I was setting and watching the activity at the front of our hives late yesterday evening. Noticed a few things that made me wonder.
1. They hauled out a couple of dead pupa. They were white and normal looking. What % of pupa dont hatch and have to be cleaned out?
2. About every 10th bee had pollen. Do some bees go after pollen? I thought pollen was collected secondary to nectar. I could see that some flowers could have nectar but no collectable pollen but will a bee go to a flower with lots of pollen and no nectar?
3. There was a bee walking around on the entrance board that looked like she had white paint smeared on back of thorax and abdomen. She walked with a jerking motion like she was trying to rub the paint off. Finally crawled off landing and I lost sight of her. Has anyone seen anything like this?
Thanks, Johnny
My bee's do the same thing the guy I got my bee's from said that if they get to many drone pupa they get rid of them so they don't have to feed them
The bees need pollen to raise brood, so it's very important for them to have. As long as it's available and they're raising brood, they'll bring in pollen.