A honey bee colony is a lovely sight to see

Mrugank Divekar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Mrugank Divekar enjoys bee watching. He says he is never frightened in the presence of honey bees or any other insect and that unless you interfere in their life, honey bees will never interfere in yours.

The Asian honey bee, Apis florea is endemic to my locality – Mulund (now a suburb of Mumbai) where I have lived since childhood. My first encounter with Apis florea was as a witness to honey collection by my grandfather from a colony on a mango tree. I had seen many honey bees flying around the surrounding trees shevga drumstick, amba mango, bakul Spanish cherry and Naral coconut. I knew the local names for the bees: aagya (Apis dorsata), fulora (Apis florea), sateli (Apis cerana) and kotya (Trigona sp). I caught butterflies and dragonflies with my bare hands but for the honey bees a hand sock was preferred. While “playing” in this fashion I was stung many times however I never observed a honey swarm attacking humans or animals.

My wife is a classical Indian dancer and is aware that my first love is honey bees. She is not jealous, her only complaint is that I am always thinking about them and spend a lot of time with them. Whenever she notices any new colonies in the area, she teases me that: “your co-wives have arrived”. Her dance class is on the second floor of my building. On one occasion a student reported bees outside the window. It was dark but I could see a colony of Apis florea on a branch of a flowering vine madhumalti creeping Chinese honeysuckle. It was the beginning of the rainy season and the colony had selected a place under a canopy – Smart!. This is one of the reasons I am fond of them and my wife knows it.

By the time the nest was noticed it was fully developed – the top filled with honey and the brood section was sizeable. On the brood section the bees were holding on to each other and there was little movement. The honeycomb was busy with foraging bees landing, and nurse bees collecting the nectar being delivered to them. The pollen -bees were finding their way to the comb. Within a few days I observed a small black bee – a predator – entering the nest without attack by the soldier bees. I concluded she was stealing the larvae as a protein diet for her grubs. I am still not sure about her identity – maybe Apis andreniformis?

The bees would shield the nest a few minutes prior to the thundershowers. Magnificent positioning of the bees let the raindrops flow over their wings but prevented them touching the comb, and periodically they would flap their wings together. By the middle of June, the heavy rain started, sometimes with continuous rain for three days. The canopy above the nest was protecting the majority, however the branch the nest was attached to had grown out (the plant is a creeper). The flow of water increased and was flowing over the bees. Whenever the rain stopped the bees would try to repair the comb damaged by the water, yet they could not repair it completely. With the next downpour I saw a single bee trying to push at the bark on the hind portion of the branch. The bee was stretching herself to maximum and pushing with her head, more bees joined her, they lifted some more bark and the water was diverted away from the nest. This happened many times and I saluted the bees for their courageous efforts and intelligence.

When the rains arrived, the colony selected a place to shelter under a canopy

The bees prevent the raindrops from touching the comb

After the rain stopped, the bees tried to repair the comb damaged by water

Also because of the heavy rains the bees could not forage, and their food supply was decreasing. I thought of providing food for them. I dipped my finger in a bottle of honey and moved close to them. The bees recognised the aroma from the honey, a few of them began licking my finger and slowly I led them to a plate I had filled with more honey. I repeated the procedure and brought a good number of bees to the plate. After eating some honey, the bees went back to their nest – and by performing the waggle dance – they informed others of the food supply. After a few days I noticed movement in the colony with many bees flying from the nest and going farther and farther away. I thought they were permanently leaving, but they started returning. I called my beekeeping mentor and asked him. He told me bees fly away from their nest to defaecate – the height of cleanliness! This happened at the same time each day for several days. I realised the process was linked to their food supply – when the colony sees the food is ready – the bees defaecate first. During the rainy days, I was their food supplier: fresh sugarcane juice, sugar syrup, overripe fruit juice, honey and dry sugar on a banana leaf.

The bees allowed me to come closer to the nest – I think they waited for me to come at a particular time as they were ready to take the food from my finger, even a few drops from my face but did not sting. The bees from my apiary became aware of the food source. I was offering plenty for all so there was no robbing. However as soon as the plate was empty fighting began – no killing just dragging each other away.

The bees recognised the aroma of honey. A few began licking my finger and slowly I led them to a plate with more honey

A performance of the waggle dance informed others of the food supply

I recorded their sound both in the nest and around the plate of food. I was unable to understand their language. However, I noted a difference in sound according to the situation – when they were hovering around my face for more food, I could sense their demand.

In the following days, I saw drones in the colony. This was an indication that the bees would leave soon. They left the nest on 30 June 2018. I saw a few bees collecting something on the honey portion of the nest, in the same way they collect pollen from a flower. I thought they must be taking stored pollen, but when I looked with binoculars, I saw they were cutting cells from the honeycomb (not brood cells) and gathering them on their hind legs , taking them for their new nest site (reusing the wax).

The following day I found some portion of the remaining comb was cut by some bees at night. I thought the comb is no use to the bees and they will not come for food: my inner self said differently, and I offered food to those who were working on the left behind nest. In minutes, many bees returned from their new site . It was a joyful moment and continued for a few days until the end of the rainy season. I was fortunate to observe colony life from a very close distance: a magnificent experience to be around the bees, watch their movement, learn new things from them and observe their intelligence.

Drones in the colony – an indication that the bees may swarm soon

Some bees were cutting cells from the honeycomb and gathering them on their hind legs, taking them for their new nest site and reusing the wax

I offered food to those who were working on the left-behind nest and within minutes, many bees returned from their new site