drones don't have stingers I don't think. Not sure but I think not. They have been off looking for queens and if they found any they are tired and hungry. Swarm behavior, you have to look at the frames, if you see a lot of drone brood and multiple queen cells especially on the bottom of the frames, they are preparing to swarm.
Swarm behavior?
Hi folks,
The new hive seems to be buzzing along. If you have a few minutes to tell me what I’m seeing I’d sure appreciate it.
‘About three weeks ago the first super was 8 frames of 10 filled with honey, brood, and nectar so I added another deep. I also took off the feeder. I took a quick check a week later and they have started building comb on 7 of 10 frames And two had notice le heft. I also noticed them to be much more aggressive, “buzzing the tower” after a few minutes of me looking around. I didn’t go into the bottom super, but looking down into it, there was a lot of activity: bees everywhere! They have been quite active at the hive entrance in the last two weeks since that quick inspection bringing in a new colored tan pollen.
‘Today, I saw a whole bunch of drone activity. It was the first time I had seen a drone outside the hive and I feared I was seeing an outside attack at first, so I put an entrance reducer in. When all the airborne bees started coming home, they all kind of clustered up on the right side of the entrance before figuring out the entrance was on the left. This gave me the opportunity to have a more careful look and determine that they were in-fact drones and not wasps.
There were several drones taking flight and returning and one must have decided I was a threat, buzzing my head for a good minute or so before I fished him out of my hair. Noisy critters!
Anything I should be worried about, doing wrong, should be considering?
Thanks.
The new hive seems to be buzzing along. If you have a few minutes to tell me what I’m seeing I’d sure appreciate it.
‘About three weeks ago the first super was 8 frames of 10 filled with honey, brood, and nectar so I added another deep. I also took off the feeder. I took a quick check a week later and they have started building comb on 7 of 10 frames And two had notice le heft. I also noticed them to be much more aggressive, “buzzing the tower” after a few minutes of me looking around. I didn’t go into the bottom super, but looking down into it, there was a lot of activity: bees everywhere! They have been quite active at the hive entrance in the last two weeks since that quick inspection bringing in a new colored tan pollen.
‘Today, I saw a whole bunch of drone activity. It was the first time I had seen a drone outside the hive and I feared I was seeing an outside attack at first, so I put an entrance reducer in. When all the airborne bees started coming home, they all kind of clustered up on the right side of the entrance before figuring out the entrance was on the left. This gave me the opportunity to have a more careful look and determine that they were in-fact drones and not wasps.
There were several drones taking flight and returning and one must have decided I was a threat, buzzing my head for a good minute or so before I fished him out of my hair. Noisy critters!
Anything I should be worried about, doing wrong, should be considering?
Thanks.
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Thanks Gypsidrones don't have stingers I don't think. Not sure but I think not. They have been off looking for queens and if they found any they are tired and hungry. Swarm behavior, you have to look at the frames, if you see a lot of drone brood and multiple queen cells especially on the bottom of the frames, they are preparing to swarm.
Everything I know about beekeeping comes from the internet and this forum. I sometimes sit out next to the hive for an hour just watching them fly in and out, get challenged by guard bees, do their dances and try and see where they are flying too. This drone behavior was different so I wondered if it meant something.
‘Again, thanks for reading and replying.
can the drones fit thru the entrance reducer?
Yeah, they look big next to a worker but they really aren’t that much bigger, just a little wider, less hairy and big-ole eyes. They had no problem getting through the reducer and were never challenged by the other bees.can the drones fit thru the entrance reducer?
So I did a hive inspection this morning. The bottom super is being used on 8/10 frames with worker brood cells, a few drone cells at the top of the inner-most frames , one apparently empty queen cell, quite a few pollen cells and some honey. There is a lot less wacky comb though some does remain.
‘The top super has drawn comb on 8.5/10 frames and quite a bit of capped honey on the innermost 5 frames. It seems to be all honey..
Is it time for a honey super? Seems early as I only got the packaged bees in late March, but I watched a video by some professional beekeeper in Illinois who recommended putting on a honey super when the top brood box has 5 drawn frames. I have 8-1/2.
‘The top super has drawn comb on 8.5/10 frames and quite a bit of capped honey on the innermost 5 frames. It seems to be all honey..
Is it time for a honey super? Seems early as I only got the packaged bees in late March, but I watched a video by some professional beekeeper in Illinois who recommended putting on a honey super when the top brood box has 5 drawn frames. I have 8-1/2.
It's time for a honey super, and move one of the top frames with comb and honey, capped or uncapped, up into the new box. they will more readily begin to draw comb if you do this
Cool beans, thanks Gypsi!
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
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