2
$\begingroup$

There is a beehive about 500-1000 meters away from my house. During the last years, almost every day, one or more bees enter from the window, "dance" for an hour or two, and then drop dead on the floor. Some more details:

  • The bees may come in every hour of the day, but most of them come just before sunrise. This morning about 20 of them came in; now they are all dead on the floor near the window:

enter image description here

  • Often, the bees prefer to make their "dance" near the lamp. But this is not always the case.
  • They usually do not sting me; I was stung only twice, the bee died immediately afterwards, I took the sting out with tweezers, and it did not hurt too much.
  • I did not use pesticides or any other stuff that could kill the bees.

Why are they doing this? How can I stop them from coming?

I read that bees are disappearing; maybe it's because they all come to my house to die? :-)

|improve this question
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ How can we possibly know? $\endgroup$ – David Nov 8 at 16:31
  • $\begingroup$ Welcome to Biology.SE! This is probably not an answerable question on this site since there could be many different reasons. To get an answer try contacting a local agricultural extension agent or entomology department and see whether you can get someone local interested to check for toxins and pathogens. ——— Please take the time to take the tour and then go through the help pages starting with How to Ask questions effectively on this site. Thanks! 😊 $\endgroup$ – tyersome Nov 8 at 18:31
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Abnormal behavior could be explained by use of pesticides, such as neonicotinoids. You may not be using pesticides, but agricultural companies around your place of residence may be using them. Hard to say for sure in the regulatory vacuum we live in, where our environment is concerned. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder $\endgroup$ – Alex Reynolds Nov 9 at 4:11
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ As @AlexReynolds indicated bee loss has been linked to neonicotinoids (a class of pesticides often used as a seed treatment), but many pesticides and pathogens can have neurological effects. Consequently, I wouldn't believe any diagnosis made that didn't involve inspection for parasites and a toxicological workup ... Also getting someone local involved could result in the problem being solved! $\endgroup$ – tyersome Nov 10 at 0:10
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @anongoodnurse your guess was correct - my window does indeed face the rising sun. And the link you gave indeed describes a situation very similar to mine. Thanks! $\endgroup$ – Erel Segal-Halevi Nov 11 at 13:14

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.