Orientation flights

[teddy2toes]

Got my first bees on Sunday, ( overwintered nuc. ) From a member of this forum.
They seem to be a very active colony, lots of pollen going in ( OSR 1 mile away, ) even flying in the light rain.
My question is all the orientation flights seem to be on mass between 1:30 & 3:30 the first time I saw this I panicked a little and thought it may be robbing.
I'm now happy it's not.
Will this orientation time stay the same or move with the longer days, and is there a reason why the all flights are all done at the same time.
Any advice for a newbee also welcome.

 

[tonybloke]

the reason the flights are all at the same time is probably due to the temperature.

 

[rae]

Yup, warmest part of the day. Orientation flights are the first external sign that my hives have properly made it through the winter. If you have orientation flights, then fairly recently you had a proper laying queen in the box....

 

[madasafish]

Mine have been the same since I got my first hive in 2010.

 

[stoneleighhouse]

yep oriemtation flights here between 1 and 2 pm

 

[YorkshireBees]

Will this orientation time stay the same or move with the longer days, and is there a reason why the all flights are all done at the same time.
Any advice for a newbee also welcome.

Generally Yes, I always see the hives busiest between 13:00-14:00 (Weather dependent).

... first time I saw this I panicked a little and thought it may be robbing.
I'm now happy it's not.

Wait till you have a really strong hive and it almost looks like swarming!

 

[oliver90owner]

yep oriemtation flights here between 1 and 2 pm

I might ask whether that was GMT or BST, but I won't. TB and others are right.

Bees work to the weather, not strictly to the clock.

 

[itma]

And its going to depend on stuff like the amount of sun on the hive, etc ...
If the weather keeps them in for a day or two, rather a lot will come out the moment the weather is good enough for flying.

Also, don't forget that, your bees being new to the area, all the adult foragers (as well as the young bees) would have to re-calibrate their GPS systems - so in the first few days, you'll likely see more than average, though the daily average will increase as your nuc builds into a colony.