Friday 16 September 2011

The Casting out of the Drones and Preparing for Winter

Oh for a life of comfort in the warm hive
For a drone it is good to be alive!
When it seemed long summer days would never end
Our hard working sisters to us dearly tend,
Who never cease to toil away
Bringing pollen and nectar every day
Building comb, cleaning, feeding young
Making honey when the day is done,
While we would preen and strut our stuff
Not a days work expected of us!
Looking pretty is our role
And pleasure flights when we feel the call,
To explore and congregate with the chaps
Enjoy hospitality from another hive, perhaps
Til welcomed home by sisters dear,
We never had any need to fear.
Our every need and whim fulfilled -
Who'd have thought they'd have us killed?
Oh what has become of those carefree days?
Now forcibly ejected, pushed away!
Ripping at wing and leg
Sisters, why treat us this way I beg?
Rejected, ejected, left to die
Dismembered by wasps when we can't fly
Why this fate? Oh woe is me!
It shouldn't happen to a dandy bee!

Karin Rainbird 16th September 2011



When checking the apiary and observing the bees in the last couple of days I was struck by the number of drones I saw around the hive.


It is that time of year when the hive begins to reduce in number and prepare for the winter. Drones may be forcibly ejected from the hives, the guard bees pushing them away with their bodies, and ripping at their legs and wings with their mandibles. Some drones who's wings are still intact, may fly off and try and gain entry to another hive, others will remain sitting in the vicinity of their own hives and try to regain access. I noted a number of drones trying to get back into my hive, and the guard bees are at the moment still tolerant, and allowing some of them back in.
Others seemed less fortunate, and I observed a wasp attempting to carry one of the drones (twice its size) off. Wasps will dismember drones and carry them off bit by bit, but I couldn't bear to see this and chased the wasp away. Tits, sparrows and other birds may also eat the drones and drone pupae which are ejected from the hive.
Drones can be easily recognised and distinguished from worker bees by their size and large eyes. They are longer, fatter and fluffier than worker bees and their eyes take up pretty much their whole heads.

Drones are also stingless, their sole role being to mate with a queen and pass on the genes from their mother. They have no role in collecting nectar or pollen, housekeeping or rearing brood, though they may well have a role in temperature control within the hive. Due to their limited role and use, they are ejected in the Autumn, to ensure that there is enough food left for the workers and brood to survive the winter and ensure the survival of the colony. If the drones are being ejected from a colony in the Autumn, it is a sign that the colony is "Queen Right", i.e. that the colony is doing well and has a good healthy queen who is laying plenty of eggs. If the colony does not eject the drones, then it is likely that they are planning to supercede their queen for one reason or another. So hopefully, my hive is queen right and doing well. My last inspection revealed plenty of new comb built, and some honey, though as I didn't do a thorough inspection looking at all the combs, it is diffiuclt to know how full their stores are. As it has been a dry year this year as far as nectar flow goes, I decided to give them another feed of sugar syrup to ensure they have stores through the winter. This time I made a preparation with nettle, which apparantly the bees love (according to Phil Chandler on the Natural Beekeeping course I attended in Devon last weekend); chamomile, to give some flower essence; and thyme, in the hope that the thyme will help protect against varroa mites. Phil Chandler also suggested on the course that a few drops of tea tree oil can be added to the sugar syrup feed and that this will also protect against varroa, and that the bees don't mind it. This is surprising as most insects hate tea tree oil. But bees aren't most insects! And tea tree is very effective against fleas, lice, mosquitos and other blood sucking insects, so it may well work against mites that suck the bees blood. I may try that next time if varroa appear to be a problem.