Gathering Pollens

So, the holes are patched up during the night to protect their hive and are open up again in the morning when the bees are active.  The group of bees at the rear of the hive have also more foragers than before.  You can see in the video that some of the bees are also bringing pollen back to their colony.  The bees looks more active too, not just sitting outside the hive.  They continue to patched up cracks/gaps on their hive.

2nd Colony Forming?!?

I have reasons to believe that my stingless bees are forming a 2nd colony... but not through my experimentation.  When I got my hive, it was wrapped in 2 layers of plastic sack.  I was able to remove the outer layer, but the inner layer, I was not able to remove completely, particularly at the rear portion as it is already glued to the box hive. I suspected the bees made some chambers inside as there is a structure at the rear corner of the hive where some bees hang out all they without doing much of anything.  I decided to let it be.  I thought maybe the bees found another exit through a crack/gap in the box and decided to extend their outside of the box.

After a week or 2, I noticed some bees forming some pilars at the side of box.  I really thought they are expanding so I put a coconut shell over it and covered the large gaps with leaves.  After that nothing much happened.  The bees covered some small holes and gaps in the coconut, but it was very slow and took several days.  Some bees were going in and out of the structure they built with tiny holes.  Some would go on top of the coconut and under the leave and just stand there all day long.  None would fly I away from the hives.

But a few days after I observed the swarm which lasted about a week and after I aborted my 2nd attempt at natural hive duplication experiment.  I noticed some changes.  First, I thought I saw a bee with swollen abdomen landed near the structure they built outside of the hive box and then went inside through one of the holes.  So I observed the rear of the hive closely, and true enough, I saw a few more landed, clearly returning from foraging by the look of their swollen abdomen.  Why would these bees use another entrance and not the main one in front of the hive.  The traffic of bees returning through the rear of the hive is insignificant compared at the main entrance.  

About two days after I noticed the foragers coming back through the rear, I was surprised to see this:

The picture above was taken around 6 am, before the bees become active and before I left for school.  The bees patched up most of the holes!  I also noticed some more patch up works around the perimeter of the coconut... (to be continued...) 

Increasing the length of the tube entrance...

I have started the stage 2 of my experiment on teaching or training the bees to use the plastic tube as their hive entrance.  Last night I added about 2 more inches of plastic tube.  This morning, around 7 am, I found the bees to be doing just fine.  Although, some of the bees were a bit hesitant on crossing to and jumping out of the extended tube.  At stage 3, I can probably connect the tube to the new hive, or maybe at stage 4 if I really want to play it safe.  Why go on stages you might ask?  Why not connect a new hive from the start? Well, that is what I did initially and I think the bees became stressed.  It was already 9 am and very few have emerged from the hive. Some bees finally managed to get out through the gaps they found between the coconut and the hive, and did not use the tube.  Upon returning, they did not know how to enter the hive. So, to avoid stressing the bees, I decided to do the experiment in stages, but it is taking a bit of time, as I wait for the bees to adapt to the new environment.  Initially, I underestimated the intelligence of the bees and aborted the experiment prematurely... I guess. But now, given enough time, I think before the end of the day, the bees will eventually find the entrance to the new hive on my initial setup.

Here are some video clips:

Are these Drones?

The stingless bees have been swarming near the hive for 3 days and I don't know why.  Could it be a mating flight?  Are my bees absconding?  Are some of the bees splitting and making a new colony somewhere else? I have read an article saying that stingless bee drones have a tendency to swarm especially on a favorable weather.  It was a beautiful weather during the swarm and rainy season is just starting.  I caught some bees from the swarm for some photo shoot.  I hope someone can help identify if these are drones.  Here are the pics:

Here is a video clip of one of the bees caught:

I hope anyone can help.  Please send me a message or comment.  Thanks.

Teaching the Bees to Use the Tube...

After the initial experiment failed, I decided to re-do the experiment, but this time in stages.  I have re-attached the coconut shell with the orange tube over the original hive entrance.  I took some propolis from the original entrance and put it at the end of the tube..  Again, I did this very late afternoon when the bees have all returned to the hive.  The next day, I observed how the bees will react. The bees were still having difficulties finding the entrance/exit.  I think it is because of the coconut shell.  It would have been much easier for them if I just stuck the tube directly to the hive entrance.  It was already 8 am and none of the bees have exited through the tube.  I thought of sticking a twig through the hole and to the original hive entrance to act as a bridge so the bees will not have to walk on the coconut's inner surface. Soon, a bee took the bridge and was out immediately.  Soon other bees followed. 

Some of the bees found gaps between the coconut the hive and I had to cover it up later that day.  It was not critical to cover the gap immediately as most of the bees were using the tube.  And I had to make sure that the bees that have exited through the gap will find their way back home.  The next day, all the gaps have been patched up with leaves and all the bees were making their way through the tube.  The twig was also removed.

Now that the bees have adapted to the new entrance and traffic looks normal, I think I can proceed to second stage, increasing the length of the tube.

Hive Duplication Experiment Aborted...

The Experiment was short lived.  By 8:30 am, when there were suppose to be plenty of bees darting to and fro, there were but only 4 or 5 and none of them had any idea how to get into the hive.  I am pretty sure they did not exit from the the new hive.  They must have found a crack or something.  I can only imagine what was going inside the coconut shell.  The bees must be going crazy not finding the way out and the sun was already way up.  I decided to remove the tube and the bees burst out of the coconut shell.  However, many bees were still confused upon their return.  I saw some bees carrying some pollen.  They would land on the coconut shell, enter, then fly out again.  Maybe, they were thinking that that could not be their hive. Already, there were lots of bees hovering around and not entering.  Maybe I panicked... maybe I did not give the bees' intelligence enough credit.  So I removed the coconut altogether.

Here are some photos during the experiment:

Lone bee... "hey! what the h3$%... where did they put the door..."

Foraging bees about to enter the shell..."it's about time they open the door..."

Hard working bees... notice the bee in mid-flight at the left of the entrance... look how translucent and swollen its abdomen from gathering nectar... this bee is quite full.  The bee at the top of the entrance is carrying orange pollen on its hind legs.  Could it be acacia pollen?  Acacia trees are flowering during this month.

Well, the experiment was a failure, but it was very interesting and fun to watch them.  Tonight, I put up the shell again with a 1 inch tube for an entrance and exit.  This is Experiment #2:  To see if I can train the bees to accept the shell as an extension chamber and the orange tube as their new door.  If they can adapt, I will gradually increase the length of the tube until it is long enough for me to connect a new hive.  Tomorrow, we will see.