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From the time that honey bee workers emerge as adults, they progress through a series of hive jobs to help care for the colony. The bees have glands which enable the bees to perform various functions, and the bees’ jobs change as their glands develop. When the workers are about 21 days old, the venom in the sting is at its maximum potency, so they serve the hive as guards for a few days. Guard bees stand at the hive entrance on their back four legs with their front legs raised. The guard bees inspect every bee entering the hive. Bees entering the hive allow the guard bees to examine them with their front legs and antennae. The guard bees can determine if a bee belongs to its colony by the bee’s odor, as each hive has a distinct odor. Worker bees that belong to the colony are allowed to enter. Most any drone bee is allowed to enter as well. Also, almost any bee approaching the hive with a load of nectar or pollen is allowed to enter. The colony doesn’t mind accepting a free gift of food from a bee mistakenly entering the wrong hive.The guard bees will sting and remove foreign intruders, such as bumble bees, wasps, and yellow jackets. They will also sting and attempt to drive away intruding skunks, raccoons, and beekeepers. The guard bees can extend their sting and release alarm pheromone to attract other guard bees if needed. Brandon Dill photographed three guard bees stinging an intruding honey bee at the entrance to one of our queen mating nucleus hives. The hive is equipped with a screen across the entrance to give the guard bees the advantage over robber bees. Guard bees play a most important role in protecting the colony. Other work by beekeeper and photographer Brandon Dill may be seen at http://www.brandondillphotography.com/.
--Richard
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Is it true that if you kill all the Guard bees the workers bees becomes harmless?
ReplyDeleteNo. If guard bees are killed, more worker bees take on their role of guarding the hive. A typical colony of honey bees with European genes will have about 2000 guard bees on duty. Colonies of bees with Africanized Honey Bee genes may bring in 10 times as many bees to protect the hive.
ReplyDeleteWhen guard bees are killed in large numbers, as when a skunk attacks a hive, the colony becomes very defensive. This is the opposite effect of becoming harmless.
--Richard
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ReplyDeleteDo the Guard Bees only sting? Is that their only weapon/defense against intruders? If so, is their sting a last resort or are they like wasps, where the stings don't deattach and they can keep stinging?
ReplyDeleteFor my response, please go to my January 4, 2017 post, "Bee Stings."
ReplyDeletehttp://peacebeefarm.blogspot.com/2017/01/bee-stings.html
Is it true that guard bees can detect bees who carry polluted nectar or pollen and prevent them from entering?
ReplyDeleteI would say that guard bees cannot identify contaminated nectar or pollen any better than the other workers. We know that foragers bring nectar and pollen to the hive that contains environmental chemical contaminants. We find these contaminants in the beeswax of hive combs. Because honey bees are so vulnerable to picking up contaminated nectar and pollen from diverse plants, the bees are an indicator of the health of the environment.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful question.
--Richard
Hi, i have a bee hive in the air brick of my home and it is just outside the door. The bees have been there for a number of weeks now and they have never been an issue towards my 2 dogs or my family, however last night a family member came with her 8 year old daughter and sat at the garden table within minutes the guard bee came iver and stung her just under her eye. She was about 6 foot away from the enterance to the hive. Why would the bee have done this ? Do you think i should get the hive moved ? Thanks
ReplyDeleteKirsty,
ReplyDeleteMany people have honey bees living in hollow cavities in the walls or attic spaces of their homes. Sometimes they are not even aware that the bees are there. If the bees’ entrance is away from doorways, it is often safe to leave the bees in place. Honey bees are generally gentle creatures, but they defend their nest by stinging. Therefore, you might need to have the bees removed. Contact a professional bee removal service that is trained and licensed to do this work.
--Richard
is there any effect of transgenic crop on the bees?
ReplyDeletePlease go to my May 31, 2017 posting for information about the effect of transgenic (GMO) crops on bees:
ReplyDeletehttp://peacebeefarm.blogspot.com/2017/05/gmo-crops-and-bees.html
--Richard
We have had 2 health hives until lately. The one hive is now very aggressive and will sting or attack anyone in the general area. Anyone working in my yard, driveway or even front yard. I have to correct this as my Grandchildren cannot even go outside to play.
