What are our bees up to?

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British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
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Mercia
Just for fun - saw the bees doing something strange today. I thought it might be fun for people to guess what it was :)




Red
 
Can't really see from the photo, was it the figure of 8 dance indicating a nectar source ? or ventilating the hive maybe ? fighting off an invading swarm ? setting up a picket line as they don't like their new working conditions ?
 
None of the above - the dance referred to is the "waggle dance" - an amazing thing but not this - the spots on the alighting board are bee poo :)

The weird thing is happening dead centre at the block (hive door)
 
Exactly that John - have a cigar!

Here it was four days ago


Thymol in place by British Red, on Flickr

In four days they have disassembled it, moved it down through the frames and out the "front door"

Now given that a hundred bees could stand on that paper, I find that shows an amazing co-operation and "purpose" that speaks of both planning and "teamwork"
 
"...In four days they have disassembled it, moved it down through the frames and out the "front door"

Now given that a hundred bees could stand on that paper, I find that shows an amazing co-operation and "purpose" that speaks of both planning and "teamwork"..."

Interesting. They are clever beasts. :)
 
Indeed. I subscribe to the view that many insect colonies are not a collection of individual creatures but a single "being" - a "hive mind".
 
We are a couple of weeks in mate - so far, no not hard as such. Like all living things you need to understand a bit about them, what they need and how to care for them. There is a fear factor perhaps with the sting aspect - but we soon got over that

There is a thread here showing how we have got on

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95267

I'm sure your local beekeeping association will run an introductory course cheaply (ours did just down the road too :)).

Red
 
Cool cheers for the information. Wife has gotten hens in the last few months so for now we are going to stop at them but in a few years I would like bees, so got time to learn and read up.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2
 
Its to put a herbal based treatment into the hive to kill Varroa mites...but it smells and the bees don't like it much :)
 
We are a couple of weeks in mate - so far, no not hard as such. Like all living things you need to understand a bit about them, what they need and how to care for them. There is a fear factor perhaps with the sting aspect - but we soon got over that

There is a thread here showing how we have got on

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95267

I'm sure your local beekeeping association will run an introductory course cheaply (ours did just down the road too :)).

Red

I suspect that the hardest thing is finding a knowledgable and trustworthy surrogate to take your place when you need or want a vacation. Same problem as with any livestock (or even pets) really; you're just somewhat tied down. Although some livestock and pets are easier than others as they might be self supporting for a weekend's time.
 
Fascinating!
My Dad and I are hoping to get our first colony in the spring! Really looking forward to it.
i know what you mean about the fear thing, when we went to our first meeting to inspect some hives, took a few moments to get used to that amount of bees buzzing around, but thet really are quite tolerant.
And the other day I found myself in the middle of a swarm and the Bees just weren't bothered by me at all!
Can' wait to get our own.
 
I did not guess what the bees were up to, but on showing SHMBO this morning the picture she blurts out ( they are dragging something in or out of the hive) very interesting Red.
 

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