Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Fall Frantic
Even after reading a handful of beekeeping manuals, I still never expected the change in behavior that would come over my bees in the fall. They are frantically scurrying about searching for another drop of nectar, or worse, bits of discarded sweets to store up for the winter and will take on anyone or anything to get it. I have viewed the rare battle at the entrance between bees of different hives, and the bees' successful attempts at repelling wasps, hornets and bumblebees who come too close to the entrance. Unfortunately, I've also found them around the corner at the local Kwik Trip, scrounging the garbage cans for candy and pop. And I've been stung while moving our cat, Finn, away from Metpropolis, as if I was a common thief and not their collaborator. Winter is at hand.
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3 comments:
Such a difference in bees in different regions. You're only a degree or so north of me (and 750km West), yet my bees are proceeding with summer numbers, activity and temperament.
And I think it is even stranger when you consider my bees are in the Mississippi Valley here in Winona. Winona has a slightly different, milder micro-climate than the surrounding area, yet the change in bee behavior in both hives came almost overnight.
Interesting that fall has hit so quickly for you. My bees are still in "summer mood" here in NW Oregon. As soon as the colder nights hit, I expect them to become just like yours, ravenously looking for any sweet thing they can find. Currently, we have queen anne's lace, dandelion and many annual and perennial flowers still blooming around here. spring was late, and it looks like fall is too.
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