The bees were extremely busy at Willow Springs this afternoon! Not only were they occupied with bringing in pollen and nectar but with expelling drones (the male bees that are kept on stand-by for mating with new queens from other colonies). The workers were working tirelessly, trying to drive out as many drones as possible, piggy-backing on the more reluctant ones in an attempt to discourage them from returning. The population of bees was plentiful, however my observations led me to believe that they are gearing down for the fall and insuring that they have sufficient honey stores to carry them through the cold months to follow.
As an observation piece and to kill my curiosity, I placed a mint blossom at the entrance to see how the bees would react. At first they paid no attention to my little contribution but one worker got fed up and began wrestling with the flower in attempt to remove it from the landing strip. However, that wasn’t good enough for her - she went as far as insuring it was taken off of the wooden pallet that the hive rests on and depositing it onto the grass below. This odd and humorous behaviour I suspect is linked to the removal of drones and illustrates that the bees were slightly agitated with this laborious task.
~Paul Dosen
Willow Springs Creative Centre's bee project is now in its second dynamic year here in rural Thunder Bay. Share in our excitement as you read about its progress!
