Tails Up

Last night I used my new bee suit in a real-life, protection-required situation; moving the swarm bees out of their temporary box and into their new hive.

Everything went smoothly, and so far the bees seem happy enough in their new home. The flash has frozen these bees in action, but the wings of the bees with their tails up are actually a blur to our eyes. They are fanning pheromones into the air to let the rest of the bees know where the hive entrance is.

The bees at the top left of the picture, who fell beside the hive instead of inside it, are following the pheromone trail to get back inside the hive.