Yesterday, I noticed that the colony to the north is expelling its drones. This is a bit unusual, I would think, for July. As I watched, in the space of about 10 minutes, I saw two drones carried out dead and another two "ridden" out of the hive by a sister, with the worker trying to sting the drone all the way.
Today, I saw the same parade of rejected drones, some carried out already dead, others being driven out. I posted on the Beesource forum, hoping someone else had an explanation for this. So far, one person has blamed mites, and another said a poster on another forum suggest supersedure going on. I've never heard of drones being expelled just because the bees had decided to replace their queen.
Driving out the drones suggests that the colony is under stress, but what sort? They're bringing in nectar and pollen, and their numbers look good. The second colony is thriving and having no issues.
I opened the hive today. They were defensive, and I was glad I wore my jacket. I went into the top brood chamber, but didn't manage to find any eggs. By the time I got that far, the bees were getting "sticky," and clouds were covering the sun, so I decided to back off and wait for better weather. There is no queen excluder on that hive, so the queen may be up in the honey supers laying. I think I'll break it down and find her this week, and see what's going on.
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1 comments:
Gosh, your site is phenomenal. I've been wanting to learn more about beekeeping and it looks like you can teach me something.
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Thanks. Again, I love your site, I'm marking it as a favorite.
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