ReplyDeleteThe front of the hive is covered with Guard Bees. We have checked for diseases, moisture and mites. The hive is healthy and making alot of honey. The Brood looks wonderful but they are so aggressive and now, dangerous.
The Queen was from a swarm from our other hive. I think perhaps she mated with a drone that was Africianized. I need to correct this before my Grandchildren come for the summer. We live in Richmond Va.
I'm Looking at Queens from Vermont to reduce the risk of an Africianized Queen.
Can I please get you thoughts?
There are genetic and environmental factors that may be causing your bees to behave as they currently are. For more discussion on this, please go to my May 13, 2018 post, "Defensive Honey Bees." I hope that this is helpful.
Deletehttps://peacebeefarm.blogspot.com/2018/05/defensive-honey-bees.html
I do not see any guard bees at the front of my one and only hive. I am a novice at beekeeping but have learned lot in the last 3 months. I live near Waco Tx. and we are now in the dearth. I started feeding a week ago with a 5 gal bucket in the open 15 yards in front of the hive. Prior to feeding I always saw guard bees. Any comments?
ReplyDeleteIt is always a good idea to have more than one bee hive. If you have two, you can compare the strength and condition of the two colonies. If one is weak, you may be able to borrow frames of bees and brood or food resources from the stronger hive to strengthen the weaker hive. If one hive is queenless—and drones are abundant—you can move a frame of eggs and very young larvae to the queenless hive for the bees to produce a new queen. Good luck.
Delete--Richard
Once the hive is in alarm mode, such as when the hive is opened by the beekeeper, how long will the guard bees remain in attack mode? I have had bees follow me back to my house 300 ft away and still be hanging around hours later. I recently had a single bee in my face and was quickly stung while on the riding mower, totally unprovoked, several hundred feet from the hives. This has never happened before. My wife had been followed back to the house by several bees the day before after visiting the hives.
ReplyDeleteGary, this is not acceptable behavior from managed honey bee colonies. If you can identify which hive is defensive, you should requeen the colony. It would be a good idea to see if you have skunks attacking your hives at night. Skunks can make bee colonies highly defensive. Fortunately, they’re easy to catch and relocate using a live trap.
Delete--Richard
We are new to beekeeping, and I was stung yesterday when we looked into one of our hives. It was a very cool day and the quick response of the bees surprised us to say the least. We certainly weren’t prepared! But I got thinking about how that bee flew directly at my face, stinger first. Same with my partner. Right in the face, no
ReplyDeletehesitation. Was that a guard bee? I’m not afraid of bees but that was really scary.
HeidiSue, welcome to beekeeping! Yes, those were guard bees, and they were doing their job of protecting the hive from intruders. Always wear a beekeeper’s veil to protect your eyes whenever you open your hives.
Delete--Richard
When thousands of bees are swirling (not orienting), within 10 feet of the entrace, what's going on? Nobody seems to know@
ReplyDeleteThe sight of thousands of bees swirling within 10 feet of the hive is typical swarming behavior, honey bee reproduction on a colony-wide basis.
Deletei saw a video recently of a hive in South Africa and was fascinated by the notion of guard bees as i did not realise bee colonies had such specialised defenders. the narrator of the video pointed out 2 guards near the entrance that were standing on their back legs and scanning the area. I was wondering though why they were not inspecting each bee that entered the hive and instead seemed to be keeping a general eye on the place? perhaps there were other guards inside the hive that would do inspections? Also, if there are on average 2000 guard bees in a colony, where would all these other bees have been since the narrator only pointed out the 2 near the entrance.
ReplyDeleteThe number of guard bees seen at the entrance of a hive varies through the year. Fewer numbers of guards will be present when there is a strong nectar flow as there will be during a nectar dearth when bees are more likely to raid another hive to rob its honey stores. While the guards check incoming bees for their hive odor, it is thought that they even approaching detect nest mates by their flight pattern. While only a couple of guards may be seen outside the hive, there are plenty more guards on duty inside the hive entrance. Intruders that get inside a hive may be attacked by bees anywhere in the hive.
DeleteInformative post! Thanks for sharing information about the types of Bees. This is very knowledgeable for me. Keep sharing more post like this.
ReplyDeleteBee Removal Carlsbad