Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper by C. Marina Marchese

Author:C. Marina Marchese
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Non-fiction
ISBN: 9781603761758
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishing
Published: 2009-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

Honeybees in Autumn: Preparing for Winter

It was a lazy August afternoon during my first season of beekeeping. The kind of day where the sun seemed bear down on the earth and the air was still and oppressive. The lanky sprigs of goldenrod had recently expired. Their dried flower heads hung over, leaving little or no nectar for my bees. It had been drier than usual that summer, and most of the greens in my garden were on their way to a crispy brown. Late summer had officially arrived. As I approached the hive that day, I immediately noticed more than just the usual activity at the entrance. Odd, I thought, for such a lazy day. I continued forward slowly and with some caution. I had been told that in late August there might be a dearth of nectar and that the bees could become restless and hungry, cranky, and even nasty. Something referred to as robbing could occur. Simply put, opportunistic bees try to rob honey from another hive and carry it back to their own—a much easier way to obtain food during a drought.

Robbing behavior is considered common any time there is a lack of nectar, but rogue bees might also try to invade a strange hive as the result of sloppy beekeeping practices. On occasion, for example, I have kept the hive open too long during an inspection, thus advertising its contents to any old honeybees in the area. Simply dripping sugar solution near the hive could serve as an open invitation to unwanted guests. But honeybees are nothing if not clever and organized. For what is a queendom without a respectable army? And, indeed, guard bees are stationed at the entrance of the hive to protect the colony from enemies. As worker bees enter the hive, the guard bees wait in line at the entrance and smell each entering bee. If a bee’s pheromones are not recognized, the bee will be denied entrance. The only way a rogue or drifter bee may gain entrance to new hive is if the bee approaches bearing a gift in the form of nectar or pollen.

Clearly, a strange bee had tried to enter my hive, and a brawl had broken out. As I stood at the entrance, I could actually see several bees aggressively bolting up to the entrance in an attempt to push pass the guards. In fact, the newcomers were not honeybees at all. They were yellow jackets, and their motive was obvious: to get inside the hive and indulge in the honey. I had a full-fledged robbery on my hands.

A few of my own honeybees were locked in one-on-one mortal combat with these thieves, rolling around the hive entrance and then falling to the grass, but never once breaking their combative embrace. All six legs wrapped around the foe, each bee or yellow jacket tried to sting the combatant to death. I was immensely proud of my honeybees for valiantly defending their turf. I felt like it was my duty to join in and help.

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