View Full Version : Advice on new queen please
longarm
12-07-2006, 10:38 PM
This question is posted for a buddy of mine who is wanting to requeen his VERY hot hive.
He lives in Bend, Oregon which, for those unfamiliar, is the high desert at elevation 4000ft. Some clover and lots of rabbitbrush, aster, etc.
His hive produced the most delicious honey this year but even in a full suit he routinely gets 10 or more stings and literally hundreds of bees following him back to the house, etc.
Anyway what kind of bee is best suited to the high desert?
When should he requeen?
Thanks.
Sundance
12-07-2006, 10:42 PM
I'd re-queen ASAP.
Explain your climate more. Winters?? I would
guess pretty mild there??
I am partial to NWC's but if your in a mild
wintered area Italians would be just fine.
tecumseh
12-08-2006, 05:30 AM
yea sundance everything looks mild compared to north dakota...
I would ask old sol directly. he should know the area well...
longarm
12-09-2006, 02:35 PM
Winters there are dry and cold, though probably not by N. Dakota standards. Snow but not lots of it. Summers warm and dry.
Typically when is the right time to requeen? His bees are in cluster now (except on the rare days when temps break 50 degrees and they fly a bit).
longarm
12-09-2006, 02:42 PM
tecumseh, I cannot seem to find old sol through the directory. am I missing something?
longarm,
I got it with a google:
http://www.oldsolenterprises.com/about.html
He's also advertising on the Oregon site.
longarm
12-09-2006, 04:40 PM
THanks Wade!
An interesting site and I'll pass the info on to my friend in Bend.
[ December 09, 2006, 05:45 PM: Message edited by: longarm ]
Fusion_power
12-09-2006, 05:04 PM
Not to throw a monkey wrench into this but I'd like to point out that moderately aggressive colonies can respond like africanized bees based on how the beekeeper handles them. For that reason, I'm always skeptical when a beekeeper with a single colony says his bees are too hot to handle.
I've seen several colonies over the years that were too hot for anyone to want to keep. Re-queening is generally a good idea if genetics are thought to be a problem.
Fusion
longarm
12-09-2006, 06:40 PM
Point taken Fusion. Not sure what to say in response except that the times I have been out to his place I found the bees to be very aggressive as compared to my 4 hives as well. Generally you can't get anywhere within 15 or 20 feet of the hive (some days further out) without the bees butting and/or stinging without provocation. My hives on the other hand can be worked in a shorts without a problem. If what you are saying is that the bees may have been made to act this way via his handling .. there may be something to that. I'll watch for it when I go out next. OTOH he does all the same stuff I do here (smoking, moving slowly, etc)... but with different results: OUCH!
Fusion_power
12-09-2006, 08:28 PM
Agree to those OUCH! results longarm. I've had 2 or 3 memorable colonies over the years. The worst gave me over 100 stings in less than a minute. A very strong colony in 3 deeps had been toppled by wind and was lying with its base completely exposed. Robbers from other colonies were making things interesting because we were in a midsummer nectar drought. The bees in the colony being robbed gave absolutely no response to a huge volume of smoke from my smoker. I beat a hasty retreat until I could come back properly attired.
Fusion
longarm
12-09-2006, 09:14 PM
Here's the rub: his bees made a fantastic amount of honey in their first season. AND it is very delicious. Take the good with the bad? I might (easy to say) but I fear the stinging is turning him away from a hobby he and his gal would otherwise enjoy.
tecumseh
12-11-2006, 05:59 AM
thanks ya' wade for fillin' in my blanks....
just to add a bit of reference to the angry bee question longarm... years back when I started raisin' bee, the old beekeeper who was my original mentor kept what we called german black bees (called danish bee by abc-xyz) who's personallity was quite a bit like you described. many year's later (and way before the afb was a question) I worked even a meaner strain of 'yellow itialians' along the mississippi river. Both strains were great honey producers, but as you suggest would quite quickly discourage you from keeping bees.
sierrabees
12-11-2006, 06:43 AM
I've had quite a few hot hives under similar circumstances. Almost every one that I wasn't able to re-queen because of the time of year ended up settling down the second year. I would suggest locating a source for a gentler strain and arranging for a queen in the spring, then re-evaluating when the time comes. If he puts together the equipment to start another hive this winter then he can still use the queen if the old hive turns out to be a keeper. From the way you describe your four colonies he probably has a source already.
Going on with the "normal behavior" train of thought, just for kicks...
I've found that some colonies that are normally calm, will take a big turn for the worse if they somehow end up queenless, and the problem is compounded with a strong colony. And, the extra aggression can go unnoticed until the frames are manipulated. Its just a temporary state though, like a few weeks at most until the replacement gets settled in, so in this regard the explanation is easily identifiable or can be ruled out.
[ December 11, 2006, 10:42 AM: Message edited by: wade ]
tecumseh
12-12-2006, 05:26 AM
wade sezs:
Going on with the "normal behavior" train of thought
tecumseh replies:
behavior is context dependent almost ALL the time.... so a great number of variable (+ or -) will influence a given behavior.
cloudy-wet weather, the way a beekeeper manipulates a hive, a nectar flow, or the end of a nectar flow...
but ... when you look down at your gloves and they are covered with stingers and venom sacks and the girl's are sittin' in an endless field of white clover that is profusely blooming and at it's very peak... one can only conclude 'dem girls is hot.