These don?t look like my bees

saltybluegrass · June 20, 2019, 06:45:42 PM

I?m going to send a link to my Twitter if pic doesn?t post
At the 12 second mark a big black bee flies in
I?m seeing them every 15-25 seconds
https://youtu.be/Oc7LZZgcq5s

https://mobile.twitter.com/jamesla39333155/status/1141819381120417812/photo/1
[attachment=0][/attachment]

incognito · June 20, 2019, 07:00:27 PM

I am neither a bee nor genetics expert.....but being that the queen mates with several drones, it would not be odd if half sisters took on different appearances within the species.

AR Beekeeper · June 20, 2019, 07:20:19 PM

Those large black bees you are seeing are drones.

incognito · June 20, 2019, 07:28:36 PM

Quote from: AR Beekeeper on June 20, 2019, 07:20:19 PM
Those large black bees you are seeing are drones.

Is the coloring always that different than the workers?
I have been watching my landing board for drones and I do not think I saw, or recognized, one yet. (New package).

I see the more rounded abdomen on the dark bee. I did not see a good view of its eyes.

van from Arkansas · June 20, 2019, 08:29:54 PM

Salty, stingless drones, male honeybees is what is in the pic. The drones are welcome by any hive, privileged they are. So drones drift from hive to hive. This Fall you will see workers dragging drones out of the hives. The workers will kick the drones out so the male bees, drones, starve or freeze this Fall.

Just to be clear, drone honeybees do not have a stinger, harmless little guys.
Van

saltybluegrass · June 20, 2019, 08:54:28 PM

I think Ace recommended opening that plastic hive entrance , which I did and they use every inch of it.
Thinking this was robbing, I closed the entrance down-
Welp!! Back to opening!
That?s the hive that produced last weeks honey so I thought foreigners were invading -
Thanks
I put swifters in here a month ago
Today I found something looking like insulation/ cotton in a ball filled with SHB laying outside the hive.

BeeMaster2 · June 20, 2019, 09:55:11 PM

Salty.
As mentioned, they are drones and they may or may not bee from your queen. Nothing to worry about.
I do not recommend that you open up the hive any more that you have. I keep reducers on all of my hives to minimize robbing. I just pulled 3 supers from a 7 box hive that had 2 other boxes of honey that is did not pull. One was not capped and the other was old comb with some brood and a storm blew up and I had to close up the hive. This hive has a 2 inch by 3/8 inch open on the bottom and a small close level door in the screen top board.
Jim Altmiller

incognito · June 20, 2019, 11:16:47 PM

Jim,
That opening must get congested from time to time as a trade off to robbing?

BeeMaster2 · June 20, 2019, 11:38:06 PM

Incognito,
Bees are very good at using a small entrance and keep the traffic coming and going. I have removed many feral hives that only have a small entrance and still have very large hives.
Jim Altmiller

saltybluegrass · June 21, 2019, 12:17:34 AM

Can you show me a picture of the small close level door in the screen top board and explain if I need one?

Donovan J · June 21, 2019, 01:04:09 AM

Those are big ole drones.

cao · June 21, 2019, 01:37:06 AM

Wait till you have about fifty of them hovering around the front of your hive. They are noisy little bugs. I like Jim use a reduced entrance on all my hives. Most of mine are 3/8" x 3". The only time that they really get congested is when they have a dozen or more bees fanning out front blocking the entrance.

TheHoneyPump · June 21, 2019, 11:29:53 AM

An after dinner drink, a lawn chair, and a dabber. Now I wait for neighbouring backyard beekeepers freak-out stories to develop. Heheheeeee.

incognito · June 21, 2019, 12:08:45 PM

Quote from: TheHoneyPump on June 21, 2019, 11:29:53 AM
An after dinner drink, a lawn chair, and a dabber. Now I wait for neighbouring backyard beekeepers freak-out stories to develop. Heheheeeee.

LOL. Thank goodness you are nowhere near me! You could have at least used a different color than green.

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch

van from Arkansas · June 21, 2019, 12:21:40 PM

HP, do you mark drones for age determination? Are those your drones?
Van

TheHoneyPump · June 21, 2019, 12:34:47 PM

The colour is light blue. The lighting of the camera makes it look off a bit. One of the picts has the green queen in it. ( I am aware of some people having colour challenges, meaning red-blue-green colour blindness of various degrees. Some locals too, hahahaaa. )
They are my drones. In one of my Barracks hives. I doubt that I marked even a 1/4 of them in there. When the beer can was empty I stopped dabbing. Which was not long. It was hot. ;)
I marked them just in curiosity of how far they will go and spread. Relying on others nearby to tell me if they see them showing up in their hives. Mainly to prove the point that drones drift, they go wherever.
As example, the very next day I saw some of these in nucs and hives in my mating yard 1.5 miles away.

PS-Also. As you can see in the bees, drones, and queen in the pictures - and as mentioned above. With a well bred queen in a genetically diverse area, they do not all have the same colouring. This is a GOOD thing.

CoolBees · June 21, 2019, 12:40:25 PM

That's really cool HP.

incognito · June 21, 2019, 02:08:47 PM

Quote from: TheHoneyPump on June 21, 2019, 12:34:47 PM
The colour is light blue. The lighting of the camera makes it look off a bit. One of the picts has the green queen in it. ( I am aware of some people having colour challenges, meaning red-blue-green colour blindness of various degrees. Some locals too, hahahaaa. )

On closer inspection I recognize that the color is different than the queen's. My mistake. Mea culpa.

I have no excuse for the color challenges - just had cataract surgery in both eyes, right eye last week, left eye on Tuesday. I am hoping it makes hive inspections easier.

BeeMaster2 · June 21, 2019, 02:40:14 PM

I could do the same thing but nobody would notice. All the commercial hives are gone and none of my neighbors have hives now.
Jim Altmiller

TheHoneyPump · June 23, 2019, 01:27:57 AM

Quote from: incognito on June 21, 2019, 02:08:47 PM
Quote from: TheHoneyPump on June 21, 2019, 12:34:47 PM
The colour is light blue. The lighting of the camera makes it look off a bit. One of the picts has the green queen in it. ( I am aware of some people having colour challenges, meaning red-blue-green colour blindness of various degrees. Some locals too, hahahaaa. )
On closer inspection I recognize that the color is different than the queen's. My mistake. Mea culpa.

I have no excuse for the color challenges - just had cataract surgery in both eyes, right eye last week, left eye on Tuesday. I am hoping it makes hive inspections easier.

Just to be clear and A-OK, I want to say that my mention of colour challenges was in no way whatsoever directed your way! I have quite a few close friends and a couple of beekeepers who have recently shared that they have problems with some colours. I merely mentioned it because the best example was when I was in Bobs greenhouse recently and he asked if I would like some tomatoes. I said yes, those nice red ones there would be great. He said -which ones-. .... they were the only two red tomatoes in the whole greenhouse, standing out blazing away. All the others were still a light green.

Another ... a beekeeper said he just painted his queen so she would be easier to find. I asked what colour, just as a matter of guiding to stay with the standard. He said, did not know as he cannot tell much difference between yellow blue and green.

So ... yeah ... was not intending any point out or any offence. I hope none was taken.