Rukwa Harvest May-June 2017
Our hives located in the mud flats did exceptionally well! We had a 90-95 percent success rate with a high percentage of our hives there containing substantial honey stores. Our hives closer to the mountain range over sandy soil only had a 40-45 percent success rate and seem to do worse than those over clay soils. We have been seeing this trend every year. It should be noted as well that the bee fodder is also different. The hives over clay soil rely mainly on Hygropila schulli (a prolific light blue colored flowering plant), whereas our hives located over sandy soil use the widespread Leucas nyasae as their main nectar bearing flower. These are pictures of both of plants. |
In at least 4 of these hives, large hive beetles were found propolized by the bees in corners proving their ability to deal with a menace. In two hives this year as well as 4-5 hives last year we found hundreds and thousands of bees killed and lying heaped on the floor of the hive. These were the hives we have located in the open mud flats. These areas do not have many natural structures for bees to occupy and it can only be assumed that larger colonies move into hives already occupied and kill or overpower the previous colonies and take over as the new owners. This is not a practice I have ever heard of happening among European bees.