View Full Version : Odd bee behavior
mackles
02-10-2006, 07:17 PM
Well last week i went out to check on my bees since it has been very good weather where i live. But one of my hives seemed odd. They didnt react very well the smoke, like had slow reaction time to it. And they seemed rather lazy. I shook a frame of bees off and then i really made them angery and had about 10 bees spin around my head and knock into me. What could it be? they have great honey income, and mite levels are low.
Michael Bush
02-11-2006, 04:26 PM
Was it cold out? At 40 or 50 F they can be a bit slow.
mackles
02-11-2006, 06:07 PM
It was like 65-70, so that might of been the problem.
Michael Bush
02-11-2006, 07:05 PM
They really shouldn't be slow at 65, but they are sometimes at 45 or 50 if the sun isn't out. Maybe they're just having a laid back day. Try them again on a warm sunny day and see how they compare.
Jim Fischer
02-11-2006, 07:29 PM
When I have one hive that acts "weird",
I start looking for eggs and larvae
and (if possible) the queen.
Betcha a nickel you find a queenless hive,
or a hive with an old queen in need of being
replaced. The difference between it and
adjacent hives seems extreme, and when I
see something "different", I tend to find
a queen problem.
Just a guess, from the opposite end of the
continent...
mackles
02-12-2006, 03:07 PM
I just got back from checking them, it was warmer and sunnier and they seemed more responsive. I dont know what the problem was, they needed to be requeened, and it was a little cold out. Who knows, it could be one or both of those problems. Thanks for the help.
Mabey a slight pesticide poisioning. Where there many dead bees infount of the hive?