hi all,
The severe winter here in the Netherlands has prevented the bees to make any
flights for more than two months. In my backyard I have two hives and I am
planning to move them 10 metres. Doing this just before the cleaning-flights
happen and very carefully of course!
I consult my bee-books about memory-loss during the winter. They cause
confusion. There appears to be not a concensus at this subject (and
fortunately my bees don't read books) such as:
-honeybees don't lose their memory of orientation during the winter
-after a week without flight bees have to re-orientate.
 
In my opinion the bees who made forage-flights in october-november are dead
and the bees who are present now are the young house-bees from the last
months of 1995
 
Please let me know your opinion about this topic.
Francois
 
e-mail: [log in to unmask]