The cryogenic losses in a 30° bend of a transfer line manufactured by the company l'Air Liquide for the helium supply to superconducting cavities at interaction point 2 in the Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP) were studied as function of the surface temperature distribution. The possibility of using an infrared (IR) temperature-measurement system to estimate the losses was evaluated. Two different coatings of paint on the pipe were tested in a laboratory environment in order to minimize reflection of thermal radiation from the pipe surface. Colour images were recorded from an operating transfer-line bend in a LEP service tunnel. Heat transfer calculations of the losses from the bend surface were made and compared with calculations of internal conduction.