Seeing dead bees around your property can be concerning. You may worry it’s a sign of a larger issue or that it may attract more bees to the area. However, in most cases, a dead bee does not signal danger nor will it bring in swarms of new bees.
How Bees Communicate
Bees have complex systems of communication within colonies. They use pheromones, which are chemical scents, to signal different messages to each other For example
- Alarm pheromones call bees to defend the hive
- Footprint pheromones help bees identify nectar sources
- Queen pheromones attract workers to feed and groom her
Pheromones are the key way bees interact and respond to situations.
Do Dead Bees Release Pheromones?
Dead bees do not continue releasing pheromones, The exception is when a queen bee dies – she gives off a unique pheromone alerting the hive she has perished
However regular worker bees and drones do not emit pheromones in death. Once dead, they no longer produce scents to trigger actions in other bees.
Will Dead Bees Attract a Swarm?
Since a dead bee does not release pheromones, it will not attract additional bees or cause swarming behavior.
The lack of pheromone signals from a dead bee tells other bees that it is dead. Without stimulating pheromones, a deceased bee does not draw interest or provoke a reaction.
One Exception
There is one special case where a dead bee may attract others – if that bee was intentionally killed.
When a bee dies naturally, it does not send out alarm pheromones. However, if a bee is smashed or swatted, it will release an alarm scent in its final moments.
This alarm pheromone signals immediate danger to the hive. Bees picking up this alarm scent will be put on defense to protect against the threat.
So while a naturally deceased bee does not attract others, a bee that is crushed or killed violently can call other bees to the area with its dying alarm pheromone release.
Colony Scent Specificity
It’s also important to note bee pheromones are colony specific. Each hive has its own distinct scent signals meaningful only to its members.
So even in the case of a violently killed bee emitting an alarm, it will only attract bees from its own colony. Bees from other hives won’t react to another colony’s pheromone.
Additional Bee Behaviors
While dead bees don’t attract additional bees, here are some other bee behaviors related to death:
- Bees carry dead hive members away from the colony to keep the nest sanitary.
- A queen bee fights off rivals trying to replace her and take over the hive.
- Workers drag out unwanted drones when reducing hive populations.
Key Points:
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Dead bees do not continue releasing pheromones
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The lack of pheromones does not attract other bees
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A violently killed bee can release alarm pheromones before death
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Alarm pheromones summon bees from the same hive to defend
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Bees ignore pheromones from other hives
So while bees communicate extensively through scents, this signaling stops once a bee has died, and dead individuals will not attract new swarms. Rest assured a single dead bee is not a cause for alarm!
Self-removal of Infected Individuals: Self-undertaking?
Rueppel & colleagues found that in order to reduce the spread of disease, infected bees will leave the hive (Rueppel et al., 2010). This voluntary self‐removal of diseased or parasitized individuals decreases the risk of infection for their healthy kin. In their study, artificially weakening or infecting bees caused them to leave hives more often, and for younger bees to commence foraging earlier. Both are strategies to reduce their time inside the crowded hive, reducing the risk of transmitting disease.
This adaptation can go wrong: if a lot of people get sick, either from pesticides or another disease, a lot of adults may leave the colony, which can cause it to fall apart. Still, this shows that the infected bee can leave the hive to lower the risk of disease spreading, in addition to knowing that dead nestmates need to be thrown out.
How is Undertaking Different to General Cleaning?
Consider the newly-hatched bee. She cannot fly or sting, so she is confined to mature inside the hive. Here, her tasks are largely related to cleaning cells. Eventually she will become a nurse bee, and then a middle aged bee. Particularization can be seen in this group, which does, among other things (15 tasks have been named; see Trumbo et al.), do , 1997 or Johnson, 2003).
Cleaning can be done by any bee at any stage in her life, and the tasks are plentiful. Undertaking as you’ve read above, is a specific task. Bees will not remove a dead body from the hive unless they are trained to do so. This is because the bees see the body as an unwanted object.
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FAQ
Do bees attract other bees when killed?
What happens if you don’t remove dead bees?
Why am I finding lots of dead bees?
Can bees sense dead bees?
Does a dead bee attract other bees?
No, dead bees do not attract other bees. The exception is dead or dying queen bees usually attract other bees, that is because the queen – being a very essential part of a bee colony – must be protected always and if the queen bee dies, other bees around begin to work towards electing a new queen.
How does bee sting affect quality of life?
Bee sting doesn’t affect the quality of life as one can recover in one or two days. Only in worst case it may cause allergy
Are Dead Bees a problem?
Keep in mind that bees are important for our environment, so beekeepers often perform nest relocations for free. —> Go back to the FAQs on dead bees Dead bees can die from cold weather, diseases, parasites, starvation, or simply old age. Finding dead bees on the ground isn’t necessarily a cause for concern.
Why are there dead bees in my garden?
Although you may be saddened by the sight of dead bees in your garden or yard, the reasons are often natural. If you suspect other causes, it may a good idea to alert the relevant authorities in your area. You can help minimise the possibility of harm to bees by avoiding the use of insecticides in and around your garden.
Why do bees carry the dead bodies away from the hive?
The bees carry the dead bodies of dead members of the colony away from the hive, it is also an act of sanitation (to prevent disease and or infection spread) since bees are generally a neat and tidy lot.
Is it normal to find dead honey bees?
However, finding a few dead honey bees is perfectly normal. Again, dead bees are automatically removed from the nest or hive as part of hygienic behaviour, which is triggered via a ‘ death pheromone ‘, which is emitted by dead colony members, and detected by live workers2.