yellow chucks or wax at front door

hardtime · December 15, 2008, 06:00:58 PM

went to look at my bees today thay are at a frends house .aint look at them in about three mounths .today went by seen yellow chuncks of wax at front door from one side to the other and on ground it was alot i think .what do yall think this could be .what is going on in that hive .from bobby in va.

JP · December 15, 2008, 08:04:15 PM

It sounds like robbing, you need to check them. Good luck.

...JP

BjornBee · December 16, 2008, 08:41:35 AM

Quote from: JP on December 15, 2008, 08:04:15 PM
It sounds like robbing, you need to check them. Good luck.

...JP

I agree. Probably a dead hive also.

Scadsobees · December 16, 2008, 10:01:02 AM

If you got chunks, then it sounds like you got mice.

BjornBee · December 16, 2008, 12:44:59 PM

We went from robbing, to a dead hive, to having mice.....anyone else want to add anything... :-D

Scadsobees · December 16, 2008, 02:59:39 PM

I see lots of wax scrapings and particles from robbing. The only time that I've seen "chunks" is from mice tearing apart the wax to get the pollen out.

Now I've not ever seen a yellow "Chuck" anywhere near a hive....

BjornBee · December 16, 2008, 04:07:39 PM

Ok, so we have robbing, a dead hive, mice, and now some guys called "chuck" hanging around the entrance. :-D

hardtime · December 16, 2008, 06:19:36 PM

well it might be scrapings and particles.. looks to me like some of the bees were draging the wax out the front and thowing it out the front of the hive.the wax was about half the size of the bees .i did not see any robbing. just two hives in that place side by side so i could see if it was robbing i think. this are half russian bees any more help?

BjornBee · December 18, 2008, 11:26:06 AM

Can a mouse get in your hives? Do you have mouse guards or screen in place?

Many times, a mouse will enter in cold weather and eat away at the bottom frames of comb, as the bees are clustered. They just leave as the bees get more active or when they are done eating. (Some mice will nest even in hives active and are protected by the nest.

I bet you have some missing wax comb on those lower frames.

Shawn · December 18, 2008, 02:13:24 PM

Did you open the hive? What did the inside look like?

hardtime · December 24, 2008, 02:49:02 PM

opened hive today die out .mouse tour the inside all to peaces .this hive went out in a hurry just look in on them in sept. and all was well then. time to move on ..

Kathyp · December 24, 2008, 03:20:38 PM

i observed same in observation hive when the bees tore into stores. not a lot and in an outdoor hive i probably wouldn't have noticed. have you had a warm up that would cause them to be more active and hungry?

ah...bummer. didn't read all the way to the bottom before posting above. mice are naughty critters. i get them between the screen and slide in board of my SBBs.