Bees having a ball?

[Elaine]

what are they up to here? killing something? but what ? It can't be very big!
piccy 1

piccy2

When I got home from work thre were about 30 bees (all workers) on the landing platform, and then about half an hour later they were like this - several bees deep! There are a few foragers still coming and going, without any apparent challenge. No sign of any wasps around - and no bodies on the ground.....

 

[Erichalfbee]

There isn't a queen under there is there?

 

[Elaine]

I really hope not!

The hive is a good healthy colony, inspected last Friday, with no queen cells apparent, still room on teh brood frames for laying, and still romm for stores in teh supers.

Should I try to dispurse them to see what the've got? Or are they like a cat with a toy, and get cross if you take it off them

 

[wwwcight]

i had that the other day too. can't shed any light on the reason though sorry.

 

[Elaine]

We've just been watching them as they have slowly dispersed back into the hive - no sign of any bodies of anything! BUT - did notice that there were several smaller darker coloured workers, who were being let in - do you think this could have been some sort of "mass interview" of some bees from another hive or swarm, looking for a job in a new hive? I've heard that workers from other hives are sometimes taken in.

 

[VEG]

you can get diff coloured bees from the same queen.

 

[wwwcight]

oh yes certainly. Queen mate with more than one drone on their mating flights. I have a mix in 2 of my hives.

 

[Polyanwood]

That picture looks like normal bee behaviour in the Summer, especially in the early evening they hang outside at the entrance.

 

[Elaine]

I know you can get variation in a hive - just I've not noticed any like this before during inspections.

Also - I've just had a look at them again - and there are stil about 20 or 30 bees around the entrance.... one almost dead (it looked dead, but when I checked using the hand lens could see movement, so put it back on the landing board) of the 'original' colour.

WARNING to all new beekepers, don't keep your bees in the garden where you can see them from the kitchen (especially if you also keep the binoculars in the kitchen) - you will spend far to much time wondering/worrying what they are up to! I must have spent the best part of this evening watching them

 

[Dishmop]

WARNING to all new beekepers, don't keep your bees in the garden where you can see them from the kitchen (especially if you also keep the binoculars in the kitchen) - you will spend far to much time wondering/worrying what they are up to! I must have spent the best part of this evening watching them

Perfection is a strategicaly placed swivel chair from where one can see the TV, the computer, the observation hive and the hives outside.

They're sitting outiside for the same reason that you might want to sit outside on a warm muggy summer evening.

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

Bees are not puppies, they will do their thing.
Just look in the hive once a week and you will see what they are up to and act as necessary...

Brian

 

[Elaine]

Unfortunately it's not a warm muggy evening - it's cold and wet! And was tipping it down while they were doing their thing on the landing board. If it was warm and sunny I'd have been out there with them, glass of wine in hand

 

[Dishmop]

Unfortunately it's not a warm muggy evening - it's cold and wet! And was tipping it down while they were doing their thing on the landing board. If it was warm and sunny I'd have been out there with them, glass of wine in hand

Problem solved then.

Its a teenage wind-up thing. They want you to be worried and ask "what wrong" so they can say "Nuthin. Leave me alone"

 

[Polyanwood]

The only time I had that happen (clustering outside when it was raining) was when thre were 2 queens in the hive, they wanted to swarm, but the weather was preventing them. If you blow on the bees to make them move, you might see a queen in that cluster.

 

[psafloyd]

My main hive has been doing the same thing this week.

 

[Elaine]

Bees are not puppies, they will do their thing.
Just look in the hive once a week and you will see what they are up to and act as necessary...

Brian

I know they are not puppies - and they are wild creatures and will do whatever they want, BUT, I have brought them into my garden, and have some duty of care towards them. I have got them partly with the intention of taking some of thier honey, but mainly because of my interest in them, and the way they live and interract with the environment. I have studied (many years ago) a biological subject to degree level, and recently done the local beekeeping course, but I am the first to agree that will only scrape the surface of the subject - hence my questions in this forum. I do try to only open the hive on a weekly basis, as I don't want to keep disturbing them (much as I would love to look more often) but I feel I can learn a lot by just watching from the 'outside'

 

[milkermel]

I knew there was something I had been doing wrong over the past years - mine are sheltered behind a row of conifers - can sit and watch unless outside - wish I had thought of this when I put them up!

 

[Pollybell]

The pictures of bearding could have been taken from my hive as my bees started doing exactly the same thing this week - even on a rainy evening. I added a super which was probably needed anyway. Everytning else seems fine.

 

[Elaine]

Weekly inspection was done today - and all seems fine.