The Changing of the Guard

Bees work hard to make honey -they fly 50,000 miles collecting nectar from millions of flowers just to make a pound. At the moment strong hives contain 50 – 100 lb of honey, some even as much as 200 lb. It’s a valuable resource that will see the colony through winter, so it has to be guarded!

Most of the year a hive has around 10 guard bees on duty. They linger around the hive entrance ready to challenge potential intruders regardless of their intent; the innocent ladybird that wanders into the hive will be ejected just as vigorously as a thieving wasp, or a bee from another colony.

Distinguishing nest mates from other honey bees isn't easy – you have to get up close ...  and sniff! Bees that smell like family are allowed to pass, and those that don’t get ‘done over’. Wise bees submit and are allowed to fly off; those that struggle are killed.

Now that the honey stores are so large and the flow of nectar from the flowers is slowing, the guard is changing. Their numbers have increased substantially, and they are hyper-vigilant. They need to be too – because there are robbers about!

Wasps are the worst offenders. They can overwhelm a colony of bees and steal all the honey. Of course, the bees don’t give up without a fight, but a wasp can sting and sting again, whereas a bee can only sting once. For every dead wasp there are five dead bees; small hives don’t stand a chance.

Other honey bees can be just as bad. A poorly guarded hive is fair game for neighbouring bees looking for a free lunch. Sometimes the robbing is vicious –the weaker hive is simply overwhelmed. But often the robbing is silent, with the robbers sneaking into the hive and helping themselves to the honey.

Good guards become over-zealous and challenge all bees entering the hive, including their returning nest-mates! The confusion doesn't last long because in addition to passing the sniff-test the returning foragers just submit and offer up some of their bounty; robbers on the other hand arrive with empty stomachs.

Or empty buckets. I have yet to take off the honey crop so it’s going to be tense! I may be a friend of the honey bee but I'm not family, so I won’t be passing any sniff-test!