honey bee colony

It was around five weeks since we had moved into our new home. One afternoon, after lunch I was reading when I heard a buzzing sound from the sit-out. I saw a swarm of bees in the balcony, some of them had clung on to the safety grill. The numbers were increasing by the minute. We just stood dumbstruck watching the bees. They settled and everything was still. This was the first time being so close to bees and it was a worrisome situation. How do we clean the sit-out, how to water the plants? Around 4-30 pm, the buzzing started again, then they swarmed out suddenly, thousands of them cleared out in a minute.

24-02-2021 at 3-05 pm

We were relived that the bees left. I'd shared this experience with my brother. He told this was a scouting trip, they might return if they liked the spot. Apparently there were bees at his place too. And, they did return after three and half days. Looks like the bees tried out few more spots and voted for our sit-out. The bees settled and there was lot of movement, probably they were moving material for constructing the comb.

28-02-2021 @ 1-05 pm

After two and half days, the colony was compact and a taking a regular form. I mustered the courage to take a closeup.. there's a hole of some sort. Gradually the hole closed and the colony had a smooth surface.

02-03-2021 morning

After four or five days later another swarm occupied a corner of our sit-out. The corner opposite to the sit-out door. This swarm was smaller. Just as we were getting used to one group another group came in. Yet, we managed to clean the sit-out floor and water the plants.  

08-03-2021 at 5-50 pm

At present we had four hanging planters and we had plans to add fourteen more. But with the bees it would be tricky to hang the planters. The smaller colony suddenly vacated one afternoon.

20-03-2021 at 5-30 pm

That's the honey comb of the smaller group. The comb is barely two inches in height. I guess these bees found a better spot and decided to shift.

20-03-2021 at 5-30 pm

We got used to the bees but we were careful always. Things went on... we got more planters and plants. Hanging the planters was tricky because the shocks going through the steel members of the grill agitated the bees. When they are agitated, they together ruffle their wings creating a hissing noise. It a warning to stay clear. As I was placing double hanging planters close the colony, a planter jerked. In a flash eight or ten bees took off. I just ran inside and closed the sit-out door but one had managed to get into my hair and one into my tee shirt. I got stung by one. The pain usually lasts couple of hours and diminishes. With a minor incident I managed to hang 6 double hanging planters i.e. 12 of them. We had to keep the remaining six planters on the floor for some time.

23-03-2021

My mind wouldn't rest because of the pending work. After days of thinking, I planned a sting operation. The plan was to hoist the planters with rope and hook them to the grills. Operation Dawn. Apr-9 4-30 am I went to the roof, lowered a rope with a loop into our balcony, Pushpa put the loops over the planters' hooks. Then I hoisted the pots and positioned them on the grill. We communicated through mobile phones, earphones plugged into our ears, we tried to be as silent as possible. Totally three columns (3 double hanging planters) were hoisted. Mission accomplished. Thanks to Pushpa's bravery because she was closer to the colony. Next was watering the planters next to the colony. We used to lower a 1" PVC pipe from the roof, one end into the planter. The pipe delivered water right into the planter. 

28-03-2021

Bees are hardworking and disciplined. Everyday hundreds of bees would fly around hive for few minutes and then settle down. It was a sort of process where they repositioned themselves in straight rows. Max space utilization. It was Pushpa's observation that when the bees leave their positions, crawl over each other randomly, its time they would be flying out and then resettle. 

When friends & relatives heard of our bees there was a variety of reactions. Bees bring good luck. Some said not good. Few had noticed our bees were the dangerous type called "Thogarjen." Some suggested us to drive them away by spraying chemicals or by creating a smoke cloud. I made it clear to myself that driving them away was out of question. They'll leave when they want to. They chose our place because they felt secure. They minded their business. So why disturb them. We started liking the bees. Always busy. They even collected nectar from our plants. Pushpa would go to the sit-out window and talk to them: tuppa kodri tuppa :) meaning give me honey.

01-05-2021

Few friends would enquire about our bees like we enquire family members :) A school friend would share links about bees, we would chat about their organization, behavior, etc. Truly bees and ants are intriguing creatures.

One day the colony seemed overcrowded. Bees were hanging in chains and dropping to the sit-out floor. The one which fell wriggled few minutes and went still. Dead. Hundreds of them died in matter of three days. We had to clear heaps dead bees.. sad to see but they have a short life span. I guess the colony was undergoing a change... older bees were making way for the new new bees.

07-05-2021

Around the middle of May, bee count had reduced. We could see gaps, honeycomb was visible. The numbers kept reducing to an extent that one face of the comb was just half full i.e. only 75% of the honey comb was covered. On Jun-14th we had stepped out for some work and returned home just after noon. The honeycomb was blank, not a single bee in sight.

14-06-2021 at 1-10 pm

Around 5-30 pm when we watering the plants, one bee hung around for a moment and vanished. The following morning when I was removing weeds from the planters, one bee touched the back of my head, then flew close to my face before vanishing. I felt they wanted a back up unto they were settled at the new spot... wherever their new home is. 

Here's a series of three close-up shots of the honeycomb. 

Amazing isn't it?

Bees are truly amazing creatures. They are born engineers & artists combined.

We miss our little friends. Wishing they come again.

PS: I was wondering why they had to migrate when the place was comfortable and safe. Their average lifespan is 15 to 38 days in summers and 140 days in winters. In three months, 3 to 4 new batches have come and gone. If they continue staying in one nest, the younger generations will not get an opportunity to build a honeycomb from the very first step, even though the bees are programmed to build honeycombs. So a migration gives the newer bees to put their embedded skills to practice. Just sharing my thoughts.

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