The following was posted on another group.  Jim said I could post this
on Bee-L for comment.  Tom  Patterson, Aurora CO

Now for something that I'd never seen before and was wondering if
anyone else had seen this before -
First a bit of background on the related hives - One has five hive-
bodies and is filled to the brim with honey and pollen and has a huge
population of bees (this hive usually issues 4 to 6 swarms every
spring) and is from all indications healthy.  The second hive is
located about 100 feet from the 'super hive' and is three hive bodies
deep and again is filled nearly to capacity and healthy.  A third
hive is the same setup as the second hive and located a couple
hundred feet from the other two.

Now about 2 weeks ago as I was walking by the second hive the air was
filled with bees (much like when bees start to swarm - but these bees
were MAD so I had to back off a bit and try to observe what was
happening!).  This went on for the whole day and finally later in the
afternoon I donned my suit and went in for a closer look.  When I got
to the hive I was surprised (stunned may better describe it) to see
many thousands of dead/dying bees on the ground in front of the
second hive.  The dead bees were 4 or 5 inches deep on the ground.
The activity was still going on and the only way I can describe it is
a 'war'.  I started following the bees leaving the attacked hive and
they were all going back to the super-hive and the bees leaving the
super-hive were going directly to the second hive.  This continued
until dark, by which time the second hive had been greatly reduced in
population.  First thing the next morning the activity resumed -
mortal bee combat unlike anything I'd ever observed.  I had been
trying to figure what I should do and decided since it was so late in
the year to let Mother Nature take it's course and observe.  By noon
on the second day every bee from the second hive was dead and
predictably the honey was continuing to be robbed out by bees
primarily from the super-hive (I still don't know where they were
putting it!).  At about noon, the bees from the super hive attacked
the third hive - same frenzied action of the day before at the other
hive.  The third hive bees had plugged their entrance over the summer
to close all but two small holes for entry and exit.  Again
the 'attack' continued till dark.  A few bees from the third hive
died, but they seemed to hold of the attack successfully.  They
weren't attacked again the next day and all seems to have returned to
normal with all the remaining hives.

Question - has anyone else experienced this sort of bee war?  I
realize in bad years stronger hives rob out weaker ones if given a
chance, but this wasn't a bad year and the robbing bees didn't need
the supplies (or really have a place to put it!).

Hope this wasn't too rambling to follow!

Have a better BEE day!


Jim Glennon
Valley Farm Rabbits
Possum Valley, Arkansas

[log in to unmask]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::