I observed something today at the entrance to one of my hives that has mildy concerned: I was watching the apparent normal flow of traffic you'd expect to see on a sunny may afternoon when I notice a larger bee (maybe 30% bigger) approach, much louder and aggressive than the workers who were coming and going in fairly large numbers. He landed in front of the entrance, seemed to act confrontational then went on in. After watching for a while I saw similar sized bees arrive every 1 to 2 or even 3 minutes and also appear to depart on about the same basis. Always buzzing louder, always pushier and more aggressive. Could they be drones from the hive? I observed my other hive and saw no similar activity though the numbers of bees coming and going seemed roughly the same. I have removed my feeders and am still using the smallest hole in my entrance cleats. I hope I'm not being robbed.
It sounds like drones to me. They are definately louder and larger...
Drones aren't agressive they just think they own the place, a common male failing--as we should know. I use to celebrate the last day of school by taking a small container of drones to school with me. I would release them in class and do other stunts with live bees--what were they going to do? Expell me for the remainder of the school year? By the time school started again in the fall everybody had forgotten about it.
That trick with the drones is really funny especially since they don't have stingers. I bet there was some scrambling going on in that class... :lol:
Scott