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From:
Yoonytoons <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 5 Mar 2003 09:24:32 -0500
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Greetings,

Yes, Denise, opossum IS a bona fide bee pest, especially at this time of
the year, just as any other nocturnal predators, such a raccoon and
especially skunk, both of which scavenge around the apiary year round.
Yesterday (March 4, 2003), I did my spring check on my Feed Center colony,
and while I was busy cleaning bottoms and shuffling boxes, still filled
with unused honey, around 4:00 in the afternoon, a FAT opossum came out in
*broad daylight*, having smelled honey from broken bits of burr comb on
the ground.  Its audacity shocked me.   And having lost a good number this
winter, I was not in any tolerant mood at all, especially at its
disgustingly-lovely look.  I yelled at it and I saw it cower and recoil
back into the corner whence it must have come out between two round bales
placed at a right angle.  It was one of the largest I have seen, with its
ugly rat-tail, thick as my thumb at the base.

“These mammals visit apiaries and prey on the same colonies night after
night, scratching the exterior of the colony for the guard bees to come
out in response, and then they eat the bees ” (Hive and Honey Bee 1138).
Of course, their repeated attacks make the colony super jittery.

Interestingly, I was inspecting the bees without lighting my smoker, as
usual; this was my first serious look, and usually the bees would put up
with me when cold [it was in the upper 50’s and they were busy hauling in
dull-yellow daffodil pollens, the first of the year, in their goulashes].
But when I got to the strongest of all colonies, boiling with nearly two
deeps of bees, plus a medium filled with honey, they were NASTY.  En
masse, they flitted at me, like dark bullets. Although they could not
sting through my winter clothing, I could feel the tips of their needles
nip, irritating me so much so that I had to grab my nylon windbreaker,
which offered me a better protection from my becoming an incidental pin-
cushion.

For a moment I thought, its queen must have mated with the large feral
colony, standing next, that I had saved last summer.  But then the same
colony was not as defensive as this last fall and although I saw capped
drone-cells today, supercedure was unlike through the winter.
Furthermore, the queen was only one year old last fall.  Then I saw the
opossum.  Early in the morning, I drove over there, taking my wife’s rifle
and my dogs with me, but the varmint had gone, looking for a warmer spot
since it fell below 20 last night.  But I know it will be back when the
temperature gets warm.  Evidently, the fact that I had placed two pallets
under each colony did not help much to expose the soft underbelly of the
varmint.  Also when the colony clusters are small, normally bees would not
come out when chilly, no matter how much scratching is going on outside.
Only the strongest can manage sending out guards at this time of the
year.  That is how I put the two together without actually seeing the
opossum work at my strong colony.  Perhaps I should quadruple the stack
although I do not want my super going up too high during the flow.


Yoon

Shawnee, OK

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