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Author Topic: phsyco bees or just normal  (Read 2868 times)

Offline crispy

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phsyco bees or just normal
« on: December 05, 2020, 04:20:50 am »
Hi all being fairly new to this bee keeping gig ,the other day i inspected the hive both the top box and the brood box anyway the bes in the top super were pretty well mannered so i could check the frames to see if they had been drawn out and necter in any. a bit of smoke and away they would go making it an easy task .

Now get to the brood box lot more bees in there so i give them a puff of smoke and start to do my inspection after about the third frame which has plenty of brood and some larvae the bees are getting somewhat excited they are buzzing around like no ones business , there on my head all down my legs and trying to sting me through my gloves ,i counted 5-6 stings in the palm of my left glove .

No matter what i did they just kept getting more excited to the point where i was going to walk away for a while ,the  brood box has heaps of capped brood a reasonable amount of larvea and i cant see eggs yet ,so my question is should i requeen this hive or is this normal behaviour as if i hadnt had my full suit on i would be sporting a few sore points i think .

Offline Skeggley

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Re: phsyco bees or just normal
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2020, 09:52:44 am »
Hi mate, pretty normal for me when there's not a flow on, I see the guys inspecting with no protection and scratch my head. During a flow they're quite placid and let me do my thing.
Maybe mine are a bit on the fierce side, I don't know, it's just what I'm used to.

Offline Bee North

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Re: phsyco bees or just normal
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2020, 05:04:49 pm »
Hi Crispy,
As you gain experience you will get to know what sets them off eg. Weather, end of flow, queenless, poor handling such as crushing bees, inspecting too often and so on. Also, as your hive gets stronger you have more foragers. Foragers tend to be more agressive than nurse bees.
All hives have grumpy days. Some have more grumpy days than others and those are best inspected on perfect days.
For me. If I cant walk past a hive without being harassed or stung then I requeen, or if every inspection is a nightmare and I dont enjoy handling them I requeen.
One lesson I learnt early....if your gloves have been stung wash them before next inspection as they become a target. If you get stung on your gloves during an inspection smoke them. I use nitrile gloves for this reason.
Give the girls a chance. Next inspection pick a perfect day and handle with care.

 

Offline crispy

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Re: phsyco bees or just normal
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2020, 07:08:37 pm »
Hi beenorth you have brought up some good points , firstly im trying to space the inspections of the brood hive out ie: first it was one week ,then two then three also i did the inspection early in the morning around 8.00 normally i would do it around 10.00 as it was going to be 38 degrees .

I know i did crush a couple of bees they just wont get out of your way even when you smoke them sometimes , as i said the inspection was done early and all the forregers would have probably been in the hive or a lot anyway .

I went back about half an hour after i had finished and all was back to normal ,i have never had this happen before not nice when everyone is going nuts . its the first time i have had bees all over my suit never had them like that on my head before .

Even when i was adding my shade cloth the bees didnt bother me to much and i was banging in tent pegs ect last thing i want is a nutcase hive as it would detract from the enjoyment of having them if when you had to do an inspection you had to deal with this .

As i said in the OP the bees in the honey super were chilled out bit of smoke and they all ran away , i used to use the nitril gloves but started to get stung every time i wore them even doubled up so now i wear my what are almost welding gloves ,ill take your advice and wash them today to get any residue of them .   

Offline Acebird

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Re: phsyco bees or just normal
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2020, 09:01:19 am »
What are you inspecting for?  Is it just a schedule or do you think something is wrong that you have to intervene?  If your boxes and frame tops are clean use a sliding motion to place the box.  Every bee that you slide off into the air or outside the box will find their way in again.
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: phsyco bees or just normal
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2020, 06:21:49 pm »
I know i did crush a couple of bees they just wont get out of your way even when you smoke them sometimes , as i said the inspection was done early and all the forregers would have probably been in the hive or a lot anyway .

I went back about half an hour after i had finished and all was back to normal ,i have never had this happen before not nice when everyone is going nuts . its the first time i have had bees all over my suit never had them like that on my head before .

Even when i was adding my shade cloth the bees didnt bother me to much and i was banging in tent pegs ect last thing i want is a nutcase hive as it would detract from the enjoyment of having them if when you had to do an inspection you had to deal with this .

As i said in the OP the bees in the honey super were chilled out bit of smoke and they all ran away , i used to use the nitril gloves but started to get stung every time i wore them even doubled up so now i wear my what are almost welding gloves ,ill take your advice and wash them today to get any residue of them .   
Bees in the super are often much less defensive in my experience, whereas the brood nest seems to have many more guard bees.  I have also found that single bees don't always move for smoke, especially if the hive is already irritated.  If there are bees that are about to be crushed between frames/boxes, try making like you will crush them, but don't actually do so.  Bees that are in a tight squeeze and then released will almost always move out of the way.  Move slowly, but work deliberately.  Try to make the inspection quick by not doing any more than necessary, not by moving rapidly.  Remember that the more bees you crush, the more the living bees will target you.       
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.

Offline Michael Bush

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Re: phsyco bees or just normal
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2020, 02:24:35 pm »
They are never happy when there is no flow and they are fighting off robbers all the time.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
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