insects – Page 2 – Brennah's Backyard

Midwinter Hive Check

This past Sunday was very warm for this time of year and I decided to check on my bees and see how they were doing. I wanted to see if it looked like they had enough honey left to make it until spring, and make sure that it would be accessible to them. Sometimes, as the cluster of bees makes its way slowly through their winter provisions, they find themselves with empty combs between themselves and the combs filled with honey. They can’t cross the barrier to get to the honey, because the cluster itself moves very slowly (especially when raising brood), and individual bees would quickly become immobilized by the cold.

This is the first time I have done a midwinter hive check, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. The sun was shining, but it was windy, and the wind was chilly. I knew the bees wouldn’t like that, but it was only expected to get more windy as the day went on. (Since this needed to be a quick check since it was only marginal weather for beekeeping, all the photos in this post are courtesy of my mom.)

The first hive I opened was the colony that had had the most honey going into winter. The winter cluster looked (from what I could tell having never looked at a winter cluster in person before), pretty good. It seemed like a decent size; there were still plenty of bees left. They didn’t seem very happy about having the chilly wind suddenly blowing on them, though.

I could see that they still had honey left, but it looked a little scattered, from what I could tell without really taking things apart. It also wasn’t something I could just rearrange to get the honey next to the bees. I did still have a couple of candy boards left over from last winter, though… I decided to go get those out to give to the bees, just in case.

The candy boards (and smoker). The candy boards are filled with hardened sugar, and have a mesh on the bottom that holds the sugar in place while being large enough for the bees to go through to eat the sugar.

That ended up being easier said than done; one of the candy boards was starting to come apart (I was pretty much improvising when I built them… the other one had turned out all right, though). Once I opened the hive for the second time, the bees really started coming out. Some of them seemed upset, and some of them just seemed confused, and cold. But they were all over the surface I needed to set the candy board on. Setting it down without crushing bees was going to be difficult. After I got it in place (I don’t think I crushed many bees, but it was kind of hard to tell this time) I noticed that there was a bit of a traffic jam at the entrance as all the bees that had flown out when I opened the hive tried to get back inside at once.

A traffic jam at the entrance. The entrance is reduced to a pretty small hole to keep mice out of the hive.

The second hive check went much smoother. At that point I was assuming I would have to put a candy board on for them, but they actually seemed a bit better situated than the others. I already had the candy board out and ready to go, though, so I put it on anyway.

Getting the candy board situated on the hive.

Now it has returned to cold and snowy, and the bees are back out of sight in their hives.

Honey Bees in the Winter

Honey bees flying in late November. — My honey bees flying in late November after an early cold spell.

When it gets too cold for the honey bees to leave their hives it can be much harder to tell how the colony is doing. The hives look pretty lifeless on a cold winter day. There may be some dead bees scattered at the entrance. This is actually a good sign, especially if they are recently dead and as long as there aren’t too many of them. It means there are still live bees inside, and they’re cleaning out the dead. If there’s a warm day and the bees can leave the hive, they’ll clean off the entrance board of their hive and fly the dead bees away from it.

A dead honey bee dropped off into the snow by another member of her colony. — A dead bee dropped off into the snow by another member of her colony.

Another sign to look for when there’s snow on the ground is little flecks of yellow in the snow: bee poop. Bees do not poop inside their hive unless they are sick or it stays very cold for a really long time and they just can’t get out.

Honey bee poop on snow — Bee poop on the snow

The snow also seems to melt a little faster right on the entrance board when the bees are doing well. Other than that, you can’t tell much unless you get a really warm day and are able to take a peek inside, or at least see bees flying around the entrance. But for most of the winter, the bees will be hidden inside their hive, clustered together around the queen, vibrating their flight muscles to generate heat, and eating the honey they stored away during the summer. And then, at some point, usually around mid February here (if not even earlier), the queen will start laying eggs and the bees will have to raise the temperature inside the cluster (to above 90˚F) because the larvae need it extra warm to survive.

