I think that there are certain amounts of misinformation involved in location
recognition.  I do know that I have moved hives a few feet "off" their
normal orientation, but the returning bees seem to have no problem *provided
that they return to the entrance location where they exited.*  Moving
hives at night seems to result in little disorientation.  Moving them during
the day does.  Another factor I've noticed is that I had bees using a
secondary entrance caused by an improperly seated hive top.  When this was
remedied, some bees attempted to use this entrance for several days afterward,
ignoring the primary entrance.  I suspect that this is because it was
scent-marked during the time it was in use and the marking took several days
to wear off.  (Notice that bees transferred to a new hive will expose their
scent glands and fan at the entrance for a day or so.)
 
  Jane Beckman   [[log in to unmask]]