It was near 35 degrees F. today with bright sunshine. A nice afternoon to watch the hive entrances for any activity. About 10 feet from the hives I noticed a dead bee here or there in the snow. Coming closer, I encountered little orange blots dotting the once pristine white blanket of snow. Moments later a honeybee flew right by my face. I got closer to the hives and could see Honeybees coming out of the top entrance hole of Hive A. Many a bee must have decided the bright sunshine meant warmer temps because one after another they would leave the entrance, fly about 5-10 ft. and then dive bomb into the snow. This concerns me as I can't imagine the cluster is all that large at this time of year and to lose so many bees to this activity they seemed so keen on doing cannot be helpful to this hive's survival. I realize the bees must take cleansing flights, but it seemed a bit too cold for this activity today. Many never made it back to the hive. The other 2 hives only had an occasional bee leaving the hive. Honeybees, they always leave me wondering.
 |
| Bees from Hive A exiting their top entrance hole thinking it's a beach party just because the temp. is over 30 degrees F. |
 |
| Dead bees outside the hive with dotting of bee excrement in the snow. |
No comments:
Post a Comment