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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Last post by Terri Yaki on Today at 07:22:48 pm »My hives have that side door that I can open and look in at the outer frame. My nuc was five frames in the middle with three empty frames to one side and two empty frames on the other side. The side with two empty frames is the side that the port is on. I have looked in there every couple of days and there was nothing going on but today it was pretty full of workers. I didn't have my bee jacket on so I didn't spend much time looking in there. That being their first day in there, there wasn't anything to see anyway.
Then around 1630, the hive got real quiet out front for some reason and it seemed odd to me. I opened the port on the top box where they syrup is being served and everything looked normal in there. Then...suddenly...an orientation class beegan and bees came pouring out the entrance like water over Niagara Falls. I saw a couple of them on the grass trying their best to get back in the air but based on what I saw, it's not happening. I looked at their wings and they did not look deformed. Given the number of students in the class, I figure two or three that can't fly is probably not excessive.
I caught what I suspect was an SHB crawling on the outside of the hive. It was a flat black beetle about 1/8", maybe 3/16" in diameter. My ant trap isn't catching a lot of ants but it got a few. I moved it to another spot that was seeing more activity so I'll see what tomorrow brings. And tomorrow, I make my second inspection. I'm going to try to look hard for mites and beetles this time around.
Then around 1630, the hive got real quiet out front for some reason and it seemed odd to me. I opened the port on the top box where they syrup is being served and everything looked normal in there. Then...suddenly...an orientation class beegan and bees came pouring out the entrance like water over Niagara Falls. I saw a couple of them on the grass trying their best to get back in the air but based on what I saw, it's not happening. I looked at their wings and they did not look deformed. Given the number of students in the class, I figure two or three that can't fly is probably not excessive.
I caught what I suspect was an SHB crawling on the outside of the hive. It was a flat black beetle about 1/8", maybe 3/16" in diameter. My ant trap isn't catching a lot of ants but it got a few. I moved it to another spot that was seeing more activity so I'll see what tomorrow brings. And tomorrow, I make my second inspection. I'm going to try to look hard for mites and beetles this time around.
Don't worry, I sincerely doubt it's that. I'm under the impression that laying workers act more like queens and don't leave the nest. And even if they do continue foraging activity, I don't know why they'd be looking for a place to live. Also, normal bees not allowing in laying workers is nothing to be concerned about. When you do a shakeout, that is your goal.