a couple nights ago (I think it was last Sunday night) I decided to set about cleaning up the garage a bit. So I got to work on it for a while, then I accidentally knocked over a gas can and the lid came off so probably a couple cups of gasoline spilled on the floor. So I open the garage door to let the fumes escape and within a couple minutes of opening the garage door, a bee flew in the garage and up to one of the flourescent lights, and kept flying at the light almost like it was mad at it or something. Anyway, the reason it took me by surprise was that it was 4 in the morning! It was completely dark outside, it was overcast so there was no moonlight or anything, and even the streetlamp wasn't on. Now the garage doesn't face the hive, so the light from the garage would not have been shining on the hive either. There were also no animals or anything else harrassing the hive at the time. So what in the world was this bee doing flying around in the middle of the night?
My first thought was maybe they were absconding or my other hive was swarming, so I checked the other hive for evidence of swarming, no evidence whatsoever that they had swarmed everything looked normal. So I checked my new hive from the swarm which is the closest to the garage, and they're all there as well. The only odd thing I noticed is that the swarm hive bees were foraging from flowers not more than a couple feet from the hive, but plenty of the foragers were still heading out to the dogwoods and other trees that are in bloom around here as well, but up until now they had been ignoring the flowers around the hives. So I'm still baffled as to why that bee was out in the middle of the night.
My only other thought is if it's possible that the EMF from the light was so strong it raised the ire of this bee from inside its hive which was roughly 25 feet away? Or maybe the gasoline fumes brought her out? But if it was that, then why one bee?
It was one of those party bees that didn't make it home and just sobered up
to see your light. ( sorry I just had to).
There might be more to that party bee theory than you think :roll:. If for some reason the bee didn't make it back to the hive it might go for the light. :)
Other than that...well...they're bees. Who can figure out what they're thinking . :?
Flowers: if they find them close to home then eventually they'll get them. Maybe more flowers, more nectar now so they found them.
Rick
The party bee is more truth than jest. If you move a hive at night, far enough away that no bees could possibly return, you will still see a large number gathered at the old spot in the morning. There are many more bees out overnight than most people realize.
I think the title of this thread could have been Insane man, what on earth were you doing cleaning your garage at 4:00 in the morning? :-D
I believe one of your bees saw the light when it went on, attracted to it, flew into your garage. 25' is a little bit over 8 yards, pretty darn close enough to any light source that goes on, especially one casting on a dark night with no other lights on.
That bee was not insane, just an early riser trying to cash in on an opportunity to show off to the other bees in that hive that it could be the first one to bring back nectar that day. It was a show off bee, maybe named little Jerry.
...JP
I guess I have been just plain lucky, appears my bees are just plain common, nothing to write a book about all the time.
Bee-Bop
I guess I have been just plain lucky, appears my bees are just plain common, nothing to write a book about all the time.
Bee-Bop
QuoteI guess I have been just plain lucky, appears my bees are just plain common, nothing to write a book about all the time.
Bee-Bop
You can say that again!!.............................oh.............wait...........you did.......... ;)
My bees are in the backyard with a security light facing away from them so the hives are kinda in a shadow but the back yard is lit up pretty good. I never thought about it until this thread... I wonder if this presents any kind of problem? Never see any bees flying around the light...
...DOUG
:-D Thats funny!!!!
yeh, Sarge!! Like Natalie said....what were you doing cleaning your garage at 4AM???
Youve got all our interests now!
Now, for the bee....I think the bee thought it was going to heaven or to see God...You know....The same as when ppl "Go to the lite"..I think the bee was lost in the grass and fell asleep, then woke up realizing she was lost and alone...Then, she went to the lite! :)
your friend,
john
Just as iddee said, not all the foragers make it back home by dark. Bees are the greediest creatures I've ever had any experience of. They get caught out after dark foraging and have to bed down in the field. They'll start moving as the sun comes up and skeedadle back home before any of the foragers in the hive get started in the morning. You attracted a bee that was caught out after dark, and thought you're light was attracting it home!
Quote from: Natalie on April 22, 2009, 10:13:52 AM
I think the title of this thread could have been Insane man, what on earth were you doing cleaning your garage at 4:00 in the morning? :-D
I work 3rd shift, so I'm up at night.
Quote from: Bee-Bop on April 22, 2009, 10:43:07 AM
I guess I have been just plain lucky, appears my bees are just plain common, nothing to write a book about all the time.
Bee-Bop
Or maybe you're just not as curious about why your bees do the things they do. As for me, I like to have as much understanding as possible, so when I encounter something I don't understand, even if it is a little thing, I explain it, trying to hit any detail that might matter, and ask the people whom I think have a better chance of knowing and being able to exlain what might be going on.
Sure I could ignore it and go through life without wondering about little things like that, but at the end of my life I'd just be that much less intelligent for it.
I've often wondered how many rest stops a bee makes while foraging. Coming and going. How much the size of the load tires them out and if older forager's , like older humans, take longer doing what they do.
I'm continually besieged by bees looking for a place to rest, since I started building my chicken house. The bees just as often have pollen as not and some seem to be coming from the bee yard which is only 20 yards away.
In a medium to strong hive it is not uncommon to have enough bees out over night to fill a quart jar. You could start a nuc with that many bees. This time of year, when I see a bee leaving the hive after dinner time, I know she's on an overnighter.