Why?

[Gibbus]

So why can these guys tear a colony to shreds without an apparent hit, yet I go and quietly pull a few frames and my hands and arms are loaded with venom? Why arent they being treated as invaders?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfLDLQzvCRI

[beyondthesidewalks]

About 15 years ago I removed a hive from a very old and very large sycamore tree. I was the only person present wearing a veil and gloves and I did all of the handling of the bees. Two men were operating chain saws and we had several bystanders that wanted to watch. Once the tree was felled and we started cutting sections of trunk off to find where the bottom and top of the hive was the bees were flying but not very interested in us. It seemed as if they were more forlorn than mad. I didn't get a single stinger in my gear and nobody got stung to my amazement. It was a huge hive and I brought them home only to lose them to fire ants.

BTW, one of these men did get stung and laughed it off as he pulled out the stinger.

[G3farms]

I wonder where in E TN this was at?

Yep the guy on the right got one in the elbow and just pulled out the stinger.

Like Beyond said, once you break open the brood nest they seem to loose a lot of their fight and are really stressed out to what is happening to their home.

[KQ6AR]

Enjoyed the video, hard to believe they found the queen.

[Gibbus]

I guess what I'm asking is about the 'psychology' of the bees (for lack of a better term). They have stingers, and use them, in defense of the hive to continue the survival of their species. Yes, one guy was popped once, but that's it. I would think (and obviously this is not the case) that tearing apart the brood would trigger their species defense mechanisms, not cause them to lose their fight. I mean, defending the kiddies is pretty high on the list of maintaining hive survival. Not doubting Beyond, as his story parallels the vid, just wondering why is all -- I'm irksome that way
(Could it be the sound of chainsaws, as they are present in both examples?)

[Cox89XJ]

Why? I would like to know also. Most of the time I could work my bees with no shirt on, but "most" is a tricky word. One time years ago I had all my equipment on and it's a good thing I did. I opened a hive for a routine inspection. They started making a roar and here they came. I had bees all over me trying to sting me to death. I ended up putting the cover back on and I had to walk through tree limbs to get them off me. Day's like that is the reason I usually always have at least a veil when around my bees.

[Charlie B]

I made the mistake of thinking that since my first two hives were gentle and sweet, any additional hives will act the same. I got a swarm from Oakland and set it up in the bee yard in early spring. During my "routine" hive inspections several weeks later, the Oakland girls were the last to be inspected. I was use to calm and "normal" behavior going through my other hives until I opened the top of the Oakland hive.

Wow, the roar was deafening and they came at me with a vengeance. They stung everywhere on my suit, veil, gloves and several crawled up my paint leg. If I didn't have my suit on, I really don't know if I would be writing this post right now. Since my bee yard is on the roof, I really didn't have anywhere to go. I didn't want to go inside and put my family at risk so I just grabbed a chair and sat down at the farthest point from the hive and smoked all around me for about 30 minutes before they all went back to their hive.

I had my mentor come over several weeks later for the second hive inspection to get his opinion on re-queening. He opened up the hive, pulled out brood frames, cut out burr comb, etc and the Oakland girls acted like he wasn't even there. Unbelievable. :s

Why? Who knows but I will always where my suit and look in awe at video's like that.

[Walliebee]

...the Oakland girls were the last to be inspected.

There's your answer. Your gloves, hive tool, etc. smelled like the other hives. Pheromones are very powerful triggers. Oakland girls thought they were under attack from the other hives.

Still not a bad idea to suit up!