[Adam Foster Collins]

I have a tbh set next to my house with the entrance at eye level to my basement window. It provides a nice place to watch from without bothering the bees.

For the past couple of days, there has been a bumblebee queen (who I locked out of her beginning nest under my steps) which has been repeatedly been trying to get into the honeybee hive.

By this afternoon, there appeared to be about 50 or more guard bees on the landing board. As the bumble bee would draw near, they would raise up high on their legs preparing for it to land among them, and a few would fly up to meet it in the air a foot or two above the landing. Sometimes, the bumble would suddenly just drop into the mass of them and tumble off to the ground with guards clinging to it. Then off it would fly, only to return again in a few minutes. It has gone on and on. Once, the bumble got just inside the door, and it sounded like an electric shock as the bees hit her. Out she came again.

My swarm is strong, and it doesn't appear the Bumblebee could ever get in. My questions:

I know that being robbed can make a hive nasty, but what is a continued attempt like this likely to do to the mood of my bees? And is it common for so many bees to go on guard duty?


Thanks,


Adam

 

[Elwood]

Maybe you could let the Bumble bee back into her nest?

 

[theriverhawk]

I'm a big fan of a tennis or badmiton raquet for bumble bees. On good swat and we've not got 2 halves!

I see bumble bees constantly trying to get into my hives at one spot. The hives aren't hot towards me when I show up or open them up.

 

[devdog108]

I have a Russian Hybrid hive facing the woods on top of another russian hive. Yesterday i found at LEAST 9 bumblebees dead below the hive at 3 pm. When i went back out at 8 is, i found 5 more. They are assaulting this one hive in particular, but none has made it through the door. They have been crancky, thats for sure....

 

[Adam Foster Collins]

Maybe you could let the Bumble bee back into her nest?

Well, that has been a dilemma. I didn't want to kill the Bumblebee, so I spent a lot of time trying to thwart her from building a nest under my steps. I tried and tried, but she kept getting around my barricades and getting in there. But the kids are always sitting right there, and I really didn't want a whole nest of bumble bees going in and out there, so finally I had to spray foam all the cracks. I made sure she was out, hoping she would build another nest somewhere else. Now she just seems focused on the honeybee hive...

 

[beekeeper1756]

I may take a raquet ball racket to the bee yard to swat those few guard bees from the cutouts that are bent on doing me bodily harm. I like this idea alot.