Many people have been asking how the bees are doing, so beekeeper Ayla is here to answer ALL the questions for you.
Question: What flowers are bees visiting right now?
Answer: I’m seeing lots of yellow, bright orange, and light gray pollen right now, likely corresponding to flowering trees like maple, linden, pear and plum trees. The bright orange pollen is from dandelions as they just started blooming. Yesterday, I saw a forager with navy blue pollen in her pollen baskets from the bulb Siberian Squill, and another bee with red pollen from Henbit deadnettle.
Question: How do the bees know which hive is theirs?
Answer: Honey bees have a sense of smell 100 times better than ours – for comparison, a dog has a sense of smell 50 times better than ours. Much of the hive activities are controlled by pheromones, “chemical substances produced and released into the environment by an animal, especially a mammal or an insect, affecting the behavior or physiology of others of its species.” Each hive emits its unique pheromone fingerprint, and the bees find their way back to their hive.
Question: What do the bees do when it’s raining?
Answer: Honey bees don’t fly in the rain – their tiny fuzzy bodies weigh about half that of a huge storm splat of rain, so they stay inside their hive and tidy their house. Honey bees are notorious neat freaks and drag out anything that doesn’t belong in the hive. Plus, they coat every surface in a layer of propolis – a tree resin/beeswax mix – creating an antimicrobial coating inside their hive.
What other questions do you have about the bees? Message us on social media or send us an email at: thebetterbuzz@thehivetaproom.com.
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