What the Books Don’t Tell You and Why Bees Change Their Minds
A talk by Clare Densley, current Head of Bee Department at Buckfast Abbey, and former SBI Martin Hann.
Held at Kilmington Village Hall, 6th April 2023 (39 attendees)
As Beekeepers, where do we get our information from?
Clare and Martin pointed out that there is a huge amount of information available, especially on the internet, but how can you tell whether it is reliable or even relevant? So, to start the talk they pointed out a few sources they use which have proved to be useful.
In no particular order:
Dave Cushman’s site (dave-cushman.net), currently run by Roger Patterson, has a wide range of articles on all aspects of beekeeping.
Rusty Burlew (https://backyardbeekeeping.iamcountryside.com/author/rustyburlew/page/10/ ), is a well-known American bee writer and lecturer who has had a number of articles in the BBKA News magazine.
Beebase (https://nationalbeeunit.com ), recently re-vamped with a search facility to help you find what you are looking for.
Dr Alison McAfee (https://alisonmcafeeblogs.wordpress.com). Based in British Columbia, Canada, Alison is a researcher and blogger on bees.
Statements we all take for granted which may not always be true.
It is not that bees are awkward or deliberately trying to confuse us humans, we just have to remember that they are a very flexible species and what they do is not set in stone. Perhaps we have to be a little bit more flexible to understand them.
If pollen is going into the hive, then all is well
This is the sort of statement we hear all the time and probably preach to beginners. In reality, the amount of pollen going into a hive is a function of queen pheromone, specifically queen mandibular pheromone. This pheromone is produced almost continuously within the colony so it is not surprising that pollen collection occurs when the weather permits, but it is the quantity of pheromone that is the important factor. So, the statement perhaps ought to read ‘If pollen is going into the hive with gusto, then all is well’. Modest quantities of pollen collection may actually indicate the queen is not 5-star quality!
Bad tempered bees always bring in more honey
There is possibly a grain of truth in this statement in that a bad-tempered colony is likely to be left alone for much of the time. Every time the hive is opened for inspection it takes time and resources to restore equilibrium. The lack of disturbance will allow the bees to build stores as they wish. Apart from this aspect, Clare and Martin felt there are really no other reasons to equate bad temper with honey gathering. They advocate eliminating bad tempered bees.
The first virgin to hatch out kills all the other virgins
Just not true! We have to realise that the workers are in control of the situation, not the queen. If the workers want to have a primary swarm and follow that with one or more casts then they will prevent the first queen to emerge from harming other queens ‘in the pipeline’. Multiple casts are a way for the colony to ‘spread it’s genes around’. A primary swarm may be followed by five or six casts. This situation happens quite frequently and often results in the remaining colony dying out through lack of resources.
Colonies reared from swarm cells will produce swarmy bees
Our speakers went on to make some comments about using swarm cells for making increase. In their experience they had not noticed this statement to be particularly true. In fact, just the opposite. The workers will have chosen the larvae for the next generation, unlike grafting, where it is the beekeeper’s choice. Perfectly good queens can be raised by carefully removing the queen cells and placing in a mini nuc colony or removing a frame with the queen cell and placing in a standard nuc. They have also experimented with queen cell incubation.
Supersedure cells are always on the surface of the comb rather than at the edge
This statement should perhaps read ‘Supersedure cells are SOMETIMES on the surface…. The whole process is on a knife edge until the moment it happens, and it could go either way, supersedure or swarm. To improve your chances of a correct diagnosis, check for clues such as Have they got enough resources to swarm? How big is the colony? How many queen cells have been built?
Varroa always infest drone brood in preference to worker brood
This is the basis of the still-recommended drone brood removal method as part of IPM. In the laboratory it is true there is a marked preference, but in the hive the situation is far from a simple lab experiment. The mated, female mite clings to the body of a worker and is transported around the hive. The pheromones given off by the larvae attract the mite and if she happens to pass over a suitable cell which is about to be capped the chances are she will drop into that cell. Inspecting only drone brood for varroa mites may give a false impression of varroa infestation.
Before the swarm departs the queen is slimmed down so she can fly
Don’t bet on it! Our duo spoke of colonies with eggs and sealed queen cells present that had swarmed which would not happen if the queen had stopped being fed for several days to slim down. Instead, the swarm will emerge anyway, hang up in a bush close to the old hive and wait for the queen to slim so she can fly to the new site. It is also possible for a swarm to move in several hops with rests before reaching their new home.
A prime swarm leaves when the first queen cell is sealed
To improve success rates bees prefer to swarm when the weather is fine. A sudden change in weather will often make them change their minds, and they may even pull sealed queen cells down.
All the bees in the colony love the queen
This is only true for the young bees who attend the queen’s court. The rest of the colony have to get on with their jobs, including leaving the hive to forage. However, all the bees will be aware as soon as the queen is no longer present, initiating the emergency swarm cell response.
Foragers show flower constancy
Mostly true, but not always. You can see this for yourself if you watch bees in your garden long enough. It is instructive to compare honeybee foraging behaviour with bumble bee foraging behaviour.
Odd things which happen which aren’t in any of the books
Snails in the hive being embalmed. Queens that have missed the entrance on return from mating and are forming a colony under the mesh floor. Or perhaps a swarm that has left without the queen. Odd things happen quite a lot!
Usurpation swarms (sometimes called parasitic swarms)
This situation occurs when a swarm tries to take over another, usually weak, colony. Our speakers were adamant that it occurs quite often, especially if there is a shortage of suitable nesting sites in the area.
A colony with a virgin queen will fill up with drones
Many of you will have observed this phenomenon. The drones are attracted by the virgin’s pheromones as she takes her orientation flights and will accompany her to the drone congregation area. It depends how many colonies with drones there are in the surrounding area.
In conclusion, most of bee behaviour is about chemical signals. All parts of the hive give off pheromones, initiating responses which make sense to the bees but are obscure to us. We also have to recognise that bees have not evolved to be a perfect super organism.
Question time:
Q. How far away should I place bait hives?
A. The usual figure is ¼ to ½ a mile. Martin described experiments with a piece of board with wax on the surface hung near the apiary to attract the initial swarm. Collecting the swarm is a simple matter of shaking the cluster into a skep or box.
Q. What are the conditions for incubating queen cells?
A. Use an egg incubator at 34°C. Put the cells in a cage with a small quantity of food such as candipoline. The cage can be laid horizontally after day 13. The queens do not need attendants but MUST be dealt with in a few hours.
Val thanked our speakers for a fascinating insight to bee behaviour and ideas that we might use to improve our beekeeping.