Notes from a talk by Dr Stephen Fleming – co-editor of Beecraft magazine; he keeps his bees on Watership Down.
Back in October Stephen spoke to a group of us gathered for the Cornwall Beekeepers’ Association and West Cornwall Beekeepers’ Association annual conference. I meant to write about it sooner but then life got in the way!
It was a lovely talk, all about drone congregation areas (DCAs) – places high up in the sky where male bees (drones) gather to find queens. You can read Stephen’s perfectly named article ‘The Scilly game of drones’ on the Beecraft website, where he talks about whether drones will cross the choppy Cornish seas in search of a queen.
Stephen told us that the first person to document DCAs was the famous naturalist Gilbert White, in his diary ‘A Natural History of Selborne – Observations’ – 28 June 1792. He picked the sound up a year before his death, even when his hearing was bad. White could hear a loud audible humming of bees as he walked, without being able to see them.
The sound is still there today. A recording made by Stephen on the same down that White walked was played on Paddy O’Connell’s show, BBC Radio 4 (25th June 2017) – on the 225 year anniversary of Gilbert White hearing it. If you have a listen from 41 minutes in you will hear the incredibly clear sound of the drones.
It is believed RI Crowley in 1892 was the first person to realise that the phenomenon was a DCA.
The talk included a number of gorgeous clips of the drones flying in congregation. One was from ‘More than Honey’ (2012) by Markus Imhoof, which I’d forgotten I reviewed back in 2013! Stephen then went on to answer a series of questions he posed:
How do they know where to go?
How the drones choose a DCA is still a big mystery. There are a number of theories:
- Magnetism?
- Polarised light?
- Light intensity?
- Thermals – air rising up a slope?
- Pheromone trails?
Don’t forget, drones only live a few months on average, so older drones are not showing younger drones where to meet. There must be some instinctive behaviour that lures them to these locations in search of virgin queens. Stephen feels thermals are at least one of the factors involved.
How many drones in a DCA?
Stephen mentioned that a formulae you can use to estimate the number of drones in a DCA will be in a Beecraft magazine issue soon. A couple of estimates he has made ranged between 1,782-2,045 in one area and 2,051-2,554 in another.
He went on to tell us how to go hunting for DCAs ourselves…
What you need
- Synthetic 9-ODA, painted onto a queen cage (he said that unfortunately this is not easy to get, however you only need a tiny amount!)
Or a spare caged queen - Extendable carbon fishing rod, 3-4 metres long
- UAV drone (radio controlled drone)
Preparation
- OS map
- Google Earth
- Knowledge of local apiaries
- Look for grasslands rather than woods, as it is easier to see the DCAs without tree canopies
When to go
Stephen has found 3-5pm is the peak in the DCAs he visits in southern England, with the drones arriving first before the queens. However, other beekeepers he knows in Northumberland have said their peak time is earlier – around lunchtime. He feels it’s possible people researching DCAs may tend to generalise too much based on their own experiences, whereas there may be a lot of regional variations based on local geography.
In his experiences, the ideal summer’s day for DCA finding is 19C+ temperature, with a breeze. He will go out looking for them between 2-5.30pm. There are only a few of these ideal days each year. On days without a breeze he does not find DCAs; his theory is that drones prefer to fly into a breeze as it gives them better control over their flight.
Have you ever come across a DCA? It must be a wonderful sound to hear on a beautiful summer’s day.
Adventuresinbeeland's Blog 
You might be interested in joining DARG, the Devon Apicultural Research Group. In the winter we meet every couple of months at Buckfast Abbey’s bee shed, usually with a speaker. In the summer we visit various sites. We had a couple of sessions looking for drone congregation areas with the bait dangling from a balloon. We have members from Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset.
LikeLike
Thanks Chris – that sounds lots of fun! It’s a bit hard for me to get away often though, between working full time and two small kids 🙂
LikeLike
Wow, how fascinating 🐝
LikeLike
Yes! Lots to learn about the bee world still 🙂
LikeLike
I admit much of this goes right over my head (pun), but I can sort of understand it if I equate the sites to malls of old as DCAs for humans . . . I have no idea where they now gather since malls have fallen into disfavor (at least here).
Anyway, it is interesting, and while it’s not specifically stated for the natural occurrence (when humans are not luring them with fake pheromone signals), I assume the drones are lured by potential queens who are already at the site and waiting for them.
LikeLike
Ha ha yes, Stephen did say it’s their equivalent of discos. Where teenagers here meet I’m not sure, maybe in Burger King or the park!
I think he said the drones arrive first and the queens slightly later. So the drones are already milling about in big groups waiting for the scent of the queen. When she arrives it’s game on and the fastest drones win the privilege of having their body snapped apart in mid air 🙂
LikeLike
So, very human-like, then.
On a serious note, what attracts the queen? The scent of randy drones, the noise they make, or visual clues (apparently, they’re good dancers)?
I assume it must be drone pheromones. I’m sure there’s more to it that I don’t understand (me not being a bee and all), but the outdoors is big, so I’m still amazed they find each other, given there can’t be that many queens wandering around looking for drones.
LikeLike
Sorry for the late reply – life keeps getting in the way of WordPress. Only the worker bees dance to tell each other about nectar locations, I’m afraid the drones have no rhythm. It’s under researched and still quite mysterious what attracts the queen, but pheromones is a good bet on your part as they play a big role in bee life.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for an interesting blog, Emily. Yes, it amazing how drones find their way to the DCA’s given that they only live for around 4 weeks max (individual drones) and there doesn’t appear to be any communication doing on between them about finding DCAs. But who knows? Woodgate et al have made some recent discoveries using harmonic radio tracking about flyways and drones visiting several DCAs on one afternoon.
LikeLike
Thanks Ann, will take a look at that research 🙂
LikeLike
Hello Emily,
I really appreciate your blog post. I am doing a research project to find DCAs, do you know where I can obtain 9-ODA, or will TempQueen QMP pheromone work as well. I have attached a blog post where a person used this, do you think it will work?https://mapmydca.com/finding-dcas/
LikeLike
Hi Rita, that’s brilliant that you are doing research into this! I’ve not bought 9-ODA myself; think it would be best if you contact Stephen through Beecraft and ask for his advice – https://www.bee-craft.com/contact-us
LikeLike
Where I live, I notice the drones leaving the hive together usually around 2 o’clock. I’d love to go on a DCA hunt with someone who knows what they’re doing.
I recently got my hands on a drone (the little helicopter, not the bee). I hope to use it this summer to film a DCA. I’ll prepare for it once I have access to a virgin queen. The plan is to put the queen in a cage attached to the drone-copter and fly it at the right time of day to where I think there might be a DCA, and then film the drones coming in for the queen.
There is little shortage of breezeless days where I live close to ocean, so that should work in my benefit. I knew keeping bees next to the ocean would pay off some day.
LikeLike
Ah how lovely and very exciting! Which part of the world do you live in?
LikeLike