Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
How Smoke Affects Bees
Thousands of years ago, someone figured out that if he had a large, burning torch
with him when he went to rob a wild honey bee nest of its honey, he would have a
much easier time of it. The smoke from the fire calmed and quieted the bees some-
what while they were being robbed.
Several things happen when you puff a bit of smoke into your colony. The
primary form of communication in a honey bee colony is odor—when you puff in
a bit of smoke, it masks odors and effectively shuts down communication, caus-
ing, understandably, quite a bit of confusion. The normal order is disrupted, and
the chain of command is broken. This organizational breakdown allows a window
of opportunity for a beekeeper to open the colony, examine what needs to be ex-
amined, do the work that needs to be done, and close up the hive before order is
restored.
When the smoke first enters the colony, some bees simply retreat from it. They
literally run to the most distant part of the colony to escape the smoke. These are
mostly house bees, which are too young to fly. Others head directly for the nearest
stored honey and begin eating as fast as they can. It is suggested, by scientists, that
this behavior occurs so that in the event that the colony needs to abandon its nest
due to a fire, some bees will leave with a full load of supplies needed to sustain
them while a new nest is constructed.
Some bees, however, seem not to be affected by smoke. These bees tend to be
the guard bees that work on the periphery of the nest, and they are not as influ-
enced by the communications that go on within the hive. Their tendency is to fly
about, explore, and attend to the disruption.
However, even guard bees have some level of odor communication, which is
disrupted by smoke. Ordinarily, when a honey bee senses danger in a hive, she
emits an alarm pheromone. This pheromone has a banana odor that can even be
detected by the human nose. When other bees detect the alarm pheromone, their
instinct is to investigate the cause of the problem. If the threat is real, some bees
may sting, which will release additional alarm pheromone into the mix. Bees will
continue this activity until the threat is removed. With smoke present, however,
even guard bees, which aren't in the colony and aren't affected by the disruption,
will find it difficult to alarm other inhabitants. Although this situation may sound
like a melee, it actually leaves the bee-keeper to work in relative peace.
