FOR ALL THE ANIMALS
connect with us!
  • PHOTOGRAPHY
    • Contact
    • Private Investigator
    • My Beloved Dog
  • PHOTO BLOG
    • LADYBUG PHOTOS
    • My Mother's Obituary
    • GettingInTouchWithNature BLOG
    • Vietnam on Motorcycle
    • Plant Life
    • Swan Specialist
  • BIO
  • LEARN
    • CLAY ORGAN-PIPE NEST
    • SETTING BULLS ON FIRE??!
    • MOOSE FACTS
    • THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SQUIRRELS & CHIPMUNKS
    • WISE ABOUT BEARS
    • ARE COWS SENTIENT
    • YOU BUY, ELEPHANTS DIE
    • GROW YOUNG WITH YOUR DOG - Best Selling Book
    • ALL ABOUT YAKS IN NEPAL
    • ABOUT CHICKENS
    • THE ART OF DECEPTION
  • MY BOOKS
  • BEE INSPIRED
    • TINY LIFE
    • BEE BLOG
  • Beach Wood
  • Getting In Touch With Nature
  • TIPPI DEGRE - GROWING UP AROUND EXOTIC ANIMALS
  • FIGHTING AGAINST FUR
  • ARCHIVES
    • ABOUT
    • WRITE FOR US
    • OUR STAFF
    • BLOGS >
      • BLOG by Porter
      • BLOG BY NORA
      • BLOG BY VARUN
      • BLOG BY BENDIK
      • BLOG BY KAILYN
      • Blog by SARAH H.
      • LIERRA'S BLOG
      • BLOG BY KABIR
      • BLOG by ZACH
      • ANNA'S BLOG
      • Thoughts by Helen Hu
      • BRAYLIN'S BLOG
      • SARA'S BLOG
      • Blog by Sara Jane
      • BLOG BY JASPER
    • BLOG by ANNE
    • LIZZY'S BLOG
    • Blog by Abu
    • BLOG by Z.K.
    • NEWEST STORIES
    • PETITIONS
  • Blog

An Interesting Black Bee

5/26/2017

2 Comments

 
I spent some time with my bees today. I could hear the hive humming. The air was thick with bees coming and going on this very windy day. I love observing new things with my hive. Today, I spotted a very black bee.

I think the bee on the left is a young one. Quite often, the young ones are much more golden in color. But what about the blackish bee? She was fanning her wings with some of the guard bees at the entrance, perfectly at home, and was fully accepted as belonging to the hive.  
Picture
I tried to get her on my finger, but she was focused on her duties and I interrupted her. 
Picture
She had crawled away from me and then wanted back up at the entrance. You see her climbing toward her guard post.
Picture
Below, the blackish bee is on the left, and a drone bee is on the right. The drone has the gold bands around the black and is noticeably larger.  When I inquired on a beekeeping group in Boulder, Colorado about this bee, I received this reply from decades long beekeeper and expert, Tom Theobald., "Probably no cause for concern. The packages we brought from California were bees from Italian queens (yellow), but with new queens that are Carniolan (grey or black), so as the package bees age and die off the color of the colony shifts to grey... or...bees are very accepting of strangers during a honey flow and will accept bees from other colonies that come in loaded, so there is a lot of drift from one colony to another and this may be the explanation for the dark bee. If  the colony isn't worried about it, you shouldn't be either."

​
Picture
I spent time with this little bee (below).  I love interacting with tiny life in similar ways that I do with furry animals or birds. Honey bees are quite gentle if they do not feel threatened.  They often land on me coming and going from the hive.  This little girl was adjusting her pollen load and was seemingly grooming like a cat. There's a fine line between witnessing a healthy, but very tired bee, and one that is  just beginning to exhibit signs of exposure to toxins. As the toxins get more absorbed, and the exposure increased, it is unmistakable, but in the very beginning, it's not as clear. A poisoned bee on her way to death, will move erratically, and falter like a drunk losing his/her footing. The movements will be involuntary and non stop. This bee was border line to me. She had some nervous energy, but it could have been severe fatigue. I did get her to go back into the hive to hopefully deliver her load.  
Picture
Some yoga stretching ...
Picture
Picture
She was licking off some of the sugar water I dribbled at the entrance to the hive. I also had bees on my fingers with the sticky water. They were lapping it up. 
Picture

Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (C.B.P.V.) 

