At first we thought it was a robbery in progress. You know, the whole fight to the death panic ensuing madness that happens when another entity is trying violently to steal away what belongs to you?
However, after sitting quietly in front of the hive for a little while, just to observe, it became apparent that what we were seeing wasn't a robbery in progress at all. It was, instead, the newbies taking their very first orientation flights.
This means that hundreds of bees were stepping out for the very first time! They fly up and down, back and forth across the entrance of the hive to orient themselves with where they are and how to get back. They were essentially setting their internal GPS.
We also observed several bees flying into the hive with their little pockets completely full of pollen. We got to thinking that, if you're involved in a fight to the death don't rob me interaction, you're not going to go shopping for supplies ;-)
So, our bees are fine. Totally and completely fine. They're busy, growing, building, creating, dying , being born and enjoying the Russian Sage.
Glad the babies are fine! I never really pictures bees fledging, but of course they must!
ReplyDeleteYeah...this is definitely a learning curve for us! It's crazy to think there's an entire city living in a corned of our yard!!!
ReplyDeleteWow that is so neat! We want to try bee's next year bit the more I read about them, the more they seem pretty complex!
ReplyDeleteIt's super cool! I highly recommend getting bees! We are totally learning as we go, but it's tons of fun and we can't wait for the honey!!! So far we've been very lucky with our bees...no violent behaviors, no stinging, etc. I've read that their temperament is dependent on the queen. If she's calm, the entire hive will be too, but if she's a bitch, the entire hive will be bitchy, too. It's fascinating!
ReplyDelete