Author Topic: Beelining (Read 7974 times)

papabear · « **on:** March 07, 2007, 05:23:01 pm »

I tried what I was told and I caught a bee. It took about 20min. for her to calm down and start eating the honey. While she was eating, I marked her with a orange paint pin. When she stopped eating I let her go. After 1 hour she didn't return so I caught another bee. This bee just about killed herself in the honey so I just let her out and she cleaned the honey off her. While she was cleaning, I went for another bee and BEHOLD the first bee I marked orange was on the same batch of clover flowers as the first time I caught her. This time after 20min or so, she was still mad and I had to leave for a while so I let her go. Maybe I will see her again soon. Here is the pic of the bee eating honey out of a bowl.

Mici · « **Reply #1 on:** March 07, 2007, 05:33:21 pm »

hmmm, why not just plant a bowl of honey, or better a container that can be closed... i guess you got the whole bee-lining thing a bit wrong.
do a little more research around the forum!
anyway, bee-lining isn't bee marking.
first you have to tell us your intentions? is it to find a feral hive, or (from what i see) trying to find if the bee is yours and returns to the hive?

ktbearpaws · « **Reply #2 on:** March 07, 2007, 05:34:04 pm »

Don't give up!! It took me a couple tries to get one to cooperate. If nothin else catch 2-3 at one time.
I used white because when they take off toward thier hive, they go up usually into the trees, so it can make em hard to see against the leaves.
But, when they returned, the came back 2-3 inches off they ground.
I don't know if they will do that every time. But, I can't wait til springtime to find out!!! :-D :-D

papabear · « **Reply #3 on:** March 07, 2007, 05:43:54 pm »

my intentions are to locate the hive the feral hive. Not just to mark the bees. The hive must be close because it only takes them about 3 or 4 min. the come around once we go outside.

Sport · « **Reply #4 on:** March 07, 2007, 05:49:14 pm »

Might the field bee tell the others of her hive where the honey source is? Then you can have a bunch of bees to follow back to the feral hive.

ktbearpaws · « **Reply #5 on:** March 07, 2007, 05:53:16 pm »

Yeah, That's the idea...
Give Her time to inform the rest of the hive about your honey.
Before long you have a whole buch of bees to fallow.
The closer you get to the feral hive the faster the bees will come. Because they have less and less distance to travel to get back to you.

Mici · « **Reply #6 on:** March 07, 2007, 06:00:15 pm »

if i was you, i'd set them up a feeder (and i would take the afternoon to do this) and like they said, before you'll know it, you'll have full of bees and it's gonna bee easy to capture maybe 10 of them? just don't give them a whole lot of feeding stuff, you don't wanna have swarms of them at your yard!

search the net for bee-lining box,basicly it's a box with 3 compartments so you can let out on bee at a time. keep them all in one compartment, open it until there's only one in the 2nd one, and let her out from the 3rd.
actually this box is also good for capturing bees from flowers. someone gave me a good picture of it, but i misplaced it...search the web, maybe you'll find something.

Understudy · « **Reply #7 on:** March 07, 2007, 08:46:12 pm »

The reason I use powdered sugar is the whole bee turns white the bee now wants to get back to the hive to get clean. The problem for me is trying to follow the bee.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

JRS · « **Reply #8 on:** March 07, 2007, 09:06:29 pm »

do bees always travel in a straight line back to their hive?

Understudy · « **Reply #9 on:** March 07, 2007, 10:17:46 pm »

Quote from: newcomber on March 07, 2007, 09:06:29 pm

do bees always travel in a straight line back to their hive?

Hell No!
The little buggers do everything they can to make sure I have to go through every thorn bush, cross major roads against the light, gator filled swamps, snake patches, and homeowners with shotguns. Then they will turn around and make you run through it again. I think bees find this very funny.
Me: ow ow ow , darn that hurts
Bee: Powder me will you. I will teach you. Stupid human.
Me: No don't turn around!
Bee: muhahaha :evil: look at him bleed.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

Brian D. Bray · « **Reply #10 on:** March 08, 2007, 12:01:02 am »

As the crow flies, make a beeline. In reality both are usually the long way around. Both zigzag all over the place. If you want the shortest route use a compass.

ktbearpaws · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2007, 12:36:16 am »

Let us know where you finally find them, Papabear!!!
I hada hard time fallowing them to their hive too.
But,After I got closer to the hive, I started to pay more attention on where the bees where coming "from".
That helped me more than anything.

Jerrymac · « **Reply #12 on:** March 08, 2007, 01:05:02 am »

The only time I actually beelined was when I was doing a cut out. There got to be a whole lot of bees around sucking up the honey and I noticed they were coming from and going to the west of where I was. So I started walking in that direction. I would stop every now and then and wait for another bee or two to go zipping by East or West then walk some more. About a quarter of a mile from where I was doing the cut out I found them going/coming from a small hole at the base of an irrigation well. No marking or nothing. Just a bunch of bees coming and going.

They didn't have to fly high because the stuff they were robbing was on the ground and the hive was under ground, under the pump head.

Michael Bush · « **Reply #13 on:** March 08, 2007, 07:36:29 am »

Foraging bees tend to return to the same FLOWER until it is empty of nectar. You can mark them and confirm this. You can also time them to get distance.

http://www.beesource.com/pov/wenner/bsjun1992.htm

papabear · « **Reply #14 on:** March 08, 2007, 01:16:35 pm »

Thanks for all the help

ktbearpaws · « **Reply #15 on:** March 08, 2007, 09:49:48 pm »

You had any luck yet, Papa bear? :-D

jfischer · « **Reply #16 on:** March 09, 2007, 01:21:44 am »

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.

papabear · « **Reply #17 on:** March 09, 2007, 10:46:00 am »

How do i triangulate?

Michael Bush · « **Reply #18 on:** March 09, 2007, 08:48:34 pm »

You catch bees and find the direction. You go several hundred yards at about 90 degrees or so from where that one went and do another. You draw a line on a map where each goes and figure out where they intersect. Or, if the bee went in t totally different direction you get more bees and put more lines on the map until some intersect.

ktbearpaws · « **Reply #19 on:** March 09, 2007, 11:09:49 pm »

I tried it, and it did kinda give me a direction. But, no more than just fallowing the bee directly. I mean, you might find where the lines intersect. But trees aren't marked on a map!! lol :-D

Author Topic: Beelining (Read 7974 times)

jfischer