My Girls are mad today.

[NCNewBeekeeper08]

Hello everyone. My husband & I went out to my beehive about 11:30 today. They needed food. I feed them a gal of syrup every 4 to 5 days. I was trying to get the telescoping lid off when SNAP it came off but it was loud. That must have triggered the guard bees. They in no uncertain terms let us know they were really mad at us. They kept chasing us into the woods & were all up in our faces. We finally got the syrup in & shortly after my husband got his 1st sting right under his arm. We have had the bees since this April & this is his 1st sting. We didn't have any gear on because we have never had this problem when feeding them. So far I have had maybe 7 stings. One was a large local under my left eye. It closed my eye for about a week. Boy that one really hurt. Today must have been because of the loud snap.

[GRIMBEE]

Loud bangs, vibrations, bad weather, animal problems, other insects. All these things can give your the bees a bad attitude. What race of bees are they? That is also a factor.

[Sundance]

As Grimbee said............

Have they been aggressive long?? Re Queening may
be in order if they have or they persist in being
nasty.

How far did they follow you??

[NCNewBeekeeper08]

My bees are Italian. I really believe it was that loud snap.
Thanks for your reply.

[Dr.Wax]

Sounds like they have propolized the lid making it hard to come loose. You could try using an inner cover but be careful of giving small hive beetles another place to hide. You could also scrape the propolis around the lid each time so there is a limit to the buildup.

[mike haney]

going without protection is like driving without a seatbelt. when you need it its to late to put it on. please reconsider your strategy before you have a really bad experience. good luck,mike

[Ross]

The later in the year it gets, the more defensive hives will get. Couple this with the fact that larger hives are naturally more defensive (and they are typically larger later in the year) and you have the recipe. It won't take much to set them off from now until first freeze.

[NCNewBeekeeper08]

As Grimbee said............

Have they been aggressive long?? Re Queening may
be in order if they have or they persist in being
nasty.

How far did they follow you??

They followed us maybe a few yards. I should have said they are working the Craype Myrtles maybe 30 yards in front of the hive. Maybe that also was a factor.

[iddee]

What Ross said.

In addition, Your area is coming to the end of the honey flow. The bees will get more defensive as the dearth increases. The heat and dearth set them up, and the loud noise and quick movement set them off. Be careful with them for the rest of the season. Next spring, they will be gentle again.

[LEAD PIPE]

wind is also a problem for my bees. I pulled close to 50 stingers out of my cloths one windy day. They can turn on you quick, use protection.

[gingerbee]

Your bees may become honey-bound if they don't have room to store the syrup.

Hope you feel better soon.

[ScadsOBees]

You didn't mention any smoke...

The bigger the disruption, the bigger their response. Snap the cover off and all the bees touching that cover are all now on red alert. They instantly start fanning alarm pheremones.

A little puff of smoke will cover some of the pheremones, confuse the red alert status, and calm them down.

That is why a veil is a good idea, you never know what could set them off (or drop something with bees in it!!)

I find that the bees really don't like it if I'm popping the top cover, I don't usually do much of that without smoke and a veil.

Rick

[knadai]

All good advice. Also, push down on the cover with one hand while prying up with the other. That way you can sort of peel off the cover or at least minimize the snap.

Also check if you are queenless. If you can hear them loudly before touching the hive that may be the case.