Hi all,
I have a strange situation and I don’t know what to do with it…
I harvested the honey from the flow frames in early October. I had been travelling and couldn’t get to it earlier, and it had been a warm year for us here in Scotland, so I figured it would be fine.
I forgot to use the escape boards. I harvested and then on a coolish dry, still day took off the boxes and set them on our robbing station which is about 80-90 yards away.
The first box still had some bees in it and they screamed out and attacked me and my husband. We ran. That evening,after the bees had gone to bed, we got the box to the robbing station and the bees took about 5 days to clean it and then head for home. We put that box with the flow frames into the garage for storage, and there were no bees in it.
However… the second flow frame box was taken off two days after the first, again, after harvesting g all frames. The bees didn’t seem too fussed. (Of course this time we had our armour on!). We took it to the robbing station no problem.
A week later, we took a look and there are bees still all over it. They are spending the night in the box. We can look in even at night, to be greeted with angry menacing buzzing…their beady eyes glowing red in the red light we use. I thought maybe they were young bees who hadn’t been out as yet so they didn’t know where to go. So we slowly, over about three days, after putting a crown board on top, moved the box back to the hive. It now sits right next to the home hive, but not on it.
It’s been three days now since the box returned to the home hive, and those little buggers are still there! Every time you peer in from the top, they stare back at you and start their war dance, at which time we quickly leave the area. Some even leave to get us even though it is way after dark.
They seem to want to protect the box, which is empty. There are plenty of stores in the home hive, and fondant in the home hive.
The other flow hive I have are quietly going about their business lapping up the last of the summer “wine” in the area and not being a problem at all. They too have stores, and are being fed.
Why are those bees refusing to leave their castle? What can I do to make them abandon the flow frame box so I can get it ready to store? Do I have to wait until they die of cold? It was 60degrees today, and dry, so fall is treating us as well as summer did.
Anyone got some advice for me???
(Third year bee keeper).