PaleoPerson
Field Bee
On the 16th of July, I collected a swarm and hived it and things have been ok since.
Very nice gentle colony, do not need smoke and only use thin latex gloves to keep propolis off my hands during inspections.
The thing that makes them different from my other colonies (apart from all of the above) is the way the guard bees act. All my other colonies wait until a wasp tries to get into the hive, has a fight at the entrance and sees the wasp off. These ones attack in advance. They see the wasp approach and launch an airborne attack from 150-300mm away and hit them in the air, giving them no chance to land.
Is this normal behaviour or is normal what the other 12 colonies are doing?
I certainly prefer this approach and it is very entertaining to watch.
Very nice gentle colony, do not need smoke and only use thin latex gloves to keep propolis off my hands during inspections.
The thing that makes them different from my other colonies (apart from all of the above) is the way the guard bees act. All my other colonies wait until a wasp tries to get into the hive, has a fight at the entrance and sees the wasp off. These ones attack in advance. They see the wasp approach and launch an airborne attack from 150-300mm away and hit them in the air, giving them no chance to land.
Is this normal behaviour or is normal what the other 12 colonies are doing?
I certainly prefer this approach and it is very entertaining to watch.