I did search this topic on the forums, but I want to know more! At the entrance to one of my two hives, lots of the girls (10? 15?) are out doing their pheromone fanning thing, facing the hive with their butts up in the air. I understand that this can be used to help foragers find their way back to the hive, but I don't recall seeing so many fanners out all at once before.
All seems fine with this hive (and my other hive), and they are stuffing them with honey right now. I put more supers on today. I can't believe how different this is to the disaster I experienced last year, losing both my hives in November after a cold, wet summer. This year we've had the hottest, sunniest summer I can remember in a long time, and the flowers are going nuts, as are the bees. All I smell around the hives is honey! We had two weeks of temps up to the 36C degree range, with a humidex of 40 - 45C (i.e. 90s and 100s F.)
So is it normal for so many bees to be out fanning in this way? Like I said, the rest of the hive activity seems normal, but I am curious about what's going on. Are they communicating things other than a homing scent when they fan in the "butts-up" position? Or is something dire about to happen, and I'm just too ignorant to realize it?
Natalie
All seems fine with this hive (and my other hive), and they are stuffing them with honey right now. I put more supers on today. I can't believe how different this is to the disaster I experienced last year, losing both my hives in November after a cold, wet summer. This year we've had the hottest, sunniest summer I can remember in a long time, and the flowers are going nuts, as are the bees. All I smell around the hives is honey! We had two weeks of temps up to the 36C degree range, with a humidex of 40 - 45C (i.e. 90s and 100s F.)
So is it normal for so many bees to be out fanning in this way? Like I said, the rest of the hive activity seems normal, but I am curious about what's going on. Are they communicating things other than a homing scent when they fan in the "butts-up" position? Or is something dire about to happen, and I'm just too ignorant to realize it?
Natalie