I went out to check on the one hive I have at home, a kTBH, and there's suddenly copious amounts of mustard color dysentery. A lot!! This is a three-year old hive. Although this is a very rainy cool climate, the bees have been foraging on good days and bringing in a lot of pollen for ~3 weeks. Today is sunny, 60F, and windy (15-20mph).
There are no dead and/or crawling bees in front of the hive. Foragers are coming and going. As I watched, I saw 2 bees repeatedly defecating on the landing board and on the front of the hive. There's so much fecal matter that I saw several bees with their wings covered with it, although they themselves were not defecating.
This hive has 4 small semi-circle entrances at the front. They normally use the 2 on the right. Those entrances were so thick with poop that bees coming and going were getting it all over themselves. I closed off those entrances so the bees would use the 'clean' entrances.
What is happening????? I've NEVER seen this before! I've seen poop on the hive and landing board many times, but NOTHING like this!
What should I do????????????????
(They still have a lot of honey stores and are bringing in pollen, various colors. I haven't opened the hive, but there's a window on the side I can see in).
There are no dead and/or crawling bees in front of the hive. Foragers are coming and going. As I watched, I saw 2 bees repeatedly defecating on the landing board and on the front of the hive. There's so much fecal matter that I saw several bees with their wings covered with it, although they themselves were not defecating.
This hive has 4 small semi-circle entrances at the front. They normally use the 2 on the right. Those entrances were so thick with poop that bees coming and going were getting it all over themselves. I closed off those entrances so the bees would use the 'clean' entrances.
What is happening????? I've NEVER seen this before! I've seen poop on the hive and landing board many times, but NOTHING like this!
What should I do????????????????
(They still have a lot of honey stores and are bringing in pollen, various colors. I haven't opened the hive, but there's a window on the side I can see in).