Honeybees in Autumn: Preparing for Winter - Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper - page 84

CHAPTER 10
Honeybees in Autumn: Preparing for Winter
It was a lazy August afternoon during my first season of beekeeping. The kind of day
where the sun seemed bear down on the earth and the air was still and oppressive. The
lankysprigsofgoldenrodhadrecentlyexpired.Theirdriedflowerheadshungover,leav-
ing little or no nectar for my bees. It had been drier than usual that summer, and most
of the greens in my garden were on their way to a crispy brown. Late summer had of-
ficially arrived. As I approached the hive that day, I immediately noticed more than just
theusualactivityattheentrance.Odd,Ithought,forsuchalazyday.Icontinuedforward
slowly and with some caution. I had been told that in late August there might be a dearth
of nectar and that the bees could become restless and hungry, cranky, and even nasty.
Something referred to as robbing could occur. Simply put, opportunistic bees try to rob
honey from another hive and carry it back to their own—a much easier way to obtain
food during a drought.
Robbing behavior is considered common any time there is a lack of nectar, but rogue
bees might also try to invade a strange hive as the result of sloppy beekeeping practices.
On occasion, for example, I have kept the hive open too long during an inspection, thus
advertising its contents to any old honeybees in the area. Simply dripping sugar solution
near the hive could serve as an open invitation to unwanted guests. But honeybees are
nothingifnotcleverandorganized.Forwhatisaqueendomwithoutarespectablearmy?
And, indeed, guard bees are stationed at the entrance of the hive to protect the colony
from enemies. As worker bees enter the hive, the guard bees wait in line at the entrance
and smell each entering bee. If a bee's pheromones are not recognized, the bee will be
denied entrance. The only way a rogue or drifter bee may gain entrance to new hive is if
the bee approaches bearing a gift in the form of nectar or pollen.
Clearly, a strange bee had tried to enter my hive, and a brawl had broken out. As I
stood at the entrance, I could actually see several bees aggressively bolting up to the en-
trance in an attempt to push pass the guards. In fact, the newcomers were not honeybees
atall. Theywereyellow jackets, andtheir motive wasobvious:togetinside thehiveand
indulge in the honey. I had a full-fledged robbery on my hands.
A few of my own honeybees were locked in one-on-one mortal combat with these
thieves, rolling around the hive entrance and then falling to the grass, but never once
breaking their combative embrace. All six legs wrapped around the foe, each bee or yel-
low jacket tried to sting the combatant to death. I was immensely proud of my honey-
bees for valiantly defending their turf. I felt like it was my duty to join in and help. So I