[rpharr]

One year beek here. Done a walk by inspection of my six hives today. I noticed a little fighting at the front of one of them. When I took a closer look expecting robbing, I saw it was one of the girl harassing a drone. I saw three different drones in about a minute drug over the side. Is this normal this time of the year? I thought this did not happen until cold weather. I have not harvested any honey off of this hive,being it is a one year old, build up hive. So they have plenty of stores. I did not see this activity on any other hive. Is this normal? Any suggestion will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[JWChesnut]

You shouldn't be in dearth yet. However drones are the first to succumb to the Varroa vectored virus. The bees can detect the unhealthy drone and eject them just like the malformed workers.

 

[rpharr]

Thanks, I will take a closer look this week.

 

[Wolfer]

It's common this time of year for them to cut the drone population back a little. Drones can and do go to any hive they want. They just can't always stay.