Something has been visiting our hive.
I know this because of the evidence. I am going to present the evidence in order because that is how detectives work and I have decided I am the detective in this family. Mum is the victim. Dad already knew. Grandad has a theory. More on all of that later.
The Crime Scene
It started on a Wednesday morning.
Mum went down to check on the bees. Normal enough. Except the entrance reducer was on the ground. It does not just fall off by itself. Something knocked it off.
Mum, being Mum, did not notice the most important clue at this point. She just picked up the reducer and put it back. Half in. Which is when things got interesting.
She smelled banana.
If you know anything about bees you will know that banana smell means one thing. Alarm pheromone. The bees were telling anyone who would listen that they were not happy and had not been happy for some time and whoever was responsible was going to hear about it.
Mum heard about it. One bee. Chin. Direct hit.
She ran.
The smoker going in. The bees were not calming down quickly.
Exhibit A
Dad was walking up the path at this point. With his coffee. As he does.
He watched the whole thing.
When Mum came back he said, very calmly, did she get you, did you get it out, and then, did you not see the scratches on the front of the hive.
Mum had not seen the scratches on the front of the hive.
Dad told her to go back and look. From a distance. Then leave.
So she did.
The scratches are on the side of the hive. Low down. Long marks in the wood. Something with claws had been at our hive. Something that approached from the side and reached across. Something that left the bees so wound up that a week later they were still telling everyone about it.
Those scratches are Exhibit A.
I have a photograph.
The Suspect List
This is where it gets interesting. Everyone in this family has a different theory and I am going to tell you all of them and then tell you which ones are wrong.
Mum says badger. A badger is strong, low to the ground, active at night, and has proper claws. It would approach from the side. It would be more than capable of knocking a reducer off. Mum has been saying badger since the beginning.
Dad says magpie. Dad said this while drinking his coffee and I would like to point out that magpies come from above not from the side and the scratches are from the side so Dad is wrong. I said this to Dad. Dad nodded and kept drinking his coffee.
Grandad says squirrel. Grandad knows this garden better than anyone and should not be dismissed entirely. A squirrel could approach from the side. A squirrel has claws. However.
Others say woodpecker. Another Person suggested woodpecker very confidently. Woodpeckers do attack hives. However you would hear a woodpecker. We have not heard a woodpecker. I think Other person should have asked more questions before deciding.
Someone says rat. A rat could get through small gaps. A rat is active at night. However the scratches are significant and I do not think a rat makes scratches like that.
New Evidence
The chicken food went missing.
Mum filled the feeder on Saturday. Sunday morning half of it was gone and it was scattered all over the chicken run. Four chickens do not eat that much in one night. Something got in through the gap where the water pipe goes and had an enormous supper.
This rules out woodpecker entirely. Woodpeckers do not eat chicken food.
It also makes rat more likely for the chicken run. But the hole is small and whatever visited the hive left big scratches. I think we might have two separate culprits which would be very exciting from a detective point of view.
The Traps
We are not just sitting here waiting. We have set traps.
Sand tray. A planting tray filled with sand placed in front of the hive entrance. The construction matters. Soil on the bottom for weight and grip, sand on top for the print. That way anything that walks across leaves a clean impression. It has been raining all week which is unhelpful from a detective point of view because rain washes prints out. So far the sand is clean. This means either nothing has come back, or whatever it is approaches from the side and does not walk through the tray, or it did and the rain got there first. Which fits the scratch evidence either way.
How it is built. Soil underneath, sand on top. The sand is what takes the print.
Rat trap. Set near the chicken run. Nothing caught yet.
New trail camera. Ordered and on its way. The old one went to trail camera heaven which was very inconvenient timing. When the new one arrives it is going directly at the side of the hive, low down, where the scratches are.
What I Think
I think Mum is right about the badger.
The scratches are from the side. Low down. Strong marks. The bees were defensive for days afterward which means whatever visited was significant enough to put fifty thousand bees on high alert. The sand tray is clean because it approaches from the side not the front. The chicken food going missing the same week is suspicious even if that might be a different animal.
A badger fits all the evidence.
But I do not have proof yet.
That is what the trail camera is for.
To Be Continued
The case is open. The suspect is identified but not confirmed. The trail camera is incoming. Whatever has been visiting our hive is about to get its photograph taken.
I am Detective Bee Girl and I will get to the bottom of this.
Grandad might be right about the squirrel. But I do not think so.
Dad was wrong about the magpie. He knows this. He has not admitted it yet.
Mum’s chin is fine.
Bee Girl x
Part 2 — the trail camera reveal — is coming. Follow the blog so you do not miss it.
Read on: Detective Bee Girl Episode 2 — The Case of the Uninvited Guest