Flying Ants

swarming ants — Ant workers and queens on a leaf

A couple of times this year, I have witnessed the ant colonies in the yard swarming. Or at least, that’s what I’m inclined to call it; as a beekeeper, swarming means colony reproduction to me. But the process is different for ants, and I’m not sure swarming is the right word for their colony reproduction. All the colonies send out their young queens and drones (is drones what it’s called for ants?) to mate and presumably hibernate and start new colonies next spring. The workers do not accompany them as honey bees do. Each colony sends out dozens if not hundreds of queens. The queens seemed reluctant to leave; it looked like the worker ants were herding them out, and appeared to be chasing and even biting the young queens. The queens have good reason to be reluctant; their odds for surviving their flight are terrible. There’s a reason each colony sends out so many.

ants swarming — A queen being herded to the edge of a leaf

By the time I started taking pictures, most of the queens had taken flight already, (this first part happens impressively quickly) and many of those that were left had damaged looking wings. They were trying to leave, and the workers were insisting, but their wings were causing them difficulty.

queen and worker ants — This queen is actually missing one of her wings

ant queens and workers — Ant queens and workers on a leaf. A couple of them have slightly battered looking wings.

ant queen and workers — This queen seems to have good wings

ant workers and queens

All colonies of a particular species of ant sends out their winged offspring at once, and for a few hours, the air is thick with flying ants. Not too surprisingly, any creatures that like to eat insects see this as a brief opportunity to feast.

jumping spider eating queen ant — This is how most of the flying ants will end up; as food, not necessarily for a jumping spider specifically, but for many different predatory insects, spiders and birds.

I have seen ant colonies sending out their queens in previous years, but this year, not only did I see it happen twice, it seemed like there were just a lot more ants. It seemed like every few feet was another clump of ants, sending off their young queens. ant queen and workers

Aster Season

The time of year when the asters and goldenrod are blooming (late summer to early fall) is the time of year when most social insects (insects that live in colonies) like honey bees are at their highest population for the year. The asters are one of the last major nectar flowers for the honey bees, and the asters are covered in them. At first glance it may seem to be all honey bees and other social insects (like hornets and bumble bees), but there’s actually quite a wide variety of pollinators drawn to them.

melissodes (longhorn) bee with pollen on aster — Melissodes (longhorn) bee with pollen on aster

probably an andrena bee, on an aster — This is most likely an andrena bee, but the andrena clan is one I’ve not gotten around to thoroughly figuring out yet, so I’m not quite sure.

Painted lady butterfly on new england aster. I often don’t have much luck photographing butterflies when I am specifically trying to, but while just photographing whatever I could find on the asters, this butterfly landed directly in front of me.

bumble bee on new england aster — Bumble bee on new england aster

Cucumber beetle on heart leaved aster. This aster is less common in my yard, and I’ve been trying to encourage it. These flowers are on some new plants found in the lawn this spring and preserved from mowing.

Hover fly (sryphid fly) on aster — Hover fly (sryphid fly) on an aster

Wasps and Hornets, Garden Allies

Paper Wasps

Social wasps like paper wasps apply the large workforce of an insect colony to a different task than that of the honey bees (although wasps are still pollinators): pest control. Adult wasps feed on nectar while their larvae eat other insects. The larvae aren’t able to catch insects to eat on their own, so they rely on the adults in the colony to hunt for them. Paper wasps seem to be pretty non-aggressive from what I’ve experienced, so these are the ones I hope will establish nests around my garden.

Paper wasp (polistes) on goldenrod — Paper wasp on goldenrod looking a little startled to see me

Paper wasp (polistes) grooming on goldenrod — Paper wasp grooming on goldenrod

Bald-Faced Hornets

Like paper wasps, bald-faced hornets hunt insects for their larvae, but they also have a reputation for being ferocious, and having very painful stings. I suspect though, that the temperament of individual colonies varies. For one season there was a colony of bald-faced hornets on the from of my house. No one got stung in the time it was there, even though I got pretty close to it a few times. Either way, the foragers (not by the nest) are fairly calm, most of the time. I’ve always thought they were really cool looking, but this is the first year I’ve been able to get pictures of them I’m satisfied with.

Bald-faced hornet (dolichovespula maculata) on goldenrod — Bald-faced hornet on goldenrod

Platydracus Maculosus Rove Beetle

I took these pictures of a spotted rove beetle (platydracus maculosus) at the beginning of this month, but I saw what I think may have been the same (individual) beetle again yesterday. My main reason for thinking that is that I found it in exactly the same spot as last time.

Rove beetles don’t seem to be very well known and it wasn’t easy finding any information that was specific to this species. I found out about them when this spring’s flooding drove them out of their usual cover, and now I seem to be keyed in to them because they’re very unique looking and I find them cute.

