Diferent types of bees in my hive

Started by gaucho10, April 26, 2009, 08:12:19 PM

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gaucho10

April 26, 2009, 08:12:19 PM
OK, whhile I'm on the subject of bees...As I was checking my hive, as per previous post, I noticed that most of my bees look Italian.  I can tell by the way they move their arms when they speak.  But some of them were all black and half the size.  Any comments?

On the type of bees that is...
My favorite comedy program used to be Glenn Beck--The only thing is that after I heard the same joke over and over again it became BOOOORING.....

People who have inspired me throughout my life---Pee-wee Herman, Adolph Hitler, George W. Bush, Glenn Beck.
Notice I did not say they were people who I admire !!!

doak

#1
April 26, 2009, 08:21:25 PM
Comes from the genes in the drones.
Sounds like some one may have some other kind mixed in with their Italians.
Or feral drones in the area. My thought. doak

steveouk

#2
April 26, 2009, 08:47:16 PM
also the age of the bee makes a different , new bee's are more yellow as they have more hair, older bee's look more black because they loose there hair as they get older

gaucho10

#3
April 26, 2009, 09:06:40 PM
No ways steveouk,  these are deffinitely different and much smaller.  I can see them getting a little dark but not totaly black.

doak,  I have had this queen since last June 1, 2008.  She has been laying very well and she is from Rhode Island (Italian...get it?)  But all of a sudden she must of have started to lay "small, dark" bee eggs.  I used to have midnights back in the 80's but they were much larger.  These are small.
My favorite comedy program used to be Glenn Beck--The only thing is that after I heard the same joke over and over again it became BOOOORING.....

People who have inspired me throughout my life---Pee-wee Herman, Adolph Hitler, George W. Bush, Glenn Beck.
Notice I did not say they were people who I admire !!!

WOB419

#4
April 26, 2009, 11:30:51 PM
Gaucho10,

Those are not bees, they are small hive beetles and you are now a small hive beetle keeper!  Therefore, you must now make all of your posts on the www.smallhivebeetlemaster.com board.

:mrgreen:

bailey

#5
April 27, 2009, 01:35:14 AM
drone genes, probably from a wild colony.
the ones i get around here are mostly the dark mutts and they are mostly small bees
bailey
most often i find my greatest source of stress to be OPS  ( other peoples stupidity )

It is better to keep ones mouth shut and be thought of as a fool than to open ones mouth and in so doing remove all doubt.

Brian D. Bray

#6
April 27, 2009, 01:47:55 AM
Quote from: gaucho10 on April 26, 2009, 09:06:40 PM
No ways steveouk,  these are deffinitely different and much smaller.  I can see them getting a little dark but not totaly black.

doak,  I have had this queen since last June 1, 2008.  She has been laying very well and she is from Rhode Island (Italian...get it?)  But all of a sudden she must of have started to lay "small, dark" bee eggs.  I used to have midnights back in the 80's but they were much larger.  These are small.

Several things come to mind, think about the conditions in the hive:

1. Size of the combs. This comes in 2 parts, are the bees making smaller celled combs due to a change from foundation to foundationless say, or combs smaller due to age and the caccoon buildup in the cells.
2. Maybe the queen has been selecting sperm from a different donor and run out and now is forced to use the sperm from a different donor that is more feral in nature and producing smaller, darker bees?
3. Are you positive it is the same queen?
Life is a school.  What have you learned?   :brian:      The greatest danger to our society is apathy, vote in every election!

gaucho10

#7
April 27, 2009, 05:32:02 AM
Brian,

<1. Size of the combs. This comes in 2 parts, are the bees making smaller celled combs due to a change from foundation to foundationless say, or combs smaller due to age and the caccoon buildup in the cells.>

I have had the bees only since last June and I did not change foundation.  I did not notice any change in cell size from the norm..  Drone cells are till large and the brood chamber cell size is from the original nuc and foundation.  The cells are not cocoon-filled and are still light in color.

<2. Maybe the queen has been selecting sperm from a different donor and run out and now is forced to use the sperm from a different donor that is more feral in nature and producing smaller, darker bees?>

I concur with that statement.

<3. Are you positive it is the same queen?>

No I am not positive.  I have not found the queen this season.  I noticed that there was a nice brood pattern and I just left it at that...I have a queen!  I think she is the original one because there was no time for a new queen to develop and mate this season.  It just warmed up recently (Massachusetts) and I noticed no queen cells since I checked on the first warm days this month.  Last year in October I had to join this colony with another which ended up being queenless due to an animal knocking off the hive.  By that time in October temperatures were down in the 30's.




My favorite comedy program used to be Glenn Beck--The only thing is that after I heard the same joke over and over again it became BOOOORING.....

People who have inspired me throughout my life---Pee-wee Herman, Adolph Hitler, George W. Bush, Glenn Beck.
Notice I did not say they were people who I admire !!!

Natalie

#8
April 27, 2009, 03:27:47 PM
I was wondering the same thing.
I have bees that are a light orange with black bands and then there are some that are yellow with black bands.
Its a new nuc but they say its the existing queen in that colony from the fall split otherwise I would assume it had to do with a requeening.
Mine are all the same size though hmmm..
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