Hi Paul and all,
Something occurred to me on the way to the forum ha ha. In fact I don't
know why this didn't occur to me sooner but hey-ho !
Just to set the scene.....I sent an e-mail a little while ago
documenting the postmortem of one of my hives. (I've attached a few of
the pictures again to illustrate). The e-mail was about one of my
colonies that absconded from a Warre due to relentless wasp attack last
September and subsequently, in the process of inspecting (postmortem)
the hive, I'd found that they'd clearly had a penchant for building comb
in a north south direction, (as does a daughter colony of this one).
I'm aware Paul that at the time I sent my e-mail you replied and pointed
out that there are other opinions on this subject that suggest other
bees might choose to build according to "other" preferences; east west,
or familial etc....however.... what occurred to me, (and why I'm
revisiting this idea), is that which ever direction their preference is,
it's clear that bees use "something" in order to replicate their
"chosen" direction. If that were not the case, their comb would
always be random from hive to hive and there would have been no reason
for them to have built comb in my Warre in any other direction, other
than that of their existing comb, after I'd moved it....but they did !
(see pictures attached ....Nb; the blue arrow is intended to indicate
where the entrance was in relation to the box and comb)..... That said....
Given that we know they use the Earths magnetic field to navigate, it
seems not so crazy to suggest that they must also use Earths magnetic
field in order to define a direction in which to build their comb,
whether that be in a north south direction or an east west or according
to how their granny built it in the hive they came from. .......
SO.... my "thoughts on the way to the forum" were,...... why don't we
simply *re*orientate a hive "with" the direction of choice of one's own
bees, once they've started building comb? IF they are starting to
cross comb,..... instead of trying to force them to build comb where
ever WE choose they should by using frames, comb guides, wax strips or
aunt Joan's washing line, WHY don't we simply reorientate the hive ITSELF ?
If we see that our bees are beginning to cross their comb, why not
simply turn the hive to align it with the bees chosen direction ? That
might mean several minor corrections as they build, in order to take
account of their start direction (usually along a straight "vertical"
edge/wall) as they move across the hive, but surely if we did this the
end result "should be" straight comb without the hassle ? (See the way
the bees in my Warre started building at right angles to the bars but
not quite in a north south direction because they were starting from the
*nearest* *straight "vertical" wall*. They then began to realign
subsequent comb into a north south direction as they moved across the
hive. To me that's a clear indication that they had a plan that didn't
coincide with my plan for them ! So why do we insist they follow OUR
PLAN instead of us following THEIR PLAN?
The only Proviso I would add is that in a top bar hive, the sloping
sides, (I think), confuse matters as the bees can't build vertical comb
along the sides with slopes and so will build at one end of the hive
where there is a vertical "wall" to follow. I've seen this, but then
they will swing round to try to build in their chosen direction and
hence crossing their comb.... and why wouldn't they if the hive isn't in
the orientation that they prefer?
It was certainly clear in my Warre that, after I relocated them to my
out apiary and therefore*reorientated the boxes* such that the bars NOW
aligned north south and the entrance faced due east,*the bees chose to
build their new comb* along the bars BUT***STILL in the same orientation
they'd been building it previously*, despite the fact that this meant
that their new comb was constructed at 90 degrees to their existing comb
in existing boxes. I don't think that they were at all interested in the
fact that the bars had comb guides at all, they just followed the plan
they already had in their little minds...... AND the same happened in
the daughter colony that I moved at the same time and placed along side
them.
I can't ignore this evidence Paul and I will experiment in future to see
if I can replicate it. If I can and everyone else is welcome to have a
go too, (after all what is there to lose?) then that would make a
massive difference to what we already teach about siting hives wouldn't it?
Ann
Attachment:
Bottom box showing change in direction to north south orientation.JPG
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Attachment:
Bottom box, crossed comb.jpg
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Attachment:
Third box-comb drawn at Bernwode out Apiary.jpg
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Attachment:
Bernwode bees Mother and daughter colonies Aug 2017-3a.jpg
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