Orientation Flights

[Terri Yaki]

I know there are several (at least) threads on orientation flights but none of the ones that I dug into answered my question...How often will there be orientation flights? Lately, it seems like it's an every day thing in my 'hood and logically, it stands to reason. Let's dig a little deeper while we're at it. How many eggs does the queen lay per day and does she lay eggs every day or does she just lay them when the others request it? If she lays them every day, then I would expect bees to be in every stage of their life every day and orientation flights would take place every day. Except research suggests that they only take them weather permitting. I had a cloudy afternoon here but they held an orientation class just the same.

[FatherMichael]

Sometimes what we see are cleansing flights.  All bees have to do that.

I don't know if all bees become field bees who need orientation flights.

[BeeMaster2]

Terri,
If there is a good flow on or spring build up is going on, the queen will bee laying as many cells that the bees can cover. If you have a strong hive that can bee between 2000 to 3000 eggs per day. 
Jim Altmiller

[Terri Yaki]

Whoa, that's more than I expected, like two or three times more. So, every day there should be two or three thousand bees progressing through their lives and taking orientation flights? It looks like numbers out front are increasing but I won't go back in until Friday to see how they look, weather permitting.

[The15thMember]

If she lays them every day, then I would expect bees to be in every stage of their life every day and orientation flights would take place every day.

This is how I would characterize the situation.  Orientation flights for my bees are almost always an afternoon affair, maybe from like 2:30-5:00, every day, as long as they haven't had a brood break, the weather is good, and it's flying season.  Bees who are orienting will be hovering in front of the hive just studying it or flying in ever-widening circles around the hive. 

Except research suggests that they only take them weather permitting. I had a cloudy afternoon here but they held an orientation class just the same.

Weather permitting means "as long as it's not raining or below 60 degrees".  Clouds are no problem for bees.  With their ultraviolet vision, they can see the polarized light of the sun through the clouds, so they can basically see the sun's location unless the cloud cover is exceedingly dense.  And that would basically only be when it's raining and they can't go out anyway. 

[Michael Bush]

>.How often will there be orientation flights?

Every nice afternoon.