drifting

[Martha]

How many hives in a row will cause a drifting problem?

I have heard about putting a marker. Like a piece of cloth on each hive hanging from the lid - each a different solid color - the bees will note the "address" of their home. Is this true? Anybody tried?

What else can you do to decrease the chance of drifting?

Thanks!
Martha

[Michael Bush]

I don't spend a lot of time worrying about it. I guess I have a nice enough assortment of colors and fruit trees in the apiary to act as landmarks. Different colors are helpful. Shapes are also helpful if you want to paint a design on the front of each hive.

I have all my hives pretty much in a row and that's in a row of fruit trees fenced off in my pasture.

You can just use it to your advantage. Put your weakest hive on the end they like to drift to. smile.gif

[power napper]

>How many hives in a row will cause a drifting problem?

more than one, not a wise guy answer but under the right (or wrong) conditions drifting can occur, the closer the hives are together the more often it occurs.

>I have heard about putting a marker. Like a piece of cloth on each hive hanging from the lid - each a different solid color - the bees will note the "address" of their home. Is this true? Anybody tried?

Bees recognize unique or different shapes and colors with the exception of red.

>What else can you do to decrease the chance of drifting?

Arrange your colonies in a semi-circle or spread out more loosely, not congested. make some colored squares, circles, traingles, colored lines, zig zags or whatever to set the individual hives uniqueness. Or paint each hive a different color.

Hope this helps--just my opinion.

[BubbaBob]

As has been said, bees recognize colors except red, but the particularily attune to blue and yellow. Also, while they recognize different shapes, they spot circles, triangles, and vertical parallel lines best. The bee lab at the univ of ga uses those colors and shapes, scattered randomly, to prevent drifting in their research hives.

BubbaBob