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over 200 stings

3K views 15 replies 11 participants last post by  Joel 
#1 ·
the other day I was working a hive that had been a litle hot before, but when I got back to the house my suit had over 200 stings in it, and several bees found holes in my suit and stung me about 20 times....is this to be considered a normal risk of beekeeping? their sound was horrible and I could feel them hittig me, bouncing, and smell the pheremone - ideas?
 
#4 ·
No one mentioned the weather. If it was late afternoon and there were thunder clouds on the horizen, you could add a 0 to that 200, even for a docile hive. If this is the first time for that hive to act like that, I would bet it will be fine the next time around.
No hive has a totally consistent demeanor.
 
#6 ·
You are in the heart of nectar dearth right now with 25,000 hot females looking for a reason to be here. (stinging you is as good as any). The bees tend to be more defensive in lean times and high heat. If the hive is queenright, you smoked appropriatly and the skunks and bears are leaving them alone it is probably just temporary.
 
#7 ·
Still seems extreme to me. I would requeen. There is rumor of Africanized bees spreading in the south. I know of one guy in TN who believed he bought a queen that had been bred with an Africanized. It was shipped from out west, so that is perfectly possible. And this was sometime back. I think he went to the hospital, then requeened.

Is your suit made from a "fuzzy" material that can pick up stings easier, or is it a regular beekeeping suit?
 
#10 ·
>is this to be considered a normal risk of beekeeping?

Yes, it's one of the risks. Sometimes bees get visious. When they do you should do somthing. If they aren't being bothered by the skunks and it was nice weather and they aren't queenless, then I'd requeen them. Otherwise I'd try to resolve the problem. When I find a hive hot, I put a red stick pin in the lid. If I find them hot the next time I go out, I requeen. If they are in a good mood the next time, I take the pin back out and figure they had a bad day.
 
#11 ·
ok - more info
this was early evening
we are in severe nectar dearth
used little smoke
italians in neighboring hives may have begun to rob
suit is new and poly/cotton mix. fairly thick.

still, this is such a drastic change from my normal experieince with them. I will probably re-queen in the spring.
 
#13 ·
Sounds like severe robbing.
Recent example:
We were pulling supers last Friday after a big rain on Thursday when robbing got started. The weather was beautiful.

The first two pallets of supers went on the truck without a problem. While pulling and loading the third the robbing started and spread like wildfire. We pulled all the hive lids to no avail! The truck which had two pallets of supers free of bees turned into a roar. fighting bees and bees trying to sting. Finally put the third pallet on and got ready to leave. I still had a couple pallets of hives to work but once robbing gets bad time to exit as these supers were going into the honey processing area to be extracted Monday and way to many bees were getting into the supers.
I pulled out on the highway (and the 25 mile trip home). I had the tops open so some of the bees would blow out. As luck would have it a guy in a red convertable got on my tail trying to pass my truck pulling a swinger in a no passing zone. Last time I saw him he was pulling over swatting at bees!

Days like the above are not the norm but do happen. Things happen fast. All I had on was my bugg baffler which is flimsy nylon so took some stings. No time to change to a full bee suit!

Every year we have problems with pulling supers after the honey flow is over and also bees trying to get into the honey processing area. Let a floral source bloom and the bees are tame again and you can leave the roll up door to the honey house wide open and no bees!
 
#14 ·
MichaelW, where did you hear rumors of africanized bees spreading in the south? All information I've read indicates no movement east.
I do agree with the concept of requeening aggressive hives, but only if it is likely genetics. Conditions can and will affect even gentle bees.
Bob, on the honey house robber issue we always put a big fan in a screened window blowing out and then we can work with the doors wide open. It sure makes extracting better when theres not a few hundred girls trying to help!
 
#15 ·
The best method is to run a duct with fan to the opposite side of the building and vent.

I have intended to run the duct but the duct would need to be 60 feet long and I have not found the time.

I have a screen door with bee escapes but when there is no flow on the bees try to get into the honey house, The north shed and the main building.

Fall flow has started so not many girls up today.
Now they will only come up a few hours in morning before nectar flows or the day after a rain.
 
#16 ·
I can remember a couple of times over the years when I've left a door open a crack during extracting season, with a couple hundred full supers stacked, left for an hour ended up with 20,00 bees in the honey house. There is something special about walking through a cloud of robbing bees in and enclosed area trying to open an escape window and turning off the light so they are attracted outside. All you can do is abandon ship, hope they find their way out towards dusk and don't take too much with them. They do an incredible job of cleaning equipment although they tend to leave little brown spots everywhere.
If I have a fan blowing out a screened window I often leave the other windows and doors wide open. A few bees will be attracted to the fan window but give up quickly when they get no reward.
 
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