Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
When nectar has been ripened into honey, it is stored in cells in the broodnest area
or above the broodnest area in the surplus honey supers. When a cell is filled with
honey, house bees cover the cell with new beeswax for protection.
Are Bees Aggressive?
It's important to note that bees are not angry or mean or aggressive. They are,
however, defensive. This may seem a small distinction when you or a neighbor is
stung, but guard bees do not seek targets. Rather, in their limited way, they per-
ceive threats to their nest and seek to defend that nest. stinging is
defensive
, rather
than
offensive
.
Guards
After two or three weeks, a worker's flight muscles are developed and she begins ori-
entation flights around the colony. Even before this, however, the glands and muscles
of her sting mechanisms have matured, and she is fully capable of defending the nest.
Therefore, she becomes a guard. In a large colony in midseason, the number of dedic-
ated guards at any one time is relatively small—maybe 100 or so. However, if there is a
large threat, thousands of bees can be recruited almost instantly. These new guards are
temporarily unemployed foragers, older house bees, and resting guards.
Guards perform multiple tasks. They station themselves at the colony entrances and
inspect any incoming bee. This inspection is odor based, because bees have a distinct
and recognizable colony odor. If a forager returns to a colony that's not hers, she will
be challenged at the door.
Other insects are also challenged if they try to enter. Yellow jackets, for instance,
may try to help themselves to a colony's honey. When this happens, the thief is met by
several guard bees that wrestle and struggle with the intruder. They will bite and sting
the intruder attempting to kill or drive it off.
Animals that try to steal from a colony are also rebuked. Skunks, bears, raccoons,
mice, opossums, and even beekeepers will be challenged, threatened, and eventually
attacked. When confronted by a large intruder, such as a beekeeper, some and guards
