Homing ability of the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris

The ability of bumblebees to locate their nest site following artificial displacement was\ninvestigated. Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae) workers were marked with numbered tags and\ndisplaced up to 15 km from their nest. Bees returned from distances of up to 9.8 km, with the proportion\nof bees returning declining with distance of the release site from the nest. Bees were slow to return\nto their nests, often taking several days when even the most distant sites were all within 1 h direct flight\ntime. These findings concur with those of earlier studies on various Hymenoptera, and they are\nconsistent with previous suggestions that the most probable homing mechanism is a systematic\nsearch until familiar landmarks are encountered. Our results also suggest that the natural foraging range\nof B. terrestris may span several km.