Mornin' All

Lloyd: gentleness is most definitely the way forward!  Anyway, Jerry's observations show why, usually, the 3 mile limit is a workable guide.  The times when a sizeable foraging force goes further are probably not rare, but not the norm either.  However you have to be careful with displacement experiments.  A colony working a distant spot might recognise the terrain in the channel it uses to reach its distant goal, but if you left bees at the same kind of distance but on another trajectory would they know where they are then?  Similarly, when following bees outwards from a colony, the area available (and the likelihood of missing the bees) increases dramatically as the radius increases.

Steve: interesting questions on reorientation.  You get the feeling that bees on long journeys know the vector and the distance, and even then are reluctant to set off off unless the view is clear and ideally there is a scent trail coming at them to help get there.  Perhaps they have a usual home range which is well-known territory, stored like a mental map, plus an ability to go further on special occasions on known routes.  I'm a bit like that myself, knowing my home area well and prepared to set off on foot knowing that I'll get back from any point.  If setting off on long journeys often on motorways even to new places I'll be happy if I know a few simple rules to get me there and back again.  Once I get to that distant spot I'd be reluctant to wander about too far on foot, as I may lose my way back to the car. 

Also, Steve wrote:
 
> Also I assume a hive that has to go farther than three to five miles
> for forage is probably either not going to make it or is not going
> to stay put in the long run.

For sure the income of such a hive would be reduced but as about 14 km seems to be the upper limit for foraging worker honeybees you would imagine that at around half that distance they would still make a profit.  Bear in mind too that all of this is seasonal.  The bees of Brother Adam and of Francis Ratnieks could forage locally earlier in the season, but found it worthwhile to go long distances once the heather moors were in flower.  Similarly, the bees I mentioned had enjoyed abundant autumn sown oilseed rape earlier in the season and at that time, later in the summer, had some native forage nearby but the best resources were to be found at the very few and often distant spring sown oilseed rape fields in flower at the time.  Those late-season foragers may also have benefited from better weather in July and been driven to forage long distances by increased competition from other pollinators.

If anyone wants to look at the edges of rich patches of forage to see where the bees are coming from, focus on the bees leaving the patch or field.  They are heavier and slower than the ones coming in which often fly at speed and at height.  Also helpful is a dark cloud approaching on the horizon!  The bees seem to realise the danger, and exit the patch in numbers.

best wishes

Gavin 

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