A bee was fighting something????

[samuils]

Hi, today I went over to look at the bees, just to sit there and look.  I noticed that one of the bees was on the ground on top of what looked like a bee, except the bee on the bottom was almost all black, and looked like they were fighting or not sure what they were doing.  Any ideas?  :shock:

[Michael Bush]

Robbers get their hair pulled by guard bees and in the end they are black and shiny...

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesrobbing.htm

[samuils]

Robbers get their hair pulled by guard bees and in the end they are black and shiny...

OMG IM Absolutely screwed  :'(, Ive seen this today morning and wont be able to get to them until tomorrow mid day.  Its weird though, because both hives are new, and there are maybe 10 or so bees in the air at a time.  Also they are on dry sugar at the moment, I was going to give them syrup tomorrow.  Oh poor girls  

So to close the hive completely if they have syrup will they be ok?  And to close, meaning absolutely all entrances top and bottom?  What about ventilation?

[indypartridge]

OMG IM Absolutely screwed  

Easy there... you saw ONE bee that might have been a robber. They might have been fighting. During robbing, there is an absolute frenzy of activity.

It could also have been a dying bee that an undertaker bee was simply removing from the colony and trying to drag away ("I'm not dead yet...").

Don't panic. Check them out today, go ahead and give them syrup, keep an eye out for anything unusual.

[Michael Bush]

I wouldn't freak about one bee... just pointing out what a robber looks like.  Look for the frenzy.  Only a hive that has given up won't be fighting.

[cdanderson]

Yes, it could just be "bees being bees" which could be anything from robbing to just a little argument.  When I am worried about a hive, I just reduce the entrance opening to an inch or so until I have time to get home and give them a good look.