A couple of things I learnt yesterday in Stroud

[JCD]

I attended the 'Keeping Healthy Bees Day' in Stroud. What a great day....I learnt lots.....thank you to the organisers, and the three Bee Inspectors who tutored us.

Thought I'd share one of the things I didn't know before (there was a lot I didn't know before!)

'A little trick' according to one of the bee inspectors ....a remedy for chalk brood....evidently, if you sprinkle a little salt along the top of the affected frames....not on the comb itself.....the bees will jump start into spring cleaning mode, and clear out all that is bad.

Something else I was told.....NOT by a bee inspector.....it was general chatter......was that an experiment took place to try and establish how far drones will fly, and whether they always return to the same hive. It was suggested that a while ago, some drones were marked almost totally in yellow, and word was put out for anyone who found one/saw one to get in touch. I was told that one drone was found 70 miles away a fortnight later, and that this suggested that the bees have their own methods of preventing inbreeding. Very interesting, but is this true? Can anybody throw any light on this?

 

[oliver90owner]

Possible, I suppose, but doubtful. Several possible scenarios when you try to think of some.

 

[sipa]

Probably took a ride in someone's car.

 

[OXFORDBEE]

In the 1980's Brian Palmer did an experiment at Hadlow College in Kent. He sprayed a frame of caged drones in luminous green paint. He then released the drones.

Much to his amusement beekeepers a fair distance away started phoning him reporting green drones. Apparently he received a phone call from a beekeeper 20 miles away from Hadlow reporting green drones.

So, it is possible for drones to hop fair distances between colonies.....

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

with drones frequenting different hives I suppose it is possible for a drone to occupy a series of hives, leapfrogging and moving further and further away from his home hive

 

[JCD]

"In the 1980's Brian Palmer did an experiment at Hadlow College in Kent. He sprayed a frame of caged drones in luminous green paint. He then released the drones.

Much to his amusement beekeepers a fair distance away started phoning him reporting green drones. Apparently he received a phone call from a beekeeper 20 miles away from Hadlow reporting green drones.

So, it is possible for drones to hop fair distances between colonies....."


Lol!! I suspect this is where the story comes from. Just goes to show how stories can get exaggerated over a 20 year period!!

 

[susbees]

with drones frequenting different hives I suppose it is possible for a drone to occupy a series of hives, leapfrogging and moving further and further away from his home hive

Quite a reasonable proposition: just what I was thinking

 

[theboynelson]

with drones frequenting different hives I suppose it is possible for a drone to occupy a series of hives, leapfrogging and moving further and further away from his home hive

Ive now got the theme tune to the Littlest Hobo rattling around my head. Got a feeling that it's going to be there all day.

 

[alanf]

with drones frequenting different hives I suppose it is possible for a drone to occupy a series of hives, leapfrogging and moving further and further away from his home hive

As research has shown, mating can take place over distances of several Km. For instance this study found a maximum distance of 15 Km http://digirep.rhul.ac.uk/items/4b2fdf87-714c-c4a2-6ef6-e75be407bf77/1/

Drones at a congregation area are likely to follow returning queens to their home apiaries as long as there is a chance of mating. That could be up to 15Km away from where they started. Repeat a couple of times and some drones will be travelling tens of Km over a few days.