Queen Anne’s Lace, the Wild Carrot

wild carrot (queen anne's lace) flower — Wild carrot flower (also known as queen anne’s lace)

A very common wildflower (or weed, depending on one’s perspective) in my area is a plant known as queen anne’s lace, but it is also called wild carrot, because it is the ancestor of the carrots most people are familiar with eating. It is actually even the same species as domestic carrot. Its presence in large number in the area is a clue that domestic carrots can grow well here (and I have found that to be true). But ironically, its presence also makes it almost impossible to save seeds from domestic carrots grown here, assuming you want the domestic carrots to stay domestic; they will cross with the wild carrots and eventually revert back to wild carrots themselves.

wild carrot (queen anne's lace) — A thick patch of wild carrot by the woods

Tachina fly on wild carrot (queen anne's lace) — Tachina fly on wild carrot

At this point in the year, the wild carrots that are in their second year of life are flowering (carrots are biennials, meaning that they live two years). The flowers are food for many pollinators, but I’ve noticed bumble bees seem to especially like them. Bumble bees race around the flowers while foraging on wild carrot, somehow gathering up pollen while on the run.

Mud dauber wasp on wild carrot (queen anne's lace) — Mud dauber wasp on wild carrot.

honey bee with pollen foraging on wild carrot (queen anne's lace) — Honey bee foraging on wild carrot flower. Honey bees actually don’t seem to like wild carrot flowers all that much but they will forage on it when it is abundant and not much else is. Also, there tend to be a few bees in each colony that will do things differently from their sisters, like bringing home wild carrot pollen, while everyone else is bringing home oregano nectar (which is the case here; the nearby oregano was covered in bees, while this one lone bee foraged on the wild carrot).

In their first year, wild carrots produce a long taproot to store energy for overwintering. In their second year they flower, grow seeds, and die. Domestic carrots are pretty much the same, but with a slightly more exaggerated, and more colorful, taproot. (Wild carrots have white roots.)

wild carrot (queen anne's lace) seeds — Wild carrot seeds ripening

A fascinating Silk Moth (Antheraea Polyphemus)

A couple of days ago, I spotted a very large moth in the hoophouse. It was apparently nocturnal, and seemed to be sleeping. When I went out a little later to photograph it, I found it resting on the side of the hoophouse, with its wings spread and the light shining through them. This made for a very good opportunity for pictures since I had all the time I needed, and… mostly enough light.

antheraea polyphemus moth? — The moth in the hoophouse. I think it may be an antheraea polyphemus moth, or at least something closely related. It doesn’t seem to even have a common name (at least, I haven’t found one, it seems to just be referred to as ‘polyphemus moth’) but the subfamily it is in has a common name: silk moth.

I returned at dusk to make sure it was able to find its way out of the hoophouse, and it became even more clear that it was nocturnal.

A Sweat Bee on my Finger

I caught this tiny little sweat bee trying to find her way out of our hoophouse. She had obviously been foraging on something, probably thistle, judging by all the white pollen she had acquired around her back legs. Sweat bee is a common name given to a family of bees that like to lick sweat for the minerals it contains. This particular type of sweat bee is the smallest bee I see around here. As small as they are, female sweat bees can still sting a human, but they reserve this ability for when they are in immediate danger of being crushed to death. And yet, they are one of the more likely bees to be stung by simply because they are tiny and have a habit of landing on people, who may not notice they’re there. Fortunately, their venom is extremely mild (maybe just because there’s so little of it); for me, the effects last less than five minutes.

sweat bee with pollen — Sweat bee with pollen on my fingertip

After I had carried her out of the hoophouse, this little bee let me take some pictures of her before she flew off. She even seemed a bit curious about my camera, crawling too close to the lens to focus on, and landing briefly on the camera as she flew away.

St John’s Wort and the Bees

In our ‘meadow’ area, back by the woods, there are a couple species of St John’s wort growing; the common St John’s wort, and the larger Kalm’s St John’s wort. The Kalm’s St John’s wort is large enough to be called a shrub, and has been covered with bees foraging on its flowers.

Kalm's St John's wort (hypericum kalmianum) — Kalm’s St John’s wort

Common St John's wort (hypericum perforatum) — Common St John’s wort

Bumble bee with pollen, Kalm's St John's wort (hypericum kalmianum) — Bumble bee with pollen, Kalm’s St John’s wort

Honey bee with pollen on Kalm's St John's wort (hypericum kalmianum) — Honey bee with pollen on Kalm’s St John’s wort

Hover fly on Kalm's St John's wort (hypericum kalmianum) — Hover fly on Kalm’s St John’s wort