Another plague not mentioned here is the Small Hive Beetle. It is about the size of a Lady Bug and makes life for the bees in the hive very miserable. It is likely the cause for a lot of mysterious absconding, especially in the late summer or fall. The Small Hive Beetle comes from sub-Sahara Africa, normally would be expected to die from freezing temperatures. It apparently overwinters as an adult in the cluster or less likely as a larva in the comb kept warm by the cluster. The mature larva leaves the hive an pupates in the soil away from the hive.
The Small Hive Beetle may be responsible for the absconding behavior of the Africanized honey bee.
One of my daughters pointed out that there was a bunch of bees on one of the window screens on the North side of the house. More than usual but I didnt give it much thought at first as there are flowers out back and the bees do tend to come up to the window. I noted at this point that the bees were unusually thin and very orange for what is normal for the wild bees of this area.
A little while later I realized there was a layer of bees not only on the window but a bunch were between the panes and some had gotten in.
I went outside and the whole back of my house was covered in bees with swarm clouds around each window and they seemed to be trying to get in. Im guessing there were 30-40,000+.
This is a 157 year old house Im trying to repair. They seemed more adept at finding the holes to get in than I was previously at trying to plug them.
Three of four hours later, 1000(?) had gotten in. At this point as if on cue the entirety of the outside swarm vanished. The ones inside seemed to be getting weak. I turned off all the lights in each room and opened a window. Those in the house appear to have gotten out fine but within the hour all of those trapped between panes had died.
So what was that?