How Beekeepers Observe Bees Outside the Hive to Judge Conditions Inside
@#@255@#@ are social insects that prefer a stable, quiet environment. In artificial beekeeping, opening the hive to inspect the bees is unavoidable due to production needs. But if the hive is opened too often and too frequently, it will inevitably disturb the colony's stability, and may even cause the colony to refuse the "climate" and abscond as a whole.
Under normal temperature conditions, several bees stand at the hive entrance, not biting the entrance, not vibrating their wings, not crawling over one another, only paying a little "attention" to bees going in and out, or slightly following them; worker bees enter and exit one after another in succession; returning bees are either big-bellied, or have pollen pellets stuck to two legs. In front of the entire hive entrance, a scene of busy prosperity is presented. This indicates that the queen's egg-laying, nurse bees' brood rearing, and brewer bees' processing are all largely normal. At this time there is no need to open the hive for inspection.
The bees in front of the hive entrance gradually increase, but none go out to work; instead they lie sprawled in disorder, as if waiting for something. This foretells that the colony is about to swarm, or the colony is about to abscond. Once the bees inside the hive pour out like a breached dam and the bees at the hive exit cannot block them even with combined effort, it means swarming has formally begun. The keeper should immediately close the hive entrance to prevent the queen from flying out; or carefully observe the circling direction and temporary resting place of the bee cluster, and begin preparing to collect the bees, carrying out capture in time.
The bees entering and leaving the hive gradually decrease, even becoming sparse, while the bees staying at the hive entrance clearly increase, even hanging in groups and clusters like a "bee beard." This indicates that the colony has lost its queen, and the colony is mourning for being queenless; the keeper should immediately supplement a queen.
The guard bees at the hive entrance suddenly increase, some vibrating their wings to make noise and releasing an odor; soon, a large number of bees inside the hive surge out, with the queen and drones among them, and drones from nearby colonies also fly out one after another to join, which indicates that the new queen will hold a "wedding" ceremony. The beekeeper need not worry at this time, because after mating the queen will lead her "subjects" back to the hive in triumph.
One or two, or three to five bees hurriedly fly to the hive entrance, like a dragonfly skimming the water, touching the guard bees once and immediately flying away, but not going far, always flying in panic around the hive; once they find a hole or crack on the hive, they quickly land and hastily try to crawl in; at the same time, the colony of that hive also hurriedly crawls out to patrol, even driving away and fighting the foreign bees, sometimes twisting together and spinning in combat. This is robbing bees arriving; once the first robbery succeeds, major robbing can occur. The keeper at this time must immediately come up with countermeasures to stop robbing, to prevent relatively large losses.
The bees outside the hive entrance crawl up and down over one another, as if mating on the ground; sometimes they vibrate their wings a few times and shake the rear part of their bodies; sometimes they are listless and have difficulty crawling; sometimes dead bees appear, and dead bees are dragged out of the hive, etc. This indicates that the bees are either diseased or harmed by wax moths, and treatment must immediately be given according to the symptoms.
Observing bees outside the hive is rich in content and full of knowledge. It is worth mentioning that when observing, do not squat or stand directly in front of the hive, so as to facilitate the normal return of the bees; do not carry strong odors such as perfume or sweets, to prevent the bees from being disturbed; do not casually reach out to poke the bees, to prevent bee stings.