Rodney Farrar wrote:

>
> My question is
>after putting bees into a new hive body some bees staying at he front
>entrance facing away from the hive and fanning, any idea why?

After a swarm accepts a new home, they still need to signal to all the
scouts, that are away from the cluster, where they have moved to.  It is my
practise to always put the swarm collection box close to where the swarm
came from (immediately beneath on the ground if collected from a height).
The bees fanning at the entrance are sending the queen pheromones into the
atmosphere to signal to stragglers and returning scouts where to come.
Having the box touching the trunk of the tree the swarm was in seems to
accelerate the process as bees run down towards the signal.

They will signal for several hours before the swarm is assumed to be all
present, and will start orientation flights before foraging.

I recommend that if the hive is to be moved that this be done at night after
all the bees have settled.  If there has been substantial orientation then
it is wise to move the hive more than 2 miles.  However if the swarm has
been captured late afternoon and moved within the same yard that night,
orientation will commence in the morning without substantial confusion.  If
swarms are captured at dusk, there will be insufficient time for the signals
to be accepted by the stragglers and you finish up with a forlorn bunch
waiting for a signal that never comes. Unless the bunch can be physically
moved to the front of the new hive and shaken on the ground so they run in,
they will never find the new hive as there will be no fanning the following
morning.

A clean capture is not always compatible with a beekeeper's schedule but
knowledge of the instinctive behaviour assists in predicting and avoiding
problems.

Betty McAdam
HOG BAY APIARY
Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island
J.H. & E. McAdam<[log in to unmask]
http://kigateway.kin.on.net/hogbay/hogbay1.htm

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