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It can happen if there are a number of hives in the same area. It is a process that beekeepers call drifting.

When a worker bee returns from foraging it will normally return to its own hive, but occasionally it may confuse another hive for its own, or for some reason it may not be able to get into its own hive in which case it will look for another hive nearby. As it lands at the hive entrance it will be checked by the guard bees and if the newcomer is carrying nectar or pollen and behaves submissively it will be allowed to enter. Drones (males) seem to have no particular hive loyalty and are allowed entrance to any hive.

Drifting is undesirable to a beekeeper because if one hive has contracted a disease it is a process by which the disease could be carried to other hives. Ways of reducing drifting include spacing the hives apart, pointing the entrances in different directions, painting the hives different colours and/or painting different geometric shapes on the front of the hive.

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15y ago

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