You can see some strange things in New York.
Hmmn. That's a bit big.
What about that V in AVM. Queens don't fly very far anyway - usually 2-3km according to Ruttner and Ruttner 1966. About a third of flights last just 3-10 mins according to the paper Prakel quoted in this thread. It is the drones that wander further.
Originally Posted by gavin
I assume that you're refering to drones drifting to other hives (is that what they do or is there an aspect of migration involved?). With regard to the actual mating flights of drones and queens, the Koeniger's research demonstrates that on average the drones stay closer to home than the queens, as described here:
Mating Biology of Honeybees by G. Koeniger (National Honey Show 2014).
https://youtu.be/cI26DLS2CyM
---------------------------
While I'm still not entirely sold on what's happening in the AVM scenarios described by Jon and others (or whether it would even be the healthiest option for the long term population in a natural environment) I do try to keep a partially open mind so here's an early reference -some of which is quite forward thinking considering the date. But there's a lot of background context, not least the general lack of knowledge (mind, Phillips probably knew more about bees than most of us!). Although the author was certainly using improved ligustica it was still in the time period when 'black' bees were common in the US.
PHENOMENA IN MATING.
In from five to ten days after the emerging of the young queen
from the queen cell, she leaves the colony for her mating flight. The
first flights of a queen from the hive are very short, and, like young
workers, she flies in circles near the entrance, as if fixing the location.
Several such flights may be taken before she really takes a long one.
Finally, however, she leaves the entrance and flies in ever-increasing
circles upward, and, if there are drones in the apiary or near by, she
is usually mated. The height to which she flies and the distance from
the hive at which she meets the drone depend entirely on circum-
stances; it may be near at hand or even a couple of miles away. This
is a matter very difficult of observation, naturally, but the mating has
often been observed by chance. It is a very simple matter to see the
first circles of the virgin on leaving the hive entrance, and if drones
are plentiful it is not hard to see that many of them start after her.
Anyone can verify so much; the rest depends on chance observations......
.......SELECTION OF DRONES.
The selection of drones is one of the things in which the vast
majority of bee keepers are notoriously careless. Queen breeders
will select a breeding queen with great care and allow her progeny to
mate with drones from any hive in the apiary, and just as long as this
is done there can be no advance in the types. Drones should not be
allowed to fly except from colonies where the queens are prolific and
the bees good workers, and just as much care should be exercised in
the choice of colonies for the production of drones as for breeding.
THE REARING OF QUEEN BEES by EF Phillips 1905.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...lLCTUYs0OT3ZmQ
Last edited by prakel; 23-11-2015 at 10:52 AM.
Haven't looked at the video yet (it is a busy few days) but the comments on drones were on drones out on mating flights from a home base and are discussed here:
The flight characteristics of drones in relation to mating
Joseph R. Goelho
Bee Science 1996
'Most studies show that the average length of time spent in a mating flight by a drone is -30 min. (reviewed by Witherell 1971), which represents 81% of the theoretically available time. Drones routinely reach congregation areas 5 km from the natal colony, and occasionally as far as 5 km, while virgin queens probably fly only 2-3 km on mating flights (Ruttner and Ruttner 1966). Yet matings routinely occur between drones and queens whose natal colonies are l2 km apart, and occasionally up to 17 km apart (Taylor, Kinsolver, and Otis 1986). Drones return from mating flights with virtually empty honey crops (Ruttn er 1966, Coelho, unpublished observations). These observations suggest that drones commonly use all of the time and range available to them from their energy stores, perhaps retaining a small amount of fuel as a safety lactor. The energetic strategy of drones appears to be that ol utilizing nearly completely the energy stores on a given flight, returning to the hive, refueling, then taking another flight. In this way as many as eight flights may be taken in one day (Witherell l97l). '
That's an interesting excerpt Gavin (I'll read the full paper later -time's short for me too), as I understand it, the Koeniger's results showed drones favouring closer DCAs because of their need to refuel and get back onto the wing as quickly as possible to enhance their chance of mating whereas a queen could afford to fly further afield as she may only need ten minutes or so actual mating time once she gets to the DCA and of course the odds are stacked in her favour compared to those of an individual drone.
Last edited by prakel; 25-11-2015 at 09:30 AM.
...and another:
She may take one or more oientation flights to mark the location of her hive within three to five days after she has emerged from her cell and mating sometimes occus on these flights.
'Queen Rearing' by Laidlaw & Eckert 1950
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks