Thanks Edward
That got me thinking in the right direction. I only had two queen excluders. I opted to move the hive to another stand splitting it into two hives. I gave each of those two their own bottom board and lid and I put a queen excluder between the two boxes.
I put an empty set of two boxes of undrawn frames with top and bottom board where the hive used to be.
During the transfer of boxes to the other hive stand I got mobbed and had to stop a couple of times to blast heavy smoke on my feet and ankles and all over me. That was scaring me because they had started going up my legs and stinging me around my ankles through my socks. I also had to stop a couple of times because my gloves were coated with bees and I couldn’t handle anything. All of this made it hard to concentrate on the order of stacking on the other stand – bottom board, box, queen excluder, box and lid and repeat. Every time I put on a queen excluder or another box hundreds of bees were getting squished. It really was incredible how many bees are in that hive. After all that I had to set up the empty hive in the original location. As simple of a task as that is, it took all of my concentration to get it done as I was trying to squish bees crawling up my legs and could feel some getting into my crotch area. I smoke blasted everything I could and transferred my stuff up the hill to flat ground and scrubbed as many followers off on a low hanging pine by walking through it which work pretty good. I jumped in my car and drove home fast with my suit on and the windows down while squishing bees going up my legs and getting into my veil the whole way. As I was driving I could feel my ankles, lips and eyes swelling up and I was having a hard time breathing. When I got home 7-8 minutes later I told my wife as I walked through the house that I needed help and liquid benedryl. As I took off my shoes and suit I was really glad to be out of that suit and dead bees fell all over the patio. By that time my wife determined we didn’t have any benedryl and I said lets go get some fast I need it bad. We made the two minute drive to the drug store and I jumped out as she parked and ran inside and told the pharmacist I needed liquid benedryl fast. I found it opened it and started drinking it and finished half an 8 oz bottle on a empty and nervous stomach. I was out of breath and feeling weak and sat down in a waiting chair and just started feeling really bad while my wife was yelling at the pharmacist that it was all childrens Benadryl and we needed the adult stuff. She found a pack of adult pills and I took one and washed it down with the liquid benedryl. About one minute later I started feeling like I was going to pass out and told my wife that I was going out. I settled back as much as I could into the chair and dismissed the thought of laying on the floor and told my wife “I’m going” and I wondered what was going to happen. I passed out. I was in dream land and could feel my head moving around and the back of it contacting something and I came to laying on the floor with my wife doing something to me, I didn’t know what. I told her I was OK and started to look around and see how I was feeling while people were looking at me and she was telling the 911 operator to just get the ambulance there and what was taking so long. Every thing was in blurry time but I knew I was feeling way better than before I passed out but still weak. The ambulance came took vitals, loaded me, and drove me to the hospital. I was feeling about 50% better on the ride there and didn’t get out until around 10pm after they IVed two bags of water and some steroids. Got home really tired and crashed but felt good enough to go to church in the morning. Wow I don’t need any more of that!
None of this would have happened if I had secured my ankles. I am going to install some kind of Velcro set up on my suit legs so that if I ever have to move another hive I can be 100% bee tight. I am going to have to keep an epi pen now and I didn’t want to do that, oh wells. The benedryl should be in every beekeepers yard, when you need it you need it. The ambulance guys put an IV in my hand on the way in because they were worried about losing my veins, my BP was 70 something over 90 something. I think that may have been what made me pass out. The total dose was ~300mg plus what ever the pill was.
Kathy,
that queen has to go. As soon as I lay eyes on her shes going into a little jar of alcohol.
Iddee,
I didn’t have that many bottoms and tops but that was my initial inclination. I don’t think I could of done a taranov with these wicked beasts. I’m pretty sure I would of wound up with ¾ of the hive on my ankles legs hands and hood. These things are just plain unmanageable. Even after I get my ankles secured its still going to be scary. As it is I don’t have a queen to put in the empty hive in the original location and I don’t know how this is going to work out. I did the best I could under duress and it was all I could do. I think I will wind up having to just gut it out and go through each of the two box hives frame by frame to find that queen and kill all the queen cells as I go, possibly recombine and add a frame off eggs from one of my merely uppity colonies.
Steel Tiger,
I wish I would have seen that video before I had gone out to the yard because that looks like the most logical way to handle the whole mess. I had seen it before but had forgotten about it. Is that Micheal Bush? At any rate that video makes so much sense and makes it look easy. Thanks much for the link, I wish I had seen it sooner.
10framer,
I believe that 70% of San Diego area hives are now Africanized. I am sure that some or most of mine are. But that said this is the only hive I have had with this kind of response. Even so only about 10-15 bees followed me up the hill not counting the ones in my suit and boots. If they had followed into my car I would have been in a real pickle.
I know the majority of you folks don’t deal with bees like this but just in case I now strongly believe everyone should have a bottle of liquid benedryl at their yard or in their car since some folks can have a reaction even if the have never had one before and it may be just what you need to give you enough time to get the help you need.
Old Blue
Tired of typing for now. In…………………………………………………………..
Kali-bone-ya