The Scoop on Bee Poop

 

Honey bee hives - early spring

As an apiary tour guide I get asked a lot of interesting questions related to honey bees. One of the most prevalent questions that inquiring minds seem to want to know is … do honey bees poop?

The answer is, yes they do.

A drop of honey bee poop in the snow

All honey bees are very well ‘house trained’ and never poop in their hive. The first order of business as soon as the temperature outside is warm enough to allow flight, is a ‘cleansing’ flight. The snow all around these four hives is covered with little, yellow dots … or honey bee poop.

If cold weather begins in October our little honey bees may have all six legs crossed if spring is late!

Honey bee hive with Nosema

This is absolutely not something any beekeeper wants to see on a hive. This is honey bee diarrhea. It is caused by fungi and is capable of decimating an entire colony in short order. This is Nosema.

If one bee becomes infected with Nosema and has an ‘accident’ in the hive a house cleaning bee immediately cleans up. She is now infected as well. All the bees in the hive can become infected very quickly. Beekeepers can treat for Nosema yearly as a cautionary measure, but there is little to be done once it’s established. The hive and its contents are burned to stop the spread of this devastating disease.

Have you ever seen something that looks like this …

Or this … on your vehicle?

You guessed it, bee poop! It’s sticky business, not nearly as sweet as honey, and takes some real elbow grease to remove!

First Spring Feeding

 

Honey bee hives in the Yukon Territory in April.

There may still be snow on the ground, but our honey bees have been taking advantage of the beautiful spring temperatures Mother Nature has blessed us with this week. With flower blossoms still a few weeks away, those worker bees have something much more important on their minds …

Early pussy willows

The search for POLLEN.  One of the first sources of pollen in the spring is pussy willows. Guess I’m not the only one fond of them! You might also find a few foraging bees checking out your compost pile, or buzzing around any rotting wood. Fungus spores are used as pollen before the trees and flowers become a more reliable source.

Bee pollen patties

Bee pollen being added to a hive

Some lucky honey bees have kind benefactors who are willing to provide a pollen substitute, in the form of pollen patties. These are placed in the hive and give the bees ample access to this important nutrient.

Over the winter worker bees consume pollen to produce a continual supply of royal jelly to feed their queen. Come spring, stores of this precious commodity are low. As the warm weather heats the hive, the winter cluster breaks up, and the queen begins to lay eggs. She slowly starts the process of replacing winter workers that will die in the next couple months. Her egg-laying rate will continue to increase and peak mid-summer. With this new larva to feed, up goes the demand for pollen.

Joel and Courtney checking hives

With the temperature around 16^oC this afternoon, it was the perfect day to have a quick peek inside the hives and leave some pollen. We will leave the bee cozies on just in case Mother Nature isn’t quite done with winter!

Honey on left and open cells on right

It was nice to see the bees still had a nice store of honey. Empty cells ensure room for the queen to begin laying eggs.

All the hives have a good number of bees and lots of honey. They look healthy, and ready for another season of making amazing Fireweed Honey!

 

Hives look good after initial check