Hello everyone,
I sadly can’t find it anymore, but I had read about a study a few days ago that as a beginner I found rather interesting.
The researchers did a test where they caught bees that were just leaving the hive. They then moved them to a different place before releasing them and followed their movements (with radar!).
The bees started to fly into the direction they’d be flying out of the hive to go where they’d expect a food source. Once they noticed it wasn’t at the expected place, they turned around towards their starting point (not their hive) and then flew around a little before going directly towards the food and back to the hive.
The researchers concluded that bees must have some kind of “map” with known markers in their head that they use for orientation. Once they realized, they are in the wrong place, they searched for these markers and - instead of flying back to the hive - “calculated” a route towards the food before using their known route back home.
I find this rather impressive. Also there is so much more we don’t know about our little workers…
Regards from Germany,
Balu
PS: I’m going to get my first colony the week after Easter and am both excited and a little scared. But I’ve consumed so much knowledge over the last weeks, I hope I - with the help of a seasoned beekeeper - will be able to care for them properly.
