Nice warm days ahead. The bees are going crazy gathering whatever they can. Surprisingly, we still have drones coming and going. Most people in Ontario have had their drones kicked out already. Apparently if a hive is very strong, they don’t bother kicking them out. So, hopefully that’s a good sign.
So far our treatment free bees seem to be doing very well.
At about 18 seconds into the video below, you can see a drone (male bee) coming out from the left side of the opening. He’s noticeably bigger than the workers (females). They make a lot more noise, and look a bit more intimidating, but they actually can’t hurt you – they don’t have a stinger. Usually the males are kicked out by now and then they raise new ones in the spring. But my hive doesn’t seem to mind them coming and going as they please so far.