Hey guys, I’m kinda new to the whole bee keeping thing, and this is my fist post. So I went by the hive today and found quite a few bees gathering around the landing board and they were more aggressive than normal, i had a few buzzing around my head and got a couple of warning shots. But I did manage to snap a few pics… Would be curious to see what you guys think.
Hi Evan,
Looks fine to me.
It must be close to 30 degrees in many parts of Vic at the moment with those blocking high pressure systems. The bees come out of the hive when it gets a bit warm for all of them in there.
If you see lots of bees outside the hive when it is much cooler, that is different.
Yeah its about 27 here at the moment but humidity is quite high, the bit that got me concerned was the elevated aggression. Normally they are really quiet, but today they seem agitated.
My first thought was that they were fixing to swarm on me and they seem to be walking up and down on the outside of the hive and the numbers are growing…
Thanks for the comment though hopefully all is well… Its just a behaviour that I have not seen before.
At my last inspection they had not drawn out all the frames yet, but they are not far off, would it be a good idea to put the flow super on and give them a bit more space?
@Evan_Trotter Did you see any fighting/wrestling going on? It might be robbing, which could explain why they are so much more defensive (not aggressive). If not, they could merely be bearding due to the heat. Make sure they have a safe and clean water source nearby.
Have you experienced your bees doing orientation flights? That’s absolute magic and then they also pour out if the hive like a torrent. This is over in a couple of minutes and your won’t see any fighting.
Only put on the super when your frames are 80% drawn out.
I am three months into my beekeeping journey and it gets better, more fun and more interesting every day. Keep those questions coming; the folks on here are wonderful and you’ll get some stellar advice.
Enjoy!
Deon
Looks ok to me but I’m going to ask the question I always ask… when did you last look in and what was there?
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