The Battle at Whiskey Barrel Pond

Sometime around the middle of summer, my bees’ private oasis was discovered by a wild colony that lives in a California pepper tree (schinus mole) a couple of doors away.

The first sign that a territorial battle was brewing was a minor skirmish on a horsetail reed. Then, one bee jumped on the back of another and held her down before throwing her off the algae pad.

Girl fight! Check out this video to see the action.

These minor skirmishes soon escalated into a full-scale invasion by the bees from the pepper tree. Eventually, both sides settled into an uneasy truce.

I could tell who was who from the direction they flew away from the pond. The pepper tree bees were more aggressive than my Italian bees, and there was a difference in the air when they were around.

Time to batten down the hatches!

I closed the corner front flap of my enclosed apiary which had been left open a notch, so the pepper tree bees wouldn’t find the hive. Fortunately, they were on a water-gathering mission and were interested in only one thing.