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semiautonomous
Guard Bee
Joined: 30 Dec 2013
Posts: 51
Location: England, Shropshire, Shrewsbury
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 Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 11:54 am Post subject: Dead and dieing bees around my TBH's |
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I'm not sure if this is something to be concerned about or just old bees wearing out naturally. Over the last few days I've started seeing some bees crawling around on the ground around my TBH's and today there are much more of them as well as quite a few dead ones. I cant see any mites on them or sines of wing deformity but as a new beekeeper I'd like some input to hopefully put my mind at rest or tell me what i need to do if anything.
Here's a quick vid I just filmed today.
http://youtu.be/MzlLhgNVS8A
Thanks in advance. |
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Swing Swang
Foraging Bee
Joined: 25 Oct 2009
Posts: 122
Location: UK, Hampshire
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| Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 1:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Can't comment on the bees, but you've got a nice sound recording of a chiff chaff. |
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Dexter's shed
Scout Bee
Joined: 16 May 2014
Posts: 307
Location: Grays, Essex, UK
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| Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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| I couldn't make out the ones at start of video, but the ones at the end looked like drones, so perhaps kicked out as not needed anymore |
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semiautonomous
Guard Bee
Joined: 30 Dec 2013
Posts: 51
Location: England, Shropshire, Shrewsbury
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| Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Dexter's shed wrote: | | I couldn't make out the ones at start of video, but the ones at the end looked like drones, so perhaps kicked out as not needed anymore |
Thanks for the replies.
Some of them are drones but others are definitely workers too and I haven't seen any being ejected from the entrance. Its more that they just cant quite make it up that far. I will try to get some more pics later. |
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Dexter's shed
Scout Bee
Joined: 16 May 2014
Posts: 307
Location: Grays, Essex, UK
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| Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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| semiautonomous wrote: | | Dexter's shed wrote: | | I couldn't make out the ones at start of video, but the ones at the end looked like drones, so perhaps kicked out as not needed anymore |
Thanks for the replies.
Some of them are drones but others are definitely workers too and I haven't seen any being ejected from the entrance. Its more that they just cant quite make it up that far. I will try to get some more pics later. |
drones can feed themselves when first hatched, but not as adults, so could be starving, again, not needed,don't feed |
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andy pearce
Silver Bee
Joined: 30 Aug 2009
Posts: 663
Location: UK, East Sussex, Brighton
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| Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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As I am two or three miles from you as the crow flies I can tell you I have huge drone ejection...piles of them in front of some hives...more than normal. I also think it is low nectar flow...yours and my bees are lucky to be so close to the river where there are good moisture levels to keep them ticking over til it rains.
A |
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MikeRobinson
Foraging Bee
Joined: 01 Apr 2012
Posts: 201
Location: Upper Northwest Georgia, USA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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FYI: It gets pretty dry here during the mid-summer, so I keep a metal five-gallon chicken-waterer sitting on top one of the hives, with the trough (very!! important!!) completely packed full of rounded river-stones (and large gravels) from a garden supply store. The stones give the bees ... which cannot swim ... something to land on as they sip water from the very small spaces between the stones. They retard evaporation so the water lasts quite a long time.
Changing the water is easy: bring a bucket of water with you, scoop and dump the gravels into the bucket, remove the lid, refill the container, then replace the gravels from the bucket.  I do this every few days, so the bees never have to deal with a shortage of fresh drinking water. When it's dry, they hit it a lot. When it has rained, they ignore it.
My entire bee-yard, such as it is, is underneath a grove of trees in the middle of a pasture, well-protected from the sun. It's many degrees cooler under there than in the direct sun. (Great place to hang out and watch the bees.) |
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semiautonomous
Guard Bee
Joined: 30 Dec 2013
Posts: 51
Location: England, Shropshire, Shrewsbury
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| Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 3:25 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry its taken a while to get back on this, I've been having trouble getting this site to open properly recently.
Anyway thanks again for the replies, seem like they were mostly drones after all. I guess the dry weather had limited the food coming in and the pore things weren't getting fed. Thanks Andy, good to know its not only me. Now we have had a bit of rain things seem to be back to normal.
Thanks for the tip MikeRobinson. I have actually got a half barrel mini pond that is totally choked with water forget-me-not right next to the hives so they shouldn't have to much trouble getting water. |
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GrayGuy
New Bee
Joined: 17 Nov 2012
Posts: 1
Location: Texas, USA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 5:03 pm Post subject: Hives Under Trees |
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| MikeRobinson wrote: | FYI: It gets pretty dry here during the mid-summer, so I keep a metal five-gallon chicken-waterer sitting on top one of the hives, with the trough (very!! important!!) completely packed full of rounded river-stones (and large gravels) from a garden supply store. The stones give the bees ... which cannot swim ... something to land on as they sip water from the very small spaces between the stones. They retard evaporation so the water lasts quite a long time.
Changing the water is easy: bring a bucket of water with you, scoop and dump the gravels into the bucket, remove the lid, refill the container, then replace the gravels from the bucket. I do this every few days, so the bees never have to deal with a shortage of fresh drinking water. When it's dry, they hit it a lot. When it has rained, they ignore it.
My entire bee-yard, such as it is, is underneath a grove of trees in the middle of a pasture, well-protected from the sun. It's many degrees cooler under there than in the direct sun. (Great place to hang out and watch the bees.) |
Most are moving their hives to full sun because of SHB, how are you handling them under the trees? |
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Quality Top Bar Hives by Andrew Vidler
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Conserving wild bees
Research suggests that bumble bee boxes have a very low success rate in actually attracting bees into them. We find that if you create an environment where first of all you can attract mice inside, such as a pile of stones, a drystone wall, paving slabs with intentionally made cavities underneath, this will increase the success rate.
Most bumble bee species need a dry space about the size a football, with a narrow entrance tunnel approximately 2cm in diameter and 20 cm long. Most species nest underground along the base of a linear feature such as a hedge or wall. Sites need to be sheltered and out of direct sunlight.
There is a spectacular display of wild bee hotels here
More about bumblebees and solitary bees here
Information about the Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
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