Bumblebee intruder!

[itma]

Saw something odd round the hives today.
A bumblebee trying to get in. Pretty determined too.

I saw something a bit big being tumbled out of one hive and went over to see what was happening.
Having been ejected from one hive it then settled on the landing board of another before being moved on - returning foragers seemed to make a point of landing on it!
It had a look under the hives, then went straight for the (restricted) entrance on a hive - and was ejected again moments later. After which I lost sight of it.

Really don't know what it thought it was doing. Robbing? Or was it a cuckoo bumbebee trying to take over the wrong sort of colony? Or what?

Looked pretty ordinary - white tail tip, black above that, with some buff towards the head. Fairly fast flying for a bumble, and I wasn't veiled so not very close - so not properly ID'd.


Watching this, I was reminded of the responses on the very recent "Bumblebee Import" threads saying that there was no way any diseases carried by a bumble could possibly be transferred to honeybees. Yeah, right.


But I have to say, I've never seen this before.
Has anyone else seen this behaviour?

 

[stephenpug]

yes sounds like the same breed (white tail) we even had them nesting in our bay window but after advice on here i just left them alone and my bees sorted them out when they had enough of them
BUT i have just been up to the hive and there are several wasps about so i put the entrance reducers on a bit sharpish

 

[MuswellMetro]

Saw something odd round the hives today.
A bumblebee trying to get in. Pretty determined too.

I saw something a bit big being tumbled out of one hive and went over to see what was happening.
Having been ejected from one hive it then settled on the landing board of another before being moved on - returning foragers seemed to make a point of landing on it!
It had a look under the hives, then went straight for the (restricted) entrance on a hive - and was ejected again moments later. After which I lost sight of it.

Really don't know what it thought it was doing. Robbing? Or was it a cuckoo bumbebee trying to take over the wrong sort of colony? Or what?

Looked pretty ordinary - white tail tip, black above that, with some buff towards the head. Fairly fast flying for a bumble, and I wasn't veiled so not very close - so not properly ID'd.


Watching this, I was reminded of the responses on the very recent "Bumblebee Import" threads saying that there was no way any diseases carried by a bumble could possibly be transferred to honeybees. Yeah, right.


But I have to say, I've never seen this before.
Has anyone else seen this behaviour?

yes, i saw a bombus hypnorum the new non native tree bumble bee do the same at one of my hives they are now common in london and more agrrresive than our bumble...bl88dy french invaders

 

[Hivemaker.]

But I have to say, I've never seen this before.
Has anyone else seen this behaviour?

More times than i would like to count.

 

[Margaret Elisabeth]

I have also seen bumbles trying to get into my hives one at the entrance and one during an inspection, cheeky So and so's the girls saw them off both times.

 

[beebreeder]

had to do a cut out in a shed wall cavity three weeks ago for the landowner of one of my sites. I wish I had taken some pics now as the honeybees were trafficing through the bumblebee nest on route for their own, the two nests were about six inches apart in the wall cavity and were living in harmony.

 

[user 6228]

moving a partly filled comb back to the house a fcouple of the hive's bees were still left on it... next thing a bumble was on it slurping away and couldnt be shook off.
A small piece of fondant left on the landing board... the hive bees all over it.
A bumble trys to muscle in and get some. She got told to push off in no uncertain terms