Beekeeping

[EddieWalker]

My wife is saying that we've never had more bees in the gardens then this year. She is even finding bees that we've never seen before.

Mexican pitted-stingless honeybee is at the bottom of the picture.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I did see an article yesterday about the honey bee losses this last year for commercial beekeepers. They have attributed it to a virus being carried by varroa mites that are resistant to chemical treatments.

 

[ning]

We got two nucs this spring; one is very busy in its rapidly-expanding hive, while the second has swarmed twice they had plenty of room? Not sure what their issue was.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

We got two nucs this spring; one is very busy in its rapidly-expanding hive, while the second has swarmed twice they had plenty of room? Not sure what their issue was.

Bees will swarm regardless of space available. It has a lot to do with genetics. Bees are programmed to propogate, and swarming is that mechanism. Colonies can change their swarm behavior over time too, since each time they swarm, the queen mates and takes on new genetic traits. I've had some very swarmy hives, settle into a much less swarmy attitude over the years due to breeding.
Next year with 20 hives, I'm moving more toward splits and queen rearing, so I have some idea of what the bees disposition will be.