Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: trace.3820 on June 27, 2022, 12:31:35 am
-
Thank you to all the members for your wisdom over the last 3 years.
I?m in Cincinnati, I have a hive going gangbusters as far as population and honey, I have 2 deeps and 2 mediums and when I attempted a hive inspection yesterday these bees wanted me dead lol. When I opened the inner cover the top super was totally packed with bees and full of honey.
Smoke made no difference and I was in a full suit but I must?ve had a tear in my veil as bees got in and I ended up with about 10 stings to the face.
Could this kind of aggression just be due to overcrowding or is this likely a hive that needs to be requeened or worse?
Thanks,
TC
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
Large hives like this one are more defensive. What was the weather like, bright and sunny with blue skies or over cast or stormy? What is your flow like. Are the bees going gang busters or has it stopped and you are in a dearth?
Did you smoke them with 3-4 good puffs of thick smoke, wait 10 minutes and smoke them again and wait 30 seconds? Did you have to bang on your hive tool to crack the boxes apart? Are you wearing thick leather gloves that make it so that you cannot feel the bees before you crush them and are the gloves full of bee stings that make the bees very aggressive every time you put your hands in the hive?
All of these are factors that affect the way the bees react.
Jim Altmiller
-
Remember, Honeybees do not like hot and humid weather.. The bees will get very cranky..
BEE HAPPY Jim134 :smile:
-
3820
your post does not give your pre opening routine.
If you gave the entrance a few puffs, then as you open the lid or inner cover a couple more puffs under the cover.
If you just crack the cover and you have bees coming out to greet you, you are generally in trouble.
Next time use the pre puff and wait system until you determine if it was a bad day or they are just mongrel bees that need requeening.
If you have more than one hive then do them last in case they fizz again.
-
Interesting comments, it was a sunny day around 1pm. Normally I smoke them but with this hive it just seems like it just angry them off so I tried squirting them with some sugar water. Based on my my experience with this hive I don?t think it would have made any difference.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
TC, are the bees angry only when you are inspecting, or are they irritated and trying to sting even when you are just around the colony? When did the hive start acting this way?
-
Hi trace.3820 It has been my experience when the flow has dwindled and the weather gets hot this will happen many times even with my gentle bees, which normally in the spring flow seem to pay little attention to me. It seems they get more defensive as resources slow and weather heat up.