Tape up the entry and then the invaders find another weak spot

To avert the carnage that was occurring due to the invader bees successfully creating an opening in the hive entrance, Tom taped it up with metal tape. This didn’t stop the invaders – they just moved around to the side of the hive and commenced removing the tacky tape from the joins.

Prior to taping the entrance, Tom observed the invaders still trying to get in, and he was able to deduce how the bees drowned earlier in the tray of water. The hive is now suspended from the ceiling and therefore no longer sits in a moat of water. Overnight the invader bees had managed to create a tiny bee-width hole in the entrance. As an invader bee attempted to go inside, it was “wrestled” out by an inhabitant bee. They cannot fly as they are locked together in fight, so they fall to the ground, where they continue fighting, presumably until one is killed. Sadly, whilst the hive was in the water, both would have drowned. This explains why the dead bees were only below the entrance.