My Honey Bees are out there, maybe even nearby! As you know my hives are empty this year. Recently on a walk, while I paused to take care of business, I noticed a Honey Bee collecting pollen on a dandelion. At the time, it just made my tail droop thinking about my departed friends. However that night while I drifted off to sleep, I realized if there’s one Honey Bee there must be more around in my neighborhood!
Unlike the lone wolf, Honey Bees are not solitary creatures. They must live in an active community where everyone has a role to play in order to survive. Therefore that Honey Bee I saw must have friends! The following day on my walk I paid extra close attention to all the flowers that I passed. Sure enough I noticed two more Honey Bees! But where is their hive? Dad and I patiently watched the Bees hoping to see which direction they flew off in laden with pollen. However, contrary to what our friend told us about tracking Honey Bees, it’s easy to lose sight of them when they fly away.
Foraging Honey Bees generally travel approximately two miles from a hive. They have been known to travel farther, but that is only when food and water sources are harder to find. Around here we have many dandelions and other early spring pollen favorites for Honey Bees to feast on, as well as a bubbling brook, so they don’t need to travel far. Therefore logic tells me that these Bees must live nearby. With Dad’s help, we began looking like nosy neighbors as we peered into yards craning our necks on our walk, hoping to see if anyone had beehives. To the best that we could tell, no one added beehives, and the one we knew about hasn’t had bees in years. Ok, I admit Dad and I did want to go into a couple yards to get a closer look, but Mom wouldn’t let us. However based on our observations, or lack thereof, that means the Honey Bees we are seeing may have established their own hive somewhere.
While sitting in my backyard pondering where they could be hiding, I heard the telltale buzz of multiple Honey Bees at work collecting pollen. That’s when I counted about a half-dozen of them harvesting pollen from the dandelions right under my nose in my yard! I quickly rushed over to inspect my hives, hoping they had returned. But sadly they stood quiet and empty. However, this gives me hope that my Honey Bees may not have all died due to colony collapse, and that perhaps a few survivors swarmed. Maybe they are even living nearby! But where could they be hiding?
