I did a brood removal today as a varroa treatment, something I will not be doing again, as it took very long and was very invasive and stressful for the bees. Many, many bees were flying around by the time I was done, and a lot of bees were sitting on the neighboring hive's lid for an hour or two afterward, because I'd had the caged queen setting up there for part of the time I was working. Around 4:30, I went up to the apiary to check on things, and some bees were balling something on top of the hive. Curious as to what they were up to, I broke up the ball with a stick, and found only a single dead worker in the center of the ball. It seemed odd, but now that I'd broken them up, and since the bee who was the object of their aggression was dead, I figured they'd disperse. But about 15 minutes ago, 2 hours after I first noticed them, they had reformed around this worker and were still balling her. I broke up the cluster again to be sure. Why would they be balling a single dead worker like this, for this long?
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I haven't seen bees ball a worker, but I have seen them ball a virgin queen that if I hadn't picked her up may have mistaken her for a worker.
Very strange.
Also interesting that your bees didn't take well to having brood removed, something else going on in the hive or environment?
Quote from: Oldbeavo on July 11, 2020, 08:00:43 PM
I haven't seen bees ball a worker, but I have seen them ball a virgin queen that if I hadn't picked her up may have mistaken her for a worker.
Very strange.
I was baffled by it too, so I inspected the bee carefully, and I'm almost certain it was a worker. It was DEFINITELY not a mated queen, and it didn't look like a virgin to me either. And if it was a virgin I have no idea where it came from. All my colonies are queenright at the moment.
Quote from: Oldbeavo on July 11, 2020, 08:00:43 PM
Also interesting that your bees didn't take well to having brood removed, something else going on in the hive or environment?
I should be more clear, my bees weren't acting aggressive or "hot" as a result of the brood removal, it was just very disruptive to them. They seemed to be flying because they were disoriented (I assume because the queen was out of the hive), not because they were targeting me.
It is possible that your bees were balling a laying worker or the were attacked a robber bee.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: sawdstmakr on July 11, 2020, 09:45:11 PM
It is possible that your bees were balling a laying worker or the were attacked a robber bee.
Jim Altmiller
I did not think of that Jim, thanks for posting you thought. You may very well be right since member did not identify it as a queen.
Quote from: sawdstmakr on July 11, 2020, 09:45:11 PM
It is possible that your bees were balling a laying worker or the were attacked a robber bee.
Jim Altmiller
That seems like as good an answer as any. I'm just surprised at their level of aggression towards it. I mean I could be wrong, but I think they were balling a single bee for 2+ hours, and it was dead for almost all of that time.
Was that where you had the queen caged? If so there may still be some of her smell there confusing the bees.
Laying worker what come to my mind as well.
Quote from: cao on July 11, 2020, 11:55:21 PM
Was that where you had the queen caged? If so there may still be some of her smell there confusing the bees.
Yes, I suspected that as well.
Quote from: Nock on July 12, 2020, 01:07:53 PM
Laying worker what come to my mind as well.
That's not a bad idea either. I did do a shakeout of a LW hive a week or two ago.
My experience is same as your, Ms. Member. I was going to remove the capped brood, brushed the bees off the frames. Bees were not aggressive but flying everywhere. I ended putting the frames, all 7 back in the hive. Yep, 7 frames of capped brood in a single 10 frame deep. As mentioned earlier, I can?t remove 70 percent of the frames, to disruptive to the hive. So scratch the removing capped brood and back to Oxalic acid vapor, provap 110v.
If I had interpretation of what my bees were saying as they were flying all around while I brushed the bees off the capped brood frames: the bees were asking what did I do, what did I Why you doing this I know probably sounds weird: what does a bees say. Obviously my bees were confused, my fault, but in the end, all was ok as all frames were put back in the hive,
Agree with above, laying worker. For certain, the bees considered the subject bee, targeted bee a threat to the hive.