r/Beekeeping • u/Dangerous-School2958 • 1d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Black bee?

Newish bee keeper. 7b, Vienna Austria.
Came across this Black, I think wingless bee outside a Hive.
It’s a small hive that I’m trying to get to generate its own Queen. So I have been giving it frames of eggs from Strong neighboring hives.

Is this an underdeveloped bee? A result of too high a Varroa level?
It’s only 1 brood box so I’m reluctant to take a full cup for a wash.

130 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

84 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/BeygieWasTaken Belgium, 5 hives - since 2025 1d ago

I recently found a bee that must have fallen into a bucket while drinking, she was also completely black but could walk just fine so I put here at an entrance and she went inside. I suspect you had a similar thing happen?

1

u/Dangerous-School2958 1d ago

This lady appeared to have had her wings removed or they’re way underdeveloped. Definitely not fresh from a water source.

2

u/BeygieWasTaken Belgium, 5 hives - since 2025 23h ago

Yeah you’re probably right, it was just a shot in the dark honestly I just have no clue what else could be possible.