Books, Paintings and Illustrations
Bees, Horses, Birds, British Wildlife & Countryside animals
1.1
The Incredible Foraging Map
When Izzie Lizzie is flying around the countryside, she knows precisely where she is going...
Local Foraging Maps and Repeat Journeys
Honey bees don’t casually fly around for the fun of it. They are on a mission over summer to collect nectar and pollen, which is the food they need for energy.
They are precise foragers. When they leave the hive, they make repeat journeys many times a day to the same batches of flowers.
Honey bees have personal experience of where the flowers are. They can remember landmarks, such as roads, hills, trees and even buildings. Bees have mental ‘foraging maps’ with all this information, which helps them go straight to certain flowers.
When you see them flying around in the garden, they already know where they’re going and they also know how to get there. They work like this because they are efficient. They don’t waste energy looking for flowers. They forage within a local area of about 1-3 miles from the hive.
Izzie Lizzie is a regular visitor to the farmland and gardens around her hive. She is as much a part of the ‘neighbourhood’ as the other animals, birds and local people. She will also remember a friendly or not so friendly face!
The map shows Izzie Lizzie's local area. You can see Izzie's apiary is down at the bottom to the left of the map. There are a few hives along the side of hedgerow. Opposite is the farmer's house and garden, where the honey bees will find flowers in June. Beyond the farmhouse, there are fields with different flowers to collect nectar and pollen from.
But for now, it's winter and Izzie is in her hive keeping warm.