smoker - bee flying in to it

[Algonam]

Still year #1.
It seems almost every time the smoker is being used and we have opened up a hive, and the bees are everywhere(bouncing off my veil, crawling on me and hundereds of them in the air), that one or two bees fly all the way in to the spout of the smoker!
Any idea why they would do this?

[hankdog1]

Not enough or maybe too much smoke?

[yockey5]

Sounds like very bad tempered bees!

[Michael Bush]

The three most common smoking mistakes:

•   People have the smoker too hot and burn the bees with the flame thrower they are wielding
•   People use far too much smoke causing a general panic instead of simply interfering with the alarm pheromone. One puff in the door is enough. Another on the top if they look excited is ok and after that having it lit and setting nearby is usually sufficient.
•   People don't light the smoker because they think smoke upsets the bees, probably because of one of the above reasons.

As yockey5 says, it may be you just have mean bees...

[Larry Bees]

Not enough or maybe too much smoke?

Are you a politician? That's the way they answer questions.  :lau: :lau: :lau:

[Michael Bush]

>Are you a politician? That's the way they answer questions.

Many times opposite actions have the same results for different reasons.

[boca]

Many times opposite actions have the same results for different reasons.

In fact if I jump around my hive on my left foot clockwise they make honey. If I jump around them on my right foot anti-clockwise they make honey. Opposite actions make the same result. Who can explain them?

[Michael Bush]

>In fact if I jump around my hive on my left foot clockwise they make honey. If I jump around them on my right foot anti-clockwise they make honey.
>Opposite actions make the same result. Who can explain them?

But those aren't different reasons as there is no mechanism to explain either nor to explain the difference.

I can repeatedly make any hive angry by smoking them too much

I can make most hives angry by not smoking them at all and merely having them open for the same period of time that I could with smoke and not make them angry.

It's this difference using the right amount, of course, that shows the mistake of the two extremes.  Your analogy might work if you also tried not jumping around at all in order to compare all three, but then of course, it could be other factors whose mechanism would make better sense such as more or less rain, different location etc... so you'd need a large sample to be conclusive.  But of course lacking a proposed mechanism makes the theory of jumping in a circle pretty doubtful, now doesn't it?  Where too much and not enough smoke have been proven by anyone who is willing to learn moderation and compare it to the extremes.

[hankdog1]

Larry I've seen people too afraid to use very much smoke before and I've seen them smoke them so much it will burn the wings off.  Both will produce upset bees and can you blame them.  Like Micheal Bush says use enough to keep them workable.

[Algonam]

OK then, it sure sounds like I used too much smoke.
They were pretty testy! Someday (next yr)I'll have to see how they react without any smoke and then compare. It would have to be a similar day with sunshine and little wind.
......now that I've gained some confidence in my bee suit!

[yockey5]

Generally I use very little smoke. On the few occasions that a lot of smoke was required to push the bees from me (stinging bees), I looked for the lady of the house and gave her a hive tool test. It always works after the new lady takes over.

[Larry Bees]

Larry I've seen people too afraid to use very much smoke before and I've seen them smoke them so much it will burn the wings off.  Both will produce upset bees and can you blame them.  Like Micheal Bush says use enough to keep them workable.

Thanks for your reply! I was in a silly mood when I posted that. Larry

[Tommyt]

Tried to delete sorry wrong post

[edward]

I try not to use my smoker , there are bees that are not aggressive , so why settle for angry :evil: bees ?

Last weekend I had to fire up my smoker to harvest honey from a hive that had been attack by a bear who ate half of the hive frames and all  

I feel a bit sorry for them and will give them a last chance next year to see if they calm down , if not I will re queen them as soon as possible.

a smoker is a good tool to use when things go wrong , if you have kind bees and a bee suit you probably only need your smoker in the end of the season.

Kind bee =  :-D bee keeper

mvh edward  :-P

Ps I have also had bees that have filled my smoker , it wasn't lit at the time , they filled the top , took a while to shake them out  :roll:

[rober]

if I'm just quickly filling the div. board feeders i do not bother smoking. if I'm pulling frames or moving boxes or supers i smoke. whether you are using proper smoking techniques or not it sounds like you have an aggressive hive. is the hive queen-right? the girls get pretty testy if the queen has been superseded

[hankdog1]

Nah no harm I figured as much probably should have explained a little further.