Folks,

A while back, as I reported my bees flying in and out of chickenwire, our
good friend Dick from Alaska posed me the following question:

"Do they fly THROUGH the wire in both directions, or do they fly over the
wire on the return trip?"

Today, weather-thawing, I was able to watch closely how they go about
flying through the wire: 1) More bees would fly through the wiremesh
during in-coming flight to get at the corndust in the chicken feeder. 2)
Although most of them fly up and away in their return trip, there are a
few still flying through the mesh on their flight back.  Thus, I was
unable to deduct/reduce any meaningful generalization whatever.  One thing
I noticed was that as they approach the chicken fence, they *air-brake*
just like an airliner, and then zigzag slightly around the mesh, next they
fly through with ease.  They do not bullet-through.

Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than watching my girls come out at
the end of winter, having just walked across the river styx, barefoot.
Their servant, I offered them a smorgasboard of pollen and syrup.


Cheers,

Ordinary day, circa 2003, in the Republic of Oklahoma


Yoon