Removal of dead bees and dead bee fall
Verhalten der Bienen
A colony carries its dead out. There is therefore always something lying in front of the hive and on the debris board, and the question is never whether, but how much and what.
A colony carries its dead out. There is therefore always something lying in front of the hive and on the debris board, and the question is never whether, but how much and what.
Many dead bees on the landing board and in front of it are a sign of possible poisoning, unless the winter bees are just dying off in spring; bees in convulsions strengthen the suspicion. Dead bees with their tongue extended point to starvation. Dismembered bees missing their thorax mean a shrew in the colony; in that case narrow the entrance to 6 millimetres in height or fit a mesh with 8 millimetre openings. Many dead bees in the snow mean that the colony was disturbed in its winter cluster.
On the board, larval skins and pupal parts are warning signs: they point to lack of food or to a brood nest that is too large for the nurse bees available. Wings, legs, antennae and cell cappings, on the other hand, point to robbing. So that the picture is accurate, the board is cleaned at least once a week during the season, otherwise the wax moths clean up and you read the wrong things from it.