Random Observations

I've spent a lot of "blog" time recounting specific tasks or adventures I've had since I've had my bees, but I don't know if I've successfully conveyed how amazing these little creatures are. To the point that I can lose myself for quite a space of time just watching them. A neighbor, on seeing me in my chair intently staring at the hive asked me one day when the show would start. I couldn't think of a witty comeback at the time but I could have said 'It goes on all day!' Often, by paying close attention, you can see some pretty fascinating things that are a part of the bees day-to-day business. I find it very entertaining. So I thought that this time around I would share some of my random observations.

* Watching the entrance the other day, I saw a worker wrestle a dead bee out of the hive and drag it to the edge of the landing board. Then, using all of its strength, it half flew it, half threw it out into the grass in front of the hive.

* With the hive-top feeders on, I can take the top cover off for a short time and watch the bees in action under their screened enclosure as they slurp up the syrup. The adventure begins when I initially pour the (now) 2 gallons of syrup into the feeder. There are always bees loitering around at the bottom of the enclosure licking up whatever sugar residue there might be on the floor of the feeder once it has gone dry. When I pour in the new syrup, I do it slowly so that as many bees as possible can climb up out of the way of the rising liquid. Most do. A few of them seem to get confused and will walk down into the syrup and after becoming completely submerged, will begin sucking until they drown! I've taken to using a tiny stick to prod them towards the surface and in this way I've saved a few. But there is always a half dozen that seem bent on drowning and they become little floaters for the other bees to work around. Not that the other bees seem to mind, of course. Interestingly, once the feeder goes dry, as it always does, they will remove their dead sisters. I have never encountered a dead bee once the syrup has run out.

* I observed another cool thing while watching them in the feeder. Bees build their comb with wax that is secreted from the underside of their abdomen. Yesterday, a bee who was suspended upside-down on the screen had a couple of wax scales protruding and while I watched, she took hold of one of them, transferred it to her mouth/mandibles, and there began working it into shape for comb. After chewing awhile, she disappeared into the hive. No doubt to add her contribution to some part of the comb.

* Another interesting thing to see involves once again, the hive-top feeder. With the top cover off, it seems you have five to ten minutes before the first outside bee will come to investigate the sweet aroma of the liquid. Yesterday, I watched to see how long it took for the news to spread to other bees. The first bee or two settled in to fill their tanks and then flew off. While others happened upon the scene by scent or accident, it was clear that word had been passed by the first scouts after several minutes because traffic began to pick up to the point that I decided enough was enough. I blew smoke into the feeder to disperse the growing crowd as much as possible and then replaced the cover before the little festival qualified as a feeding frenzy!

* When the bees are feeding on the syrup, they will generally hang upside down from the screen and extend their tongues into the sweet liquid. You can actually see their tongues working as they suck up the liquid. Some, though, will actually lie on the surface, as if floating in a pool and blissfully suck away at the liquid. I don't know if this is on purpose or they've just been knocked down there by the others and now figure 'well, I'm here, might as well tank up!' Woe to the bee that reaches the syrup and is followed by a pack of others just above them as they often get pushed right down into the drink unless they can fight their way back up the screen to safety.

* Often times, the front entrance will become so lively with activity that the bees actually crash into each other while coming and going. Stationed around the entrance, there is always a crew of guard bees checking credentials. They are all very serious about their job and gamely run around trying to keep up with the continuous traffic seeking to enter the hive. They will stand on their rear two pairs of legs, heads elevated and twirl around and around trying to check foragers who come roaring in, largely oblivious to them. For their trouble, they are usually knocked all about by their older sisters who have nothing more on their minds than to unload whatever burden they are carrying. Meanwhile, other bees, intent on leaving the hive for yet another mission, will, in their haste or as a result of some collision with an inbound bee, come rolling out of the hive on their backs. They heave wildly until they have righted themselves and then take off undaunted. There is no room for niceties at the entrance, it's get out of the way or get knocked down!

* This time of year there are many drones leaving the hive hoping to get lucky (if they only knew!) and their clumsy ways are always amusing. They are not as nimble on their feet as their sisters and come rumbling out of the hive and take off with a low buzz. When they fly by your head, you can mistake them for a bumble bee as the noise they make is distinctively different from the higher pitched workers. Maybe it's because they lack stingers and are less menacing as a result, but I am fond of them. It's a shame that their efficient sisters will give them the heave ho as soon as nature shuts off the nectar valve.

* About four or five in the afternoon, it seems to be playtime for the new foraging recruits. Yesterday, for example, there was an astonishing number of bees sailing all around the hives, swirling in a thick mass, facing the entrance. These bees are about to make the big leap from house bees to field bees and they are orienting on the hive to hard wire its distinct features into their little brains so that they can find it again when they begin making foraging runs. After 20 or 30 minutes the activity returns to normal with just the usual comings and goings.

* Inside the hive, you see some really interesting things. One of my favorites is seeing the nurse bees feeding larvae. There is probably no more attentive creature in the animal world to its young than the honey bee. They will make an average of 1300 visits per day to feed each larvae with secretions from glands in their heads, etc. Whenever you examine a frame with brood, you will see dozens of bees poking into a cell with only their tail end visable as they feed the babies. The fact that you have smoked them and pulled that particular frame out of their house doesn't faze them at all, they gotta do what they gotta do.

These are just a few of the things I've seen. But as you can see, if you are observant and take some time, the bees will provide you with quite a show.

P.S. Currently I have two shallow honey supers on each hive, with one of them completely filled with comb and curing honey in each. I added another chunk of pollen patty to each hive today and added four more gallons of sugar water yesterday. Sheesh! (June 26 - added four more gallons)

Perhaps appreciating my generosity (though probably not) the girls have sheathed their stingers for the time being, and so...

Sting count...holding at 12.