Urban Beekeeping: Orientation flights

Urban beekeeping!
Orientation flights are my favorite things! They are such a beautiful thing to watch. I’m lucky to have hives so close to my home in my backyard because being able to observe them over the past several years has taught me a lot. wait until a bee crawls across my camera lens
During orientation flights the bees that have been inside the hive come out for the first time and learn how to come back to the hive after foraging. This graduation from nurse/inside hive bees comes a couple weeks after they emerge. They will spend the last few weeks foraging and collecting supplies to keep their colony going long after they exist.
Bees remind us to be present and they remind us of the cycle of life. Albeit brief, it can be meaningful in big ways.