Bee Shorts

[max2]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZbwRKcyQVco
Another surprise

[max2]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P7S5DbSUrMc

[salvo]

Hi Folks,

Curious to me that there are not battalions of robber bees not taking advantage of the openness of the runny honey and the chaos of that subject hive.

Woe betide the beek who does that in June in my area.

Sal

[The15thMember]

Hi Folks,

Curious to me that there are not battalions of robber bees not taking advantage of the openness of the runny honey and the chaos of that subject hive.

Woe betide the beek who does that in June in my area.

Sal

Perhaps there isn't another hive close by.

Most of these videos of the giant honey bee harvest seem to be taking honey that isn't capped.  Does anyone know what is up with that?  Is it just too humid in these tropical regions for it get capped?     

[max2]

Hi Folks,

Curious to me that there are not battalions of robber bees not taking advantage of the openness of the runny honey and the chaos of that subject hive.

Woe betide the beek who does that in June in my area.

Sal

These Asian bees are very calm. I have never noticed them robbing.

[max2]

Hi Folks,

Curious to me that there are not battalions of robber bees not taking advantage of the openness of the runny honey and the chaos of that subject hive.

Woe betide the beek who does that in June in my area.

Sal

Perhaps there isn't another hive close by.

There could none...or there could be 100.
I was working at a temple in India and around the eaves were well over 100 combs hanging. During the middle of the day I could watch from my window and every few minutes a swarm would take off.
In Cambodia they are generally careful only to take capped honey. Human robbers will take the lot.

In Vietnam i was surprised to observe beekeepers harvesting mostly uncapped honey - possibly a humidity thing?

In Central China they harvested the honey fully capped.

Most of these videos of the giant honey bee harvest seem to be taking honey that isn't capped.  Does anyone know what is up with that?  Is it just too humid in these tropical regions for it get capped?   

[Ben Framed]

Max2
These Asian bees are very calm. I have never noticed them robbing.

Max aren't these the bees that are varroa resistant?

[The15thMember]

  Max aren't these the bees that are varroa resistant?

Apis cerana, the Asian honey bee, is the one usually listed as the original host of varroa, but the ranges of A. cerana and A. dorsata, the giant honey bee, overlap.  Beeaware.org says that A. dorsata only harbors varroa females, which makes me think that the brood cycle of the giant honey bees doesn't allow the varroa to breed and complete their life cycle.  The giant honey bees do harbor tropilaelaps mites however.       

[Michael Bush]

I'm not sure what it means to say that dorsata only harbors females.  Pretty much that's true of Mellifera.  There are no male Varroa loose in a Mellifera colony.  They are only in the cells.  None survive to emerge fro the cell.  Any phoretic Varroa is mated and able to produce a male from their first egg they lay in a cell.

[max2]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s927A8lxdWM

[max2]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OXzh3oZ4u4k

[max2]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/U14_ksqC_4Q

[max2]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CMDwDZIRuuQ

[max2]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qcjj9PjhBdU

[max2]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fSW54CFNsck

[max2]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lSQxiU9krmM

[max2]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nMjsgHMQfXY

[Ben Framed]

Max2
These Asian bees are very calm. I have never noticed them robbing.

Max aren't these the bees that are varroa resistant?

  Max aren't these the bees that are varroa resistant?

Apis cerana, the Asian honey bee, is the one usually listed as the original host of varroa, but the ranges of A. cerana and A. dorsata, the giant honey bee, overlap.  Beeaware.org says that A. dorsata only harbors varroa females, which makes me think that the brood cycle of the giant honey bees doesn't allow the varroa to breed and complete their life cycle.  The giant honey bees do harbor tropilaelaps mites however.       

I'm not sure what it means to say that dorsata only harbors females.  Pretty much that's true of Mellifera.  There are no male Varroa loose in a Mellifera colony.  They are only in the cells.  None survive to emerge fro the cell.  Any phoretic Varroa is mated and able to produce a male from their first egg they lay in a cell.

Very good point Mr Bush.

Which goes back to my question. Are these the Asian bees which are known to be varroa resistant?

[The15thMember]

Apis cerana is the species of honey bee that originally harbored varroa.  So I guess you could say they are resistant.  Varroa interact with them differently than with Apis mellifera though, since varroa only infest drone brood in A. cerana.  I'm not sure about Apis dorsata, their brood development times appear similar to A. cerana , so perhaps they also interact with varroa the same way as A. cerana.  But if the varroa can't reproduce in their colonies for some reason, I wouldn't call that "resistant", I'd just call it a parasite that cannot infest them.       

[BeeMaster2]

Apis Dorsata life cycle is 3days as an egg, 6 days as a larvae and 12 days as a pupa. Pretty much the same as apis melliferaso they are probably just as prone to varroa destructor.
Jim Altmiller.