We just got our bees on Saturday. Sunday evening I saw a bee come and land on the entrance board. He then would take a few steps straight forward. Then steps straight back. He went back and forth for quite a while. No wiggle or anything. Just forward and back. This morning, I was watching the hive and I saw these bees come out of the reduced entrance at a pretty good speed and straight down into the grass. I picked up one of them and they are dead. No legs, no nothing. And they are almost a clear grey. The bees in the hive threw them out with amazing force. I must have mafia bees. Jason
The wiggling generally takes place inside the hive, on the surface of a comb. At the entrance, she was most likely learning the feel of her new home. As to the dumped bees, it sounds unusual. A picture or two might help clarify what the story is.
Okay. I'll take some pics when I get home tonight. I hope they haven't decided that they just want to kill each other. Jason
jason said: "I picked up one of them and they are dead. No legs, no nothing. they are almost a clear grey. The bees in the hive threw them out with amazing force. I must have mafia bees. and "I hope they haven't decided that they just want to kill each other." this is a larval state you are describing and most likely chilled brood or chalkbrood. a photograph as ef said would help and also an examination of your frames and description of what you are seeing. were your bees, a package, or a nuc hive? the bees are doing what they are supposed to with regards to hygenics and housecleaning, that is a good sign. ("throwing them out with amazing force.")
If they were a light gray in color sounds like they had not hatched out yet. Could be chilled brood or hygienic bees cleaning out some messed up brood. The back and forth on the front of the hive sounds like washboarding.
I'll take some pictures tonight. It was nuc that I got this past weekend. These dead or never alive bees are about the same size as the bees that threw them out. As for the danging bee, it was going towards the entrance and back. the forward again. Is washboarding a bad thing? Or was it just having fun bopping to the beat in it's little head? Jason
Those are drones, they are just pitching them out cause they are not needed or they might have varoa mites. Washboarding is a good thing.
PS...if it was a nuc you just bought and transferred over to some ten frame stuff, you could have smushed some of the drone cells since they tend to be built in odd places most times.
rw02kr43 writes... These dead or never alive bees are about the same size as the bees that threw them out. tecumseh: sounds more like pupae stage stuff and not larvae. could be damage to the brood from moving or lack of feed <I think in a different thread you stated that you were feeding this new hive?