In my search about the black bee, I came across this article and learned that some black bees can mean a virus.

​"Honey bees that appear black, hairless, and shiny may be infected with Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus also known as Hairless Black Syndrome. The symptoms of this virus appear only in adult bees and include the loss of body hair, trembling, and the inability to fly.

Affected bees are often described as “greasy” in appearance and are frequently seen near the hive entrance or clinging to blades of grass in the immediate vicinity of the hive. Their paralyzed wings are often held at an unusual angle that resembles the letter “K.”

Because the healthy workers in a colony will quickly get rid of the infected bees, Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus rarely takes out a whole colony and is considered only a “minor” honey bee disease. However, if you find large numbers of such bees, the colony can be fortified by supplementing the population with brood from another colony. Usually, an infected hive will recover on its own.

Because some research has shown that susceptibility to the disease may have a genetic component, re-queening a hive may be necessary to prevent future outbreaks.

In my own experience, I have seen these symptoms only twice. Both times I found three or four distinctly greasy-looking bees walking around on the top bars with their wings splayed out. I removed these individuals and never noticed any further evidence of disease.
​
Don’t panic if you see symptoms of the disease, but stay alert. If the incidence of infected bees seems to increase, consider re-queening. As with most viral diseases, there is no cure for CBPV."

Rusty (source)
2 Comments
Joy
5/26/2017 18:00:11

Hmm ... interesting sight ... have you found out anymore on this little 'black bee'?
To have her welcomed by the others adds to the sweet mystery!
I so hope the little one is simply tired ... it's so sad that for all the good these bees do ... caring for their hives and providing us with so much ... to witness their suffering is heartbreaking. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this little one is simply tired.
A big thank you Betsy for everything you do and keeping us in touch with nature and its inhabitants.

Reply
Betsy
5/27/2017 07:42:19

I'm still trying to see what other beekeepers think about the black bee. I found an interesting article with pics of a few main types of honey bees, and the black with gray (Caucasian) resembles mine but comes from the Black Sea! https://backyardbuzz.wordpress.com/major-types-of-honeybees/ I'll keep you posted!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    FOR ALL THE BEES
    Picture
    by Betsy Seeton
    Picture
    This blog will cover what I learn being a guardian of honey bees. I will also share with you about my connection with bees in ways that you won't often find in books or other sources.  
    Picture
    For All The Animals (this website) is my company. Inspiring young people to learn about and love nature is very important to me.

     I'm also a private investigator, writer, photographer and activist. Nature is my religion. 

    One of my goals through the use of a camera lens is to bring the world of  what I call "tiny life" into focus, to expand our own. I want to share my belief that all life matters. 

    My photography passion extends to all animals, birds, marine life and reptiles. I posit that if the human race embraced that single concept -- all life matters -- we'd be closer to peace on this beautiful and glorious, but quite messed up planet.

    Archives

    May 2017
    April 2017
    June 2016
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    Categories

    All
    A Drone Got The Boot From The Workers
    A Sense Of Belonging
    A SENSE OF WONDER IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT
    BAYER IS KILLING BEES
    Beautiful Honey Bees Working Their Hive
    Betsy Seeton's Gorgeous Honey Bee Photography
    BOYCOTT BAYER
    BURT'S BEES PETITION
    CONNECT LIKE THIS
    For All The Bees
    Honey Bees Up Close
    HOW DO YOU CONNECT WITH YOUR BEES?
    How To Figure Out If Your Colony Is Queenless
    How To Get A Bee To Come To You
    I LOVE MY BEES
    I'm Now A Beekeeper!
    I Think I Got Stung Today
    It's Killing Bees
    It's No Mystery Why Our Bees Are Dying
    Making A Connection
    My First Beehive Inspection
    My Honeybees Arrived!
    Neonic Poisoning Is Killing Bees Around The World
    Photos Of A Healthy Beehive
    THE DIRTY HISTORY OF BAYER
    What Is Bearding?
    What To Look For When Inspecting Your Beehive

    RSS Feed

If you love bees, check out my other website.
Picture