Is it normal for a hive to have bees with various colors and markings? Tonight I observed solid black honey bees and bees with just black abdomins coming and going from one of my hives. The original bees have the typical orange and black stripes. I have never seen these bees in my hives before. I haven't seen any fighting at the entrance and they just come and go like they are part of the colony. This is the weakest of my 6 hives and I haven't seen any of these bees at the other hives. What do you all think?
It's normal for lots of variation. When a queen mates she mates with many drones and her offspring reflect this with colour variations and behaviour.
Cheers
Rob
ditto what "R" said. and welcome to the forum Rmcpb.
I consider it a good sign. With the numerous genetics in your hive, the bees can handle all of the different problems we have thrown at them in the last 15 years.
Jim
Robbing bees are usually black because they have all their hair pulled out. This also makes them shiny. Robbing contributes to the "shininess" with wax and honey... Black is also a natural color for honey bees.
Quote from: Michael Bush on August 03, 2014, 05:25:07 PM
Robbing bees are usually black because they have all their hair pulled out. This also makes them shiny. Robbing contributes to the "shininess" with wax and honey... Black is also a natural color for honey bees.
As a matter of fact they are quite shinny. Maybe I should close the entrance down to 1 inch to help secure the hive.