Thanks so much for this.
I sort of expected this to be the case-‘ hive intelligence’ but now I know
where to read more :)
Sent from my iPhone
On 9 Jul 2021, at 12:13, Gareth John <gj.garethjohn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Some questions - when pollen is collected do they also forage nectar at the
same time?
Do some only forage nectar? I see lots of what I think are workers without
pollen and not on navigation flights I don’t think.
How do they determine what to forage most of..
Availability of each?
Need of the hive?
Both?
Tom Seeley writes extensively about this in his book The Wisdom of the Hive.
The hive as a whole determines the relative needs of nectar, pollen, water
etc. Resources are directed according to the relative needs of the hive and
the abundance of resource. Thus, if nectar is plentiful, any spare foragers
are directed to collecting it. But that has knock-on effects, increasing the
need for nectar processors, who are recruited from the available pool of
resting bees. Once there are no more unoccupied bees, any further recruits
are drawn from those bees performing tasks that are low down on the priority
list. Torben Schiffer, a German researcher, has found that hygiene and nest
maintenance (spreading propolis) are low on the priority list. You don’t
clean the house if the larder is empty. Hence, if the beekeeper removes
honey and replaces it with empty comb, the bees think that the larder is
empty and go out to forage rather than spending time on nest hygiene. This
is one of many reasons why managing bees for maximum honey by creating lots
of space for honey storage increases varroa; the bees don’t have time or
energy to deal with the varroa.
Better to allow the bees to fill the available space during the honey flow so
that they have time to rest (the larder is now full) and do the housework.
If you want honey, harvest some when the flow is over. That way the bees
will not be tempted to switch resources to foraging (because there is no
forage to be had).
Gareth
On 9 Jul 2021, at 10:06, Oxnatbees <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Well they sound fine. I have a hiving story too. I put a swarm in a TBH with
three old brood combs near the entrance to act as bait, and encourage them
to build straight comb between them (i.e. the old combs, which are nice and
straight are acting as comb guides.) ON opening the hive a few weeks later I
found they had built 4 nice combs... at the BACK of the hive, studiously
ignoring the ones next to the entrance. Because they smell of the wrong
queen or something.
So - an exception to the "rule" that they build next to the entrance.
Regarding your points...
Temper may calm down, it varies a lot over the year. One major factor is
stores. If they are a bit stretched they defend what they have. You can't
really tell their baseline temperament yet. I should warn you they will be
more ready to sting next year when the colony is larger, and established,
and can afford to lose a few workers in a fight - but that only comes into
play if they see you as a threat. It's often commented on by beekeepers who
open their hives a lot.
Foragers tend to either collect pure pollen or just nectar but some get both
- those latter are the ones with not-full pollen baskets. The number
collecting pollen varies from none to about 20%, and Gareth mentioned a few
weeks ago that what the bees do is build up about 10-12 days' supply of
pollen, then they switch back to prioritising nectar. So not seeing pollen
going in can be a good sign.
Some collect water on hot days or in Spring (to dilute honey - bees don't
generally eat pure honey) I have read that water and nectar carriers look
swollen on returning to the hive, but I haven't really noticed that myself.
And apparently if you squeeze them they regurgitate it.
A handful collect propolis. They get very sticky.
On the weird side, you hear occasional reports of bees collecting fungal
spores, or coffee grains. I found a very good and likely sounding
explanation for this in a book by Quimby written in 1853 or something. They
were great observers back then. He pointed out that this tends to happen in
spring, before there is much pollen, and the foragers seem programmed to
grab anything resembling pollen, so they grab any grains about that size -
he mentioned coffee grounds and sawdust. Whether these are of any
nutritional value is "not their job"!
Paul
On Fri, 9 Jul 2021 at 09:21, Rh <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Just a quick update on the swarm I had from your bait box just over 3 weeks
ago, Paul.
After my disastrous interventions with the previous swarm and the
following comb collapse and absconding , I’ve just let this lot alone apart
from removing the board underneath after a few chilly days to prevent
overheating.
Yesterday I had a look for the first time since hiving them .
I originally transferred in 3 bars with comb plus bees from the bait box
and now there 5 in total, well combed and , though I didn’t look closely,
some brood I hope ...?.. honey stores etc
There are 8 more before the follower board - all new empty comb. The 8th is
obviously tiny at the moment but all very straight :) and not looking at
all precarious, or over soft.
They are a different character, I noticed, to the previous swarm.
These became irritated at even my very tentative inspection and grumpy with
gentle brushing away with the goose feather.
So I said thank you and left !
They seem settled but I didn’t inspect enough to determine status of brood
or spot the Queen....
The previous swarm seemed, on the face of it, to take my newbie poking
around in the hive without much upset....
Until they left the next day!
Lots to observe and learn...and the forum helping so much.
Thank you and I’ll keep updating.
Some questions - when pollen is collected do they also forage nectar at
the same time?
Do some only forage nectar? I see lots of what I think are workers without
pollen and not on navigation flights I don’t think.
How do they determine what to forage most of..
Availability of each?
Need of the hive?
Both?
Thanks all
Rh
Sent from my iPhone
