The Spring of 2015 started hot and maintained above average temperatures for most of September and now, October. There seems to have been more swarming of bees than last year and the rest of Spring will be monitored closely to see if the swarming continues on through to summer.http://beeandwaspproblems.com.au
This photo shows a few returning scout bees looking for the queen bee and fellow worker bees following the bee swarm removal.
Bees can end up in all kinds of places during Spring. These bees were rescued before they entered the tree trunk and given to a beekeeper.
A close up of a W.A. European Honeybee. We are in the middle of a swarming season where bees are moving across the towns, cities and states as they take advantage of warm weather and abundant blossoms.
It truly is a special time of the year.
Spring has sprung here in Western Australia and bee swarms are now on the move.
Weather has been very wet, cold and windy of late and is not the kind of weather bees need to start anew when leaving their old hives. With a bit of sunshine and increased temperatures we should see more swarming culminating in a frenzy in October.
The above swarm was rescued from a lemon tree next door to a hive in a tree trunk. There’s something about lemon scent that bees prefer.
Much has been written about bees in general and the queen and workers in particular.
What we don’t read a lot about is the role of the drone within and without the hive.
Some people may know that the drone, especially if in large numbers , will be expelled from the hive when food stores are low. Most people know that the drone collects neither pollen nor nectar and is dependent on the worker bees to be fed. The drones are not to be classified as idle but as a fundamental and irreplacable member of the functioning unit known as the bee hive or the bee colony.
We hear about there being such a thing as a virgin queen and wonder how she then becomes fertile and commences her role as an extraordinary egg layer. There are claims that she can lay anything up to 1500 eggs a day Continue reading
Queen, Drone, Worker
The typical bee hive will have within its structure, the queen, usually just the one but stranger things can happen.
The drone can number a few dozen if the living is easy.
The worker will normally number in the thousands. A happy and productive hive can easily number 60 000 bees .
A simple way to collect a swarm. If you’re nervous and the bees are strangers to you, you may want to wear protective clothing. Usually as a swarm the bees are at their most docile stage – though , not always.
I remember once when called in to remove what appeared to be a swarm sitting on a branch, I approached without any protective gear on. Once I shook them off the branch into a container , however, they attacked me and caused many a stinging reaction through the entire swarm.
The reason for this, I found out later was that they had been removed with an insecticide aerosol from a cupboard . Consequently, they were naturally upset with having been turfed out of their home without the opportunity to prepare for evacuation such as feeding on the available honey stores. No wonder they were upset. So, although it is true a swarm is usually docile, it pays to take precautions if you’re unsure where they came from.
This video is a bit long but shows how active a strong hive can get in the right season. I’d guess that the bees were on a feeding frenzy collecting a plentiful source of nectar. When this happens on a very warm day virtually every single flying bee is enrolled to collect this bounty. They could also be collecting water if the day is very warm and they need to cool down the hive.
bee advice 