Bee Activity – June 24th

Posted by Jon on Jun 25, 2010 in Bee behaviour, Beekeeping | 2 comments

Finally, the summer seems to have started here so I took some time yesterday to watch the hives in action and check up on the bees entering and leaving. As we don’t treat our bees in any way and try to interfere as little as possible, watching the activity in and out is a crucial indicator of the health of the hive. In our garden, we have plenty of clover and brambles still in flower but I think the foragers were going further afield – I’d love to know where as the oil seed rape finished long ago and the sunflowers won’t be flowering for a while. They were coming back with pollen baskets packed full of bright yellow pollen as well a few who had a very dark pollen (although I didn’t manage to get a shot of them). Local pollen colours is something we want to learn more about as we have seen everything from almost black through red and orange to the more familiar yellow – another project on the to do list!

We have two busy hives that both have 3 honey supers on and these were both hectic – the bees came out of the hive entrance and flew straight off, returning and rushing straight back into the hive. The foragers spent very little time on the ledge and there was little or no indicating going on between the bees – they were bees on a mission! This was in stark contrast to our recent additions who were much slower to fly off the ledge and to enter the hive on their return. It was very clear that they are still trying to find their way around the new environment and tell each other where the best food sources are. I’ll be keeping a close eye on them to make sure that they settle, if not it could mean that there are problems in the hive such as a missing queen.

(click photos to see larger slideshow)

But all in all, nothing to be concerned about at this stage – just a wonderful summer day with bees going about their business and a happy beekeeper in France!