Pig Pile

I looked out the window at my roof hives- and although its almost September- they seem to be gaining weight- a little at a time- 8# in this past week on one hive. And a few days from now it all shuts down- its going to rain heavily. 

It seems to me that my hives are doing great. All healthy, all fat with brood, all heavy, though I have extracted twice already. Knock on wood. I credit winter ventilation, clean equipment, and attention to mites. 

I looked out the window at hive #4, and fat on the board was a pig pile of bees. I had no clue. Each hive is different, but this one is special. I have a video camera in it. It washboards. It is fat with bees. They sting me. They only come out of the right side. I opened it yesterday- fat brood all the way up to super 5, and super 6 had some too (this isn't great- but dang, they are prolific). 

But you'll see- a clump of animals- and no idea why- so I went up and sat with them.

And a half hour passed- and I saw below- just a glimmer. In the photo below, you'll see it dead center, a bit to the right. A glimmer of yellow- not a bee. And then it closed up- and another half hour went by.

Its a Yellow Jacket. They are balling- that;s the term, and it makes sense- a Yellow Jacke

And in fact, it works. In the end, the YJ is dead, and they pull it to the edge, and one bee, of all these bees, flies off with it into the woods.

They kill this bee- I think- with heat. By massing around it. Maybe they bite it. They are relentless. Bees flying in, loaded with pollen, land on top of the mass, and walk into the hive,

A honey bee, apparently, has a few ways to say no. On its own, with a sting. We all know that. But collectively, by hugging. By getting in close, and smothering with attention, and insulating, and in the end, poor victim- over loved?- dies. And alll interest ends- and the hornet gets hauled off to be dropped in some far field.

In the bigger picture- my roof is hovering YJ's-  all looking for a dead bee, all looking for a way in. As I sit. my toes get attacked by YJ's- and in the old days- last year- a hive was destroyed by them. But not this hive. It picks a single hornet, and mounds over it, and hopes, I assume, this is a lesson to other YJs.

Who are- probably- just as important to our well being, maybe more, than the Honeybee, and perfectly evolved- but unlike the Honeybee- unable to communicate to each other. Each YJ on its own. But going home to a lot of other Yellow Jackets, all with their story to tell, but no one listens.