Honey Bee Drifting

End of the line effect

     The concept of drifting is that with a number of hives in a row, on a windy day the bees are more apt to return to the first hive from the direction of the main pollen flow.  Consequently the first hive will be much stronger than the last hive.  Dave Cushman suggests the opposite "end of the line" effect (Dave Cushman on Drifting Behavior in Honey Bees).  Dave goes on to describe the drifting effects of  featureless water.



     In any case the disoriented, drifting bees will have an unfamiliar smell to the guard bees but will usually be allowed entrance if carrying pollen and displaying submissive behavior. Ted Hooper in his book "Guide to Bees and Honey" states:

“a drifting bee entering the colony by mistake, perhaps because it has been blown down to the hive by a cross wind, or misled by a similarity of the approach picture, will be challenged. In this case the guard will press the challenge because the smell of this bee is not the right one. The drifter, because its instinct says it is in the right place, will not try to fight the guard but will submit. If the drifter is facing the guard it will offer food, which the guard will usually ignore. If the guard is attacking from the side [...] the drifter will tuck its tail in and stand quiet, with its head tucked down, or it may rear on to its two back pairs of legs, extending its tongue and strop this with its front legs. These patterns of behavior denote submission and the guard [...] will do no real harm and certainly not attempt to sting. As with all bees, the guard’s concentration period is short, and in a few seconds it gets tired of the whole affair and lets the drifter proceed”

     This study found the percentage of drifting bees to be as high as 60% within unmarked row apiaries (Drifting of Honey Bee Foragers within and between apiaries pollinating blueberry) and up to 4.5% in apiaries 600 mts away.  In the study below (Drifting of Honey Bees) they found that there was no preference in honey bee strain when drifting nor decrease in life span.  They did find an increased drift from center (22%) to edge (39%).

Hive setup that could lead to drifting
      The study below suggests that the optimal distance is 9 meters between hives and 18 meters between rows but this is often not possible.  They list ways to reduce drifting by different apiary layout (circles, squares, U, V, Sigmoid), different entrance orientation and different colors.  The idea is that different colored hives will assist the bees in identifying their own hive.


     The idea is that different colored hives will assist the bees in identifying their own hive.  Bees see colors differently than we do and studies show they prefer purple, violet and blue in that order. Bees can see ultraviolet light patterns invisible to us (Honey Bees ability to identify color).


  
      Why does drifting matter?  Because unless you live in an isolated area there is a good chance your hives contain bees from neighboring hives along with their pests and diseases (Honey Bee Drifting and the spread of AFB).  Drifting can also occur with Queens returning from mating flights (4% Honey Bee Queen Drifting).
       It's like if you are drunk and walking back to your house and all the homes are of the exact color and architectural style.  This is human drifting.  I have personally experienced this phenomena.  This can be very embarrassing.

My house
   

Beeutiful - Bee Photography

Bee on a purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea Asteraceae) which blooms for us in late summer.
     Zachery Huang, a biologist who has been studying bees for over two decades is an amazing photographer whose stunning photos can be seen at beetography.com.  These are a few of his photos.  I think bees are not only biologically amazing but beautiful as well, particularly when photographed on a colourful flower blossom.

 Borage (Borago officinalis) also known as starflower is a slightly invasive herb (volunteer) which in our garden can bloom from spring to fall and is a bee favourite. 
Goldenrod (Solidago), considered invasive is a favourite of bees and blooms in late summer and  fall.  I have discovered that bees love invasive plants like goldenrod, mint, blackberry, fennel, lemon balm and black locust. 
     Zachery has made available some of his best photos for your desktop wall paper at beetography.com/Honey-Bees/Wall-Papers-Free/746084_m2dRrQ#266110048_NXto8.  Some other good bee photography sites are thehoneygatherers.com/html/index and beedreams.com.  This year I bought my first cheap digital camera and began taking photos of our bees.  I have found that photography and in particular macro insect and flower photography forces you to slow down and look more closely at your environment.  This is a good thing when you live in the hustle and bustle of a big city.  My photos pale in comparison but Zachery's photos give me a goal to aspire to.  Here are a few of my photos of bees and plants bees love.
The common asian aster which blooms in a mass of small flowers for us from August through October  is a bee favourite.
Pink phlox, (native to North America) possibly Phlox paniculata David.
Japanese anemone blooms from late summer through the fall.  In most areas food for bees is readily available in spring and  summer so it is important to provide a food source for the bees in the early spring and autumn when there is less available food sources.   
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), native to the americas and a bee favourite.

One of my girls enjoying a sunflower
One of our bees and a stranger to the left enjoying a rudbeckia (black-eyed Susan)  which is native to North America.


Western bumble bee (Bombos occidentalis) harvesting pollen from a Japanese Anemone.

     The photographs of Eric Tourneret, an amazing French photographer can be seen at his website (http://thehoneygatherers.com/html/index_en.html).  Through his photos he tries to reveal the relationship between bees and different human cultures ( Honey hunters of Nepal).


     Obviously when shooting bees macro settings for those close-up shots are a must.   Here are some macro photography tips from professional photographer Layne Kennedy of Ultimate Photo Guide (ultimatephotoguide.com).  Ultimate Photo Guide is a good site for learning about all aspects of photography.  


High magnification macro photography by Thomas Shahan.

Insect Macro Photography
     For more examples of bee and plant photography go to the Bee Plant pages of this website.