Hi Gareth - your reply much appreciated thank you.
I said to my husband yesterday the new bees behave v differently to the
other hive who are v purposeful. The new bees were exactly as you said
facing the hive back n forth, up n down!
The wax debris threw me into a panic as not seen this before but think this
swarm bigger than those who came before!
I have just closed up the entrance with wood blocks for them but going to
make some mesh blocks as I think it is too warm to have such tiny entrances.
Regards,
Liz.
On Sat, Jul 3, 2021, 14:12 Gareth John <gj.garethjohn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Liz
All the bees in a swarm need to learn where the entrance is. They do this
by flying up and down in front of the entrance, facing the hive. It can
indeed look like robbing, but is not. Gradually the bees move backwards
away from the hive and fly in loops as they memorise the immediate
surrounds. Some may check out the rear of the hive.
As to dead bees, swarming is a tense time for bees and some expire,
anything up to a dozen or a score is normal.
Wax: swarming bees can literally be bursting with wax. It ends up
everywhere.
Gareth
On 3 Jul 2021, at 10:05, Barbara Elizabeth Robinson <liz20swan@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Morning.
This morning there is wax debris on the landing board and a quick check in
the hive showed the bees tightly clustered and more wax on the hive floor.
The cast was only hived on Wednesday evening.
Is this linked to robbing?
There was just one dead bee on the landing board.
Very little activity noted but bees buzzing round outside noisily.
I have reduced the entrance to 1 bee width until I can work out what is
going on.
I had left the entrance open, checked them at 10 pm last night and all was
well, so this has happened this morning.
Words of wisdom appreciated.
Liz.
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