Can a queen play possum, or I have a dead queen :(

[Jen]

Evening Iddee- I witnessed 10 swarms leave the hive, any 1 out of 3, get airborne and cluster on the bank behind our house. There may have been more than that tho.

[efmesch]

Just wondering---could it be that those 2 out of three that don't "get airborne and cluster" are actually incidents of large masses of bees making orientation flights?
On this past Friday I was working in my garden and heard sounds that made me think a swarm was coming/leaving.  When I looked carefully, I found one of my collected swarms from ealier this year with a larger than usual number of bees flying around the entrance.  Despite the swarming sound, watching them for about five minutes convinced me that they were just orientating.   Half an hour later it was "business as usual".

[Jen]

Hi Ef ~ Well that is certainly something to consider. The thing is, it depends on what you would call 'large masses'. Most of my swarms once landed averaged about 2 pounds of bees.

How many pounds of bees can one deep hold?

[efmesch]

A well populated deep could probably hold about 7 lbs of bees give or take a pound  (or two?)
I say this after a not very successful Google search for a clear answer. 

[Jen]

Ef- So the majority of the swarms I witnessed were a healthy 2 pounds of bees. There is 3,000 - 4,000 bees in one pound. To answer your question on if these swarms or some of them could have been large orientation flights... that would be a minimum of 6,000 bees airborne and orienting. Would that be possible? Wow!


Riverrat - a 3 lb package is a little smaller than a football

Bsweet - I would compare it to a large grapefruit. depends on if they wear yoga pants or eat alot of fast food. Jim

[efmesch]

Jen----- that would be a minimum of 6,000 bees airborne and orienting. Would that be possible?
Ef----Not too likely.
We need Iddee to set us right on the statistics.

[Jen]

Iiiiiiiiddeeeeee, knock knock, anyone home 

[barry42001]

couldn't imagine a 6000 bee orientation flight

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