A few hints that may help:
1) Soak a hunk of sponge in honey to prevent further forager fatalities.
2) Cover your container with a dark cloth so that the bee(s) will not attempt
to fly, and will calm down and "fill up".
3) Punch a small hole in the lid, just large enough for a string, and feed a string
with a knot in the end through the hole. Them, when you are ready to
release the bee, you can do so from several yards away (break the seal and
take the cover off the container, but set the lid atop the container, so that
the string can pull the cover off). When released, the bee will circle a few
times, and then take off in the direction of the hive from which it came.
It is easier to track the bee if you are outside of the circling area.
4) If a bee is "full up", it will fly back towards the hive, but terrain and tree lines
may mean that its initial flight vector is not "towards the hive".
5) Consider using sugar water rather than honey, as sugar water is easier and
faster for the bee to collect.
6) Don't expect to get many return foragers. Better to capture bees,
release them, and triangulate the hive location.