Bee buzzing me.

[jbeshearse]

I thought I would share this as it was funny to me. As I was checking a hive a couple of days ago, one of the girls was getting testy. She had landed on my arm and was buzzing away frantically trying to sting me, or so I thought. As I brushed her away I discovered she was attacking a SHB that had landed on my arm. So there I was thinking she was trying to run me off, but she was actually chasing away a SHB. Good Girl

[WWW]

well trained bees you have there.

[okaive]

Here she is trying to protect your life and you just discard her like a commoner. Shame I say. lol

[msapostol]

I guess we shouldn't be so quick to judge, wow...

[Eek-a-beek]

The small hive beetle carries a yeast, K.ohmeri, that causes the pollen in the hive to spoil. When it rots it releases isoamyl acetate, the alarm pheromone that bees signal an attack with. Spoiling pollen in a badly infested hive can cause the colony to become aggressive or to abscond. SHB is attracted to this smell, perhaps because it is associated with fruit which they will graze on as well if honey bee hives are unavailable. When pollen falls on the ground, common near wind pollinated plants, then K.ohmeri yeast lives on it. This means that there are patches of the ground where isoamyl acetate is wafting up from which attracts the beetles and they get the yeast on themselves. Later they track it in when they enter a hive. That is, unless a bee picks up the scent trail and kills them first. That a honey bee would attack a SHB in the field was news to me but it is not that surprising.

[Stanisr]

So, if I understand what Eak-A-Beek said about pollen, yeast, and SHB, we should not place our hives under or even near trees or fence rows like most of us do myself included, as this is the location with the highest pollen counts in the soil which attracts beetles. Something to think about.