1979] Seeley, Morse & Visscher — Honey Bee Swarms 
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line of markers was complete for the nearer nest site, but did not 
reach the farther one. Unbroken stretches of poison ivy shrubs 
(Rhus toxicodendron) prevented us from extending the line of 
spaced stakes beyond 390 m. We timed the swarm’s passing of each 
distance marker when the swarm cloud’s center was over a marker. 
Observations at the swarm cluster and nest site were coordinated 
using walkie-talkies. Because events unfolded very rapidly during 
swarm flights, we recorded our observations using continuously- 
running tape recorders. 
The flight velocity of the Dyce Lab swarm was measured using a 
different technique than described above. We placed the swarm on a 
cross just as already described, but allowed it to select a nest site 
freely in the woodlands about the laboratory. We measured its flight 
velocity by sprinting along beneath the flying swarm and periodi¬ 
cally jabbing marker stakes in the ground. Time intervals between 
stakes were recorded by carrying a continuously-running tape 
recorder and noting aloud the moment of each stake’s placement; 
distance intervals were later measured using a steel tape. Unfortu¬ 
nately, because of fences and tracts of brush, we could not follow 
the swarm all the way to its nest site. 
Labelling Scout Bees. A fraction of the scout bees in the Appledore 
Island swarm were labelled before the swarm’s first flight by paint¬ 
ing a blue dot on every bee that danced for our nestbox. The paint 
was shellac mixed with artist’s pigment, as described by von Frisch 
(1967). 
Results and Discussion 
1. Return of Scouts from Nest Site to Swarm Cluster 
Observations made during studies of nest site hunting by honey 
bees (Lindauer 1955, Seeley 1977) suggested that once a swarm has 
decided which nest to occupy, the next step in the swarm movement 
process is the return of the scouts at the nest site to the swarm 
cluster. To document this phenomenon we made a count every 30 
sec, starting 75 min before the swarm lifted off, of the number of 
scouting bees visible at the nest site. To simultaneously monitor the 
accumulation of scouts back at the swarm, we made periodic counts 
of the number of blue-marked scouts visible on the swarm cluster. 
The return of the scouts is clearly shown in Fig. 1. Starting about 
30 min before lift-off the number of bees at the nestbox began to 
decline; the number of marked scouts on the swarm was simultane- 
