Wild Bees

This week, I administered the fourth round of powdered sugar treatment. I simply dumped sugar into the gaps between the frames, as I have been. After I added a pollen patty and put the hive back together, I refilled the sugar syrup. This has been working very well for keeping the bees calm enough to work with. No stings, warnings, or even loud buzzing around the veil.

The temperature was still in the low 90's. Hot sunny days equal happy bees. It has been hot and sunny so long, the flowers have all but dried up. There are some sunflowers and some cone flowers blooming now. There just isn't a lot of flowers available like there was in June and July. I think the syrup and pollen patties are really important right now.

The evening did bring a little bit of cool air through the area. The next day was warm but had severe thunderstorms that hurried through. The bottom board I had installed surely shielded them, at least the underside, from the wind and weather. It was lucky timing, mostly. I checked on them last night after the air cleared. I counted eight mites all together. That is suggested to be a low number for this time of year. Things seem to be going well. The powdered sugar treatment is sufficiently effective.

These two are obviously not part of Doris' colony. I got a chance to get pictures of these cold bees early in the morning. They were waiting for the sun to warm them up. I have been watching closely the flowers along the roadsides to see, not only whats available, but, what is attracting honey bees during this August dearth. This wild sunflower is in full bloom right now and is covered in too many different pollinators to count. I have seen a honey bee here and there, but they are not covered like a Catmint would be. These two are sweat bees that have an emerald green back and yellow stripes. The males would be all green. The metallic color makes these one of my favorite bees.

These wild bees and others like them are in greater danger than honey bees. Wild pollinators, in fact, are capable of much more than a honey bee colony. A single wild bee can visit hundreds of flowers per trip. Pesticides are doing as much damage to wild bees as they are to honey bees. These sweat bees make small nests in tiny holes along flat ground. In my experience, these shiny metal bees are as timid and docile as other sweat bees.