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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Brad Kosiba <bradkosiba AT gmail.com>, Orange County Beekeepers Association <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] question
  • Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2015 11:45:51 -0400

Brad,

Rich's "butts in the air" description is the key. Air-conditioning bees fan with their butts in a normal horizontal position. Pheromone-spreading bees fan with the scent glands raised for maximum effect.

I'm not sure what to think of a bunch of guys discussing bee butts. Please don't tell anybody. :-)

Randall

On 8/23/2015 9:34 PM, Brad Kosiba wrote:
CAManMfACGWOyQGeBJksvaHuVQ7zFmFSOx6vSsTas8kSQ+JS4pQ AT mail.gmail.com" type="cite">
Any chance the bees are fanning for temperature or moisture control instead of signalling?  It is still summer. 

We have a team fanning our hive here at home still when it is hot.  Seems they have not evolved to take advantage of the screen bottom board idea and are still lined up fanning through the (reduced) entry way.

Cheers,  Brad

On Sun, Aug 23, 2015 at 6:30 PM, Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com> wrote:
Rich,

Bees fan 2 different pheromones from their hinter region. If their abdomens are pointed up but the very tip is pointed up and backward, they are exposing the sting gland and are releasing alarm pheromone. This signals a Red Alert to their nestmates, inciting them to attack/defend.

But if their abdomens are pointed up and the very tip is pointed down, revealing a white smiley face between the last and second-to-last segments, they are releasing Nasonov pheromone, a happy smell. Bees fan Nasonov pheromone to mark "home" for their nestmates. A bee that is lost will fan it; when her sisters smell it, it triggers them to fan it too. It is like someone lost in the woods calling out "Hello!" and the people in camp responding with "Hello! Hello!" Nasonov pheromone is important for forming swarms (it lets the bees know where to cluster) and can be used to mark some food sources. I don't know if robber bees abuse this mechanism by following another colony's "come home" smell to find a target.

If a hive is under constant attack, I would install an entrance reducer. The medium-sized opening shouldn't impede your hive at all as long as you have sufficient ventilation (e.g. screened bottom boards) -- you could leave it on year-round. The full-open, standard size entrance is unnecessarily/extremely large for honey bees; the medium-sized reducer opening is more along the lines of what bees prefer in the wild.

Randall




On 8/23/2015 3:29 PM, risnover--- via ocba wrote:
Just curious,

I have a strong hive that is being attacked by robbers all the time (dead robbers bees out front) That I understand but this hive has workers at entrance for the last 6 week with there butts in the air fanning pheromones, that makes no sense to me. Can someone explain

Rich  


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--
Bradley E Kosiba, PhD
Biochemist-Beekeeper-Gardener-Scouter
 


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