Do bees fly home in a straight line?

Started by cinch123, March 02, 2012, 04:17:15 PM

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cinch123

March 02, 2012, 04:17:15 PM
As an experiment, I put a small sugar syrup feeder on a bucket in my garden the other day when it was warm and sunny out to see if any bees would come by for a drink. After about an hour I noticed one come by, fill up her stomach and fly off dead west. Soon after, a few more came by for a drink, and all flew off in the same direction. The local bee club has an apiary map, and I didn't see any in that direction within 2 miles. So my question is this: Do the bees go in a straight line home when they are full, or do they make turns based on landmarks? I'm definitely putting up a swarm trap in a tree behind the garden in case it's a wild colony and runs the possibility of swarming in the spring, but just for fun I might try tracking them on another nice day and see where they live.

brooksbeefarm

#1
March 02, 2012, 05:06:16 PM
Yes, it's called a beeline, seen my grandpa would sprinkle flour on bees (getting a drink) while we were fishing on gravelbars. He would then watch which way they flew off and follow them to find their hive. That is if the fish wasn't biting. :-D Jack

Michael Bush

#2
March 03, 2012, 04:50:53 AM
For practical purposes, yes.  They may vary a little because of wind currents.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Jim134

#3
March 03, 2012, 11:02:53 AM
Quote from: cinch123 on March 02, 2012, 04:17:15 PM
do they make turns based on landmarks?


If bee are full they will fly straight home. Bee fly to the angle of the sun to the earth.


   BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
"Tell me and I'll forget,show me and I may  remember,involve me and I'll understand"
        Chinese Proverb

"The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways."
John F. Kennedy
Franklin County Beekeepers Association MA. http://www.franklinmabeekeepers.org/

hardwood

#4
March 03, 2012, 03:38:19 PM
They can fool you so you need to watch closely and have your good eyes on! Often they will spiral up to above the tree line before flying straight home.

Scott
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

yockey5

#5
March 03, 2012, 09:51:40 PM
Quote from: hardwood on March 03, 2012, 03:38:19 PM
They can fool you so you need to watch closely and have your good eyes on! Often they will spiral up to above the tree line before flying straight home.

Scott

This is what I believe to be the simplest, yet most complete answer. Watch for the end of the spiral.
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