Orientation flight vs robbing vs normal entry

[vemergy]

Good morning,

Can somebody explain or point me to a good article/information in book/internet/etc that explains in practical terms how to differentiate between:

- new bees taking orientation flight/s
- robbing behavior
- normal behavior of bees returning from foraging (I can tell when they come back with pollen, which is pretty obvious, but cannot tell when they come back to the hive with nectar, which to me is not that visually obvious)

Basically, if any, what are the striking differences in appearance and behavior between young bees taking orientation, vs returnee foragers vs robbers.

Regards,
George

[sc-bee]

I can not point to an article just observation on my part:

Orientation- The bees seem to hoover around the front entrance in a holding pattern. Often in little circle patterns and as they back off further and further they are imprinting the picture for return info.

Robbing- Usually a frenzy at the entrance (fighting etc.) You will often find dead/ dying bees on the ground and landing. Often the honey cells will have cut jagged wax and you will find bits of cut wax at the front of the hive and on the bottom board. Evidence of the bees robbing the honey.

Normal Entry- Off course you mentioned the pollen. Look closer however at the foragers leaving the hive vs the ones entering. When carrying a load the entering foragers will look swollen or an extended look of the abdomen. If you look real close and compare it is noticeably different. The only thing is the load can also be water for the hive. Only way I know to distinguish between water and nectar is to know the flows for your area and watch to see if new comb is being built or nectar added to cells.

[sc-bee]

Here is a good description from dummies:
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-handle-robbing-in-your-beehive.html

Knowing the difference between normal and abnormal (robbing) behavior

A busy hive during the nectar flow may have a lot of activity at the entrance, but the normal behavior of foraging bees looks different than a robbing situation. Foraging bees go to and fro with a purpose. They shoot straight out of the hive and are quickly up and away. Returning foragers are weighted down with nectar and pollen and land solidly when returning to their hive. Some even undershoot the entrance and crash-land just short of the bottom board.

Other times, normal activity at the hive's entrance can look unusually busy. This is when young worker bees take their orientation flights. Facing the hive, they hover up, down, and back and forth. They're orienting themselves to the location of their hive. You may see hundreds of these young bees floating around the front of the hive, but there's nothing aggressive or frantic about their exploratory behavior.

In contrast to these normal busy situations, robbing takes on an aggressive and sinister look. Try to recognize the warning signs:

    -Robbing bees approach the hive without being weighted down with nectar. They may not shoot right into the entrance. Instead, they fly from side to side, waiting for an opportune moment to sneak past the guard bees.

   - If you look closely, you may see bees fighting at the entrance or on the ground in front of the hive. They are embraced in mortal combat. These are the guard bees defending their colony to the death. This behavior is a sure indication of robbing.

    -Unlike foraging bees that leave the hive empty-handed, robbing bees leave the hive heavily laden with honey, which makes flying difficult. Robbing bees tend to climb up the front of the hive before taking off. Once they're airborne, there's a characteristic dip in their flight path.

[BeeMaster2]

What SC said and for normal behavior, the bees returning to the hive and leaving come in hot and leave like a bat out of he..
If you stand in the flight path you will get hit by the bees returning that are going too fast and are too heavy to turn when they realize the flight path is blocked.
The bees exiting are fast because hey are running empty compared to robbers.

[GSF]

SC, it seems like I have read that the bees who take orientation flights will crawl up the front of the hive as well. I've seen that before but the drop after take off is something I hadn't considered. Good point.

[AliciaH]

I have also noticed that in the case of robbing, there is a lot of noise.  Sometimes, the outside is busy but the fight is actually inside the hive.  The volume (noise) of the bees will sometimes tell me there's a problem when it's not on the landing board itself.

[Wolfer]

It's pretty much all been covered but here's my observations

Orientation, lots of bees flying little circles in front of the hive. Busy for sure but peaceful.

Normal activity with a flow on, bees are heavy landing, some stumbling when they hit, some under shooting the bottom and have to circle back up. Outgoing bees look like they were shot out of a machine gun on full auto.

Robbing. I guess there can be mild robbing or if the guard bees have all been killed it looks kinda like normal activity except for all the little chunks of comb on the landing board.
The few times I've witnessed robbing there was no doubt. It was a war zone!!!!

[vemergy]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer.
Regards,
George

[Michael Bush]

http://bushfarms.com/beesrobbing.htm