explanations of bee
>>behavior, the old "atmospheric pressure" answer is not correct.  Bees may
>>take pressure into consideration, but other factors must be factored in by
>>the bees.
 
Yes for sure this is a complicated subject and many factors in your
experience are not clearly defined and  could be area specific and do
involve more then one science and need more study including replication at
other sites and locations using many different flavors of bees and plants
and even then it my be there is an exception that explains what other
beekeepers have seen in their bees...kinda cheeky aren't I.
 
I can assure all that I do not expect to be able to explain all that I have
felt or seen in my bee yards over the years but at the same time I can say
for a fact that at least on the coast of Monterey County California many
beekeepers over a extended period of time, 70+ years, in the winter and
spring,  have been able to predict with an great accuracy that is as good
or better then the information provided by the weather bureau, the changing
of the weather before it happens by the temperament of their bees.
 
In this area these are real life, real time, facts, if not good science
that have not been explained by any science other the changes expressed by
the flowering plants that grow at the time of year in these locations the
observations were made that seem to correspond with early barometric
pressure changes that come before any weather front moves in. It does not
have to follow that these reports are mistaken or false  because the same
changes do no cause the same response in bees in any other area and only
makes it of less value for the average beekeeper who makes no claim to
being a scientist to make personal observations of his bees or report them
to others and that why I am writing this reply to my friend Jerry the bee
scientist and you all.
 
It is well enough to announce that this is not that fact, which may be, but
that does little to explain what many others have experienced. It would be
better to say what caused what has been experienced as above and then say
it was caused by this or that and not the pressure changes. I am not in any
way challenging what Jerry  reports as scientific fact in his area or areas
of study that do not include my own areas and I would say maybe much more
is to bee learned.
 
At the same time the keeping of the same bees on the Mexican boarder area
of south western Arizona would not be define by the bees temperament in a
change of the weather because there is NO time that the bees would not come
out and sting my rear end and noise as I struggle to put my veil on even if
I had old truck tires burning in my smoker. Both of these experiences are
verifiable and repeatable at these locations so they could be considered
more then just one old beekeeper's observation and its a little premature
to say these observations are correct or not correct without walking in the
shoes of those with the experience and the fat lips.<G>
 
>>If you wish, start following the weather and our observation hive.  Had a
>>good illustration of a pressure drop, bees come home the other day - so if
>>you find that one day, you could argue that point.  But, look at lots of
>>days and make up your own mind.
 
I don't know nothing but I would suggest any environmental measurement of
bee flight would require some additional information I have not found on
your sight such as light polarization and intensity measurements which may
explain why your bees behavior is different from those in other places as
measured by my noise and the seat of my pants. From working bees in the
higher elevations of Colorado I did see some flight behavioral differences
not explained by experiences with bees in sea level California or the
Sonora desert of SW Arizona beekeeping. I also had some performance
denigration myself for the first day or so as this sea level beekeeper gave
up his sea legs for mountain goat one's.
 
In any case my observations are just that and only good for the area and
time I made then and were not intended to be hard and fast rules of science
as IMHO the first rule of bee science is that there will be an exception to
all rules so I don't report anymore then observations which may or may not
be the same in any other bees or bee yards.
 
The only hard and fast Rule that follows beekeepers like a dark cloud is
that if there is any bee disease, pest, or predator that your bees don't
have just wait awhile and you will.
 
ttul, Andy-
 
http://beenet.com
 
 
 
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