[Honeycomb]

Ok, so yesterday I did my first hive check on both of my hives. Everything was great. However, today one of my hives seems to be agitated, while the other one is calm, happy, bringing in huge loads of pollen, etc. Here is a link to a video I made of the agitated hive. It is more apparent in person, but basically they are just buzzing a lot more, are moving faster, and flying around more in front of the hive compared to the other one. I can't tell if there is a robbing situation, and am wondering if something might have happened to the queen? Maybe this is normal, but it seems like something is wrong. I may not even think this at all if it weren't for the other hive being so mellow. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/12101694_jivyZ#860000140_xwPKJ

 

[cheesegenie]

Good video. I know nothing about bees and getting my first within the next two weeks, but have been studying the subject for a year.I only wanted to
start with one hive, but my mentor told me to get two. That way they can
be compared (like you are doing). I have watched a few hives and yours
looks OK to me, but what do I know? When will you give them the next bigger
hole on the entrance reducer. I hope to see what the real beekeepers say.

 

[honeybeekeeper]

I didnt see anything wrong in the short video...Have you seen any fighting in front of the hive or on the ground???? The guards will fight til their death. If it was robbing they would fly out slow from being full coming out. Usually they are that way when they are coming back and ready to land!

 

[Honeycomb]

I know it doesn't seem like anything is wrong, but they are buzzing and flying around a lot compared to the other hive - I will go out and see if I can see bees flying out slow. I sort of thought that if there was any robbing that there would be guard bees at the entrance trying to stop them from getting in, and I haven't seen that. But maybe they just have given up guarding because they are overwhelmed? I wish I knew for sure.

 

[MikeJ]

some animal bothering them? Last year we had a skunk that snacked each night. Made up a nail board and seemed to solve it.

If it is that, look around on the ground in front of the hive. Usually there is scratch marks and waste.

 

[blueline]

I just hived my first 4 packages 3 weeks ago and I have noticed that each hive seems to be on it's own schedule. All 4 hives may all be very active at the same time and somtimes one or two are very active and it doesn't seem that much is going on outside the others. You might check back several times a day and see if yu notice any different behavior.

Blueline

 

[Honeycomb]

Well, I just went back out and looked at the hive and....it appears totally relaxed and normal! I don't know what was going on earlier, but clearly two hives can have different stuff going on, normal stuff, or just be in different moods. It's interesting because the hive that has been more calm, those bees have been bringing in gigantic sacks of pollen all day. The other hive has not - but maybe they have just tapped into a really great nectar source. I still am wondering what it was that was getting them so buzzy and energetic before. That video really doesn't capture it.

 

[Michael B]

I have four hives. My loudest and most guarded one the doing the best. They buzz super loud and the guard bee always smack you in the face when I get close. I never been stung, YET! from that hive. Right now they have 2 more frames of capped brood and uncapped honey than the others.

 

[ken rice]

I was standing watching my hives just yesterday and all of a sudden my one hive seemed to get more aggresive and louder. I looked and on top of the hive was a yellow jacket. I shooed him away and they calmed down.

 

[fish_stix]

They're acting normal and bringing in lots of pollen.

 

[Nabber86]

Looks normal to me.

 

[NY_BLUES]

Looks good from here, lots of pollen, seems like a good normal hive to me!

 

[Honeycomb]

Well, I'm relieved to hear that nobody sees anything problematic! If you think these bees have a lot of pollen, I should take a video of the other hive so you can see the huge amount of pollen those bees are bringing in. Some of them I saw came in with such huge loads that they tipped over onto their backs after landing! I've never seen anything like it! This is all so new to me and I'm loving it!

 

[nicktulloh]

One quick question - I was instructed to install the entrance reducer with the gap facing up so the bees could get over any dead bees that accumulated at the entrance. Does that really make any difference? Could that be why you have a bit of a traffic jam? Might be worth taking a look there next time you're in.

Other than that, one of my hives looks just like that. The other is a nice orderly constant in and out flow with the bees almost looking polite and not getting in each others' way.

 

[Honeycomb]

I took a new video of the other hive yesterday (the green hive box) - just so everyone could see how much pollen these bees are bringing in. It's amazing! The other hive isn't bringing anywhere near this much pollen. Check it out!

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/12101694_jivyZ#862145043_hXmo6