Just to complicate matters I can report that none of my bees are aggressive.
Every day I spend time watching the hive entrances without protection (I’ll
catch it one day!) and although I have taken a couple of stings both were my
fault – both were on my hands and I was doing stuff without gauntlets. Andrew
From: oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On ;
Behalf Of Stefanie Taeumer
Sent: 30 August 2018 11:30
To: oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [oxnatbees] Re: Andrew's bees
I am wondering if my bees are getting robbed on and off or if it is 'flushes of
exuberance', as Andrew describes. I have watched my bees twice this week when
many of them where hovering around and above the entrance, extremely busy! Also
in those instances they were much more aggressive than usual, really going for
me when I was just walking past about 3 meters away which normally isn't a
problem at all. I thought it might be robbing but I didn't see any fighting
outside the entrance, and I also haven't seen any dead bees lying on the
ground. On days when this doesn't happen I can walk past the hive and no
attacks, like today.. That's why I thought it might have been robbing, my own
bees more defensive than normal, and maybe the robbers attacking me too?
Stefanie
On Thu, Aug 30, 2018 at 11:10 AM Paul Honigmann <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Thank you Andrew, it is fascinating to hear how different the behaviour of
different strains of bee are in the same location.
I collect swarms from up to 20 miles away, so none of my hives have the same
genetics, though they presumably blend together a lot after a few years /
generations in the same area. I see variations in those, for example I used to
have one colony which was mild towards me but hated the lawnmower, which they
would attempt to attack vigorously if it was roaring and vibrating near them
(but not me pushing it). However the variation you describe is at the limits of
what I've seen.
Re: absconding colony: as I understand it, colonies have to be under a lot of
pressure to abandon their stores, babies and painstakingly constructed
comb.Were they being robbed by the larger colonies? Another possibility is they
went queenless and survivors merged with one of the others, as Margaret [we
think] saw with two sister colonies; though that's less likely as your bees are
not closely related.
On the subject of how colonies vary: one thing that intrigues me is aggression
in bees. Why does it occur when 2 different strains are crossed - what's the
genetic mechanism? Why do people say "it's carried by the drones" - I think
that is deeply flawed reasoning by people trying to establish non native bees
and being surprised when local bees mate with theirs. You may as well say it is
carried by beekeepers using foreign strains. Another thing is apparent, that
most (not all) bees people say are vicious seem quite docile when in the care
of low-intervention beeks. So there are obviously a lot of myths here. I hope
to find out more on this subject at the Learning From The Bees conference where
there will be a wide variety of international beekeepers and researchers.
Paul
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On 29 August 2018 5:45 PM, Andrew Bax <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Paul asked me for a progress report on the bees I inadvertently imported.
The Mellifera package was hived in a new TBH and now has 12 full combs covered
in bees. They are moderately and constantly active.
The Carniolan package now occupies two full Warre boxes. It has always been
extremely active and prone to flushes of exuberance in which a great many bees
pour out of the hive on what seems to be an orientation flight, and cover the
front of the hive; it lasts about 20 minutes and they did it today.
I also have a colony in a Warre which has survived several generations and
swarmed this year. Although that, too, covers two full boxes, the bees are
worryingly inactive. Those bees that are flying are still bringing in pollen.
In another Warre I also hived a small swarm; a few weeks later I united it with
a further swarm. They seemed to be getting along swimmingly but after three
weeks they absconded.
I have extracted honey from all three occupied hives and will be feeding them.
Andrew
