# Carrying dead bees.



## rmaro (Feb 22, 2011)

How far from the hive do they carry the dead?
I saw one fly out of my top bar hive and the last I saw at about 30 yards was still carrying it.


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## ken rice (Apr 28, 2010)

It really varies,I've seen them dump them just out front, and I've seen them fly away with them.


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## Oldbee (Sep 25, 2006)

_"Undertakers respond to the odor of the dead, locating the bodies and carrying them out of the hive for 50 to 100 meters before dropping them. The researchers also monitored how swiftly undertakers worked." > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1997/09/970910052734.htm_

100 meters equals 328 feet, so 30 yards is about right. I have seen them crawl off the landing board with a dead bee but then crawl up some nearby vegetation and try to fly off again. It seems sometimes their legs get tangled up. I have seen them fly away quite far also.


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## BeeGhost (May 7, 2011)

I watched mine do the same, fly off about 30 yards or so before I lost sight of them.


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## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

My girls must be lazy, they drop them right off the deck onto my roof, (I have rooftop hives). In their defense, it's extremely windy beyond the 6 foot wind-barrier I made for them so they probably would have a very hard time carrying them beyond that.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

Maybe that was to bee a "Burial at Sea"!


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

If possible, they like to move them quite a distance. It's surprising how far they go.


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## rmaro (Feb 22, 2011)

the funny thing is it was a drone.. you should have seen her trying to maintain alt.


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

I have seen it both ways, although they mostly just dump them off the edge, I have seen piles afew feet away, too.
LtlWilli


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## Omie (Nov 10, 2009)

I figure on any particular days dozens or hundreds of bees will hatch and a similar number will die. On rainy days, my bees sometimes just drag the dead onto the landing board temporarily and leave them there until dry weather. At first whenever I saw this, i thought a lot of bees were dying or drowning on rainy days, but then I realized the housekeepers were just unable to fly away with the usual daily corpses in the rain.
A friend of mine just got her first bees last week. She phoned me today all worried because there were 6 dead bees on her landing board. She thought her hive had some disease but it was just a typical rainy day scenario.


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## msapostol (Sep 6, 2008)

I've seen both also: pushing a dead bee out the front entrance and flying away. I'm amazed at their strength. Can you imagine flying away with someone your own weight?


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## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

I wondered what was going on with dead bees on the deck when it rained. I was trying to figure out HOW they were drowning :s...duh  

Thanks for the enlightenment!!


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## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

Has anyone noticed what they do with top-entrance hives? My hives have top entrance holes and it seems they can't always keep up with the dead as easily. I have seen them carry a few out and drop them.


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## Peaches (Jun 8, 2011)

Paul,

I would keep the bottom entrances and when the bees get flooded then they have the top entrances to use as backup.


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