Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, March 12, 2013
Animals Bees Getting Ready
Posted by Gillian Anderson on Tue, Mar 12, 2013 at 9:45 AM
The warm, sunny weather these last two weekends has definitely inspired my bees. They are out and about and bringing pollen back to the hive. At first I couldn't see how they could find pollen this time of year. But then I looked around and saw there was some stuff blooming: heather, rosemary, daphne.
- Hey, ladies!
See the yellow pollen on her legs? When the workers start bringing in pollen, it sends a message to the queen to begin laying again. In less than a month, we'll start seeing the new bees. Just in time for the fruit-tree blooms!
1
I saw a chart of the lifecycle of the honey bee at a county fair a few months ago, and it really fascinated me. The way the drones cycle through every job in the hive based on their age is amazing. How do you suppose that works?
2
flowers have been blooming for over a month, gillian. sarcacocca, snowdrops, hellebore, cammelia. my hummingbirds have been back that long, too. it's what makes the PNW awesome!
4
I haven't seen any flowers blooming around here (north of Denver). We're still getting a lot of snow and freezing weather down to about eighteen F. Yet I saw pollen coming in to the hives last week when it briefly got into the fifties. My bees must be flying quite a distance into the city where it's warmer and the plants are further along in order to find that pollen.
5
@1 Small correction: Female worker bees are the ones that can do different jobs. Male drones don't work.
7
i'd humblee ([snigger]) suggest that at this early time of the year (and with typical rates of robbing) you might want flip the entrance reducer to even smaller on that hive. (...or not)
9
Workers:
nurse larvae, attend queen, clean hive, store and process nectar and pollen, guard hive entrance, forage, die
Drones:
fly around looking for queens, die
Queens:
kill rivals (if any), fly around a bit, mate, lay eggs for several years, die
nurse larvae, attend queen, clean hive, store and process nectar and pollen, guard hive entrance, forage, die
Drones:
fly around looking for queens, die
Queens:
kill rivals (if any), fly around a bit, mate, lay eggs for several years, die
10
You can tell whether foragers are bringing in pollen by checking their pollen baskets (dense clumps of bristles on their hind legs that trap pollen grains), but figuring out if they have a lot of nectar is a bit trickier.
What you do is you squat down to the side of the entrance and watch the bees as they come back in. If they're empty, they'll alight easily on the landing board. If they've got a crop full of nectar, they'll come in more slowly, hover for a second, and then plop heavily to the board. It takes some time to get a sense for it, but once you do, you can tell pretty easily.
What you do is you squat down to the side of the entrance and watch the bees as they come back in. If they're empty, they'll alight easily on the landing board. If they've got a crop full of nectar, they'll come in more slowly, hover for a second, and then plop heavily to the board. It takes some time to get a sense for it, but once you do, you can tell pretty easily.
11
Dandelion makes nice pollen, too. And Camellias. Both in bloom over here on Vashon and the bees are coming in with the bright yellow stuff.
12
@7 You are correct. We had it open just for the sunny afternoon, because there was so much bee activity!
13
Ms Anderson, Do you have to feed you bees (sugar water) during the winter? Or do they make enough honey to last the winter.
16
Don't worry, there's plenty of pollen about. My nose knows.
http://www.pollen.com/allergy-weather-fo…
It's not just little ornamental flowers that are important. Lots of trees are in bloom this time of year. Bees don't care if the flowers are fifty feet above the ground.
http://www.pollen.com/allergy-weather-fo…
It's not just little ornamental flowers that are important. Lots of trees are in bloom this time of year. Bees don't care if the flowers are fifty feet above the ground.
17
@13: Generally speaking, you shouldn't need to feed a hive unless it's swarmed late or has been weakened by a disease or something. The trouble with putting a syrup feeder in/on the hive is that it acts as a heat sink; since water has such a high specific heat, a lot of the bees' body heat ends up wasted on the syrup.
18
They (GIRL bees) work so hard! Even the fruits not requiring a pollinator seem to do and taste better when bees are spreading the pollen around!
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