At my own house where I live, the bees also need help in getting ready for dinner. I put Rapid Feeders on these hives also. This morning I lifted the top of one hive to see if they were taking the sugar syrup. You can see the bees inside the inner cone, enjoying the bee tea.
I also put entrance reducers on each hive to discourage robbing each other. One of the hives already had a reducer but the hives that didn't have reducers tripped all over each other as they figured it out.
Remember when I thought robbing had happened because of all the dead bodies on my basketball court? Well, I no longer think any hive was getting robbed. I've only been at this house for three months. There's a basketball goal with concrete underneath it with room enough to play Horse. The bee hives are at the edge of the concrete.
I've now noticed that there are bee bodies all over the court every day. What I've realized is that the mortician bees want to carry dead or dying bees out of the hive, but carrying a body the same size as themselves, they aren't anxious to carry the bees too far. So all these dead bees on my concrete are simply the dead of the hive being carried out only so far.
I also put entrance reducers on each hive to discourage robbing each other. One of the hives already had a reducer but the hives that didn't have reducers tripped all over each other as they figured it out.
Remember when I thought robbing had happened because of all the dead bodies on my basketball court? Well, I no longer think any hive was getting robbed. I've only been at this house for three months. There's a basketball goal with concrete underneath it with room enough to play Horse. The bee hives are at the edge of the concrete.
I've now noticed that there are bee bodies all over the court every day. What I've realized is that the mortician bees want to carry dead or dying bees out of the hive, but carrying a body the same size as themselves, they aren't anxious to carry the bees too far. So all these dead bees on my concrete are simply the dead of the hive being carried out only so far.
Dear Linda,
ReplyDeleteI'm reaching out from The Promised Land, a public radio show on vision and leadership. Our upcoming fall season looks at the myriad ways in which people view food and how it gets to their tables - and one hour will focus on bees and the work of Marla Spivak.
We want to hear from beekeepers in the state and around the county about what bees have taught them. And we're gathering stories and photos through the Public Insight Network.
This link: http://www.publicinsightnetwork.org/form/apm/1b8b52d18175/what-have-bees-taught-you is a chance for beekeepers to share their story - and to listen to Marla's story when it begins to air around the holiday season.
Would you consider sharing your story with us, or sharing it with your followers? We would like to hear from as many beekeepers as possible to make this a rich resource and online community.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you for your work.
Enjoy the day,
Emily Torgrimson