Hi all,
I lured a swarm a few months ago into an empty hive box in my backyard. They were small to start but have been building up steadily and collecting honey.
Over the past week or so I've noticed that particularly in the afternoon that there are heaps of bees walking around in the garden and on the lawn across an approx. 5 meter area in front of the hive (rough guess over 100 bees). I've watched one of them climb up a small shrub in front of the hive, fall down on the ground, and try crawling up again. With the naked eye they look ok, and seem to be walking around at a reasonable pace.
Dr Google has suggested in might be Tracheal Mites, but I've since discovered they don't exist in Australia.
I'm in Sydney and we have been suffering through an ongoing heatwave, with consistent temps in the high 30's-low 40's (Celsius) for the past couple of weeks.
I have another hive on the other side of the yard that is older and more established, and they are not showing this sort of behaviour.
Does anyone have a similar experience or theory on what it might be? They have a water source nearby.
Thanks
Jim