I've witnessed the evidence of bee's cleansing flights in years past but what I saw today exceeded what I would have thought possible for 2 hives. Words fail me....the volume of fecal matter...the breadth of it's coverage - just unreal. We had a very sunny, warm day - the first in a couple of months - and I imagine at the moment the first ray of sunshine hit the hives there was stampede to get out.
I also witnessed a mass unloading of fecal matter. It was just above 40 degrees here. Some bees came out and flew away but others came a few inches out of the entrance, made a "deposit" in the snow then flew right back in. I guess to them the cold air is much like a cold toilet seat is to us :)
They did make a little bit of a mess though.
(http://peck.secondfast.com/gallery/albums/userpics/normal_DSCN6163.JPG)
They are rearing brood, which creates a lot of fecal matter, and then they are confined by the cold. When they get the chance to go they REALLY have to go.
I saw similar results here in Colorado a few weeks ago, when they had their first chance to get out.
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=7761.msg48147#msg48147 (http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=7761.msg48147#msg48147)
Some suggested it might be dysentery, but it was a one-time event and nothing like that since, so I think it was just pent-up demand (so to speak).
Just w/in this last week my one hive of Italians that fly in cooler weather just started doing this too.. they were out Sat... but we got 6 inches of snow on Sunday.
Hey Ken,
At least with this snow on Sunday the temps haven't dropped as low as they've been. I'm more concerned about that warm day last week where, at least in the sheltered area around my hives, it was in the 60'sF which had my bees out in large numbers. In the evening it dropped rapidly to the upper teens later that night, certainly a challenging situation for the bees.
Hi Zoot..
The outdoor temps. seemed warm.. but w/ the wind blowing over the ice.. it still felt pretty cool. I went down to the hives several times once the temp hit the 40 degree mark.. to see who was flying.. a couple hives had activity.. but not until 1-2pm. Found little "pot-holes" in the ice all around one hive.. each hole had one bee that didn't make it.
Todays high was only suppose to be 36.. but I see it hit 52.. maybe the GroundHog not seeing his shadow this year will give us that early spring! :)