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What constitutes mean?

12K views 53 replies 29 participants last post by  Ted Kretschmann 
#1 ·
I know its been asked a lot but I have 4 hives and yesterday was my first day in them since last october. I have 1 have that is gentle as can be. Dont need any equipment and they could care less that you are up in there business. I love that hive!!! Found the queen and my 2 year old queen was superceded and all looks great!

Then the other three are down right ugly compared to the other. Taking the top off is not bad but as soon as you reach in for a frame about 7 or 8 bees come out fighting hitting my veil and attacking my gloves. Then about 10 or more are all around me. It makes me uncomfortable so I back away till they leave me alone. Then I go back in to do the same thing and it repeats itself!

So I guess is this normal or typical? Am I just being a pansy or does this sound like an issue? I would like to requeen but I cant get in the hive deep enough to even begin to find a queen. These hives are booming by the way. Have tons of brood, honey, and pollen, and drones are out too already! Smoke will drive them down but make no mistake they come right back out. They are stinging my gloves also!!
 
#28 ·
Don't smoke them too much when working them. The three most common smoking mistakes:

• People have the smoker too hot and burn the bees with the flame thrower they are wielding
• People use far too much smoke causing a general panic instead of simply interfering with the alarm pheromone. One puff in the door is enough. Another on the top if they look excited is ok and after that having it lit and setting nearby is usually sufficient.
• People don't light the smoker because they think smoke upsets the bees, probably be-cause of one of the above reasons.

If I expect problems (dearth, other hives are testy, or this one was testy last time I opened it), I usually put a puff of smoke in the entrance, then pull off the lid and put a puff in the inner cover (unless you don't have an inner cover). Then I put four or five good strong puffs of smoke in the entrance and wait a minute. Then wait about three minutes before opening the hive.

When I think a hive is hotter than I like I put a red push pin in the front of the box. If they are hot the next time, I put another red push pin in the box. If they are hot again, it's three strikes you're out so I requeen. Since I rear queens, this can be as simple as adding a queen cell and letting things work themselves out.

I don't consider seven bees trying to sting me hot or gentle. On a day with a dearth, that would just be normal. On a day in a flow that would be a grouchy hive. Now twenty or so pinging off my veil and following me is hot enough to be irritating but not that bad during a dearth or on a rainy day.

Hot hives pour out of the hive at you and are very difficult to requeen. But that seems to be the only solution to them. Requeen.
 
#29 ·
I agree with Sqkcrk, the owner is the one to dtermine if they are mean, no one else.

M.Bush - we have the "3 strikes and you are out" rule also. Big M's for mean, little m's if a little testy. If the next time they are gentle, you cross one out. But when they get to 3 big M's(2 m's = 1 M) , off with her head. If she is not spotted in the normal inspection, the brood chamber is taken a short way from the yard and the bees blown out. The brood chamber is returned to it's previous spot, and a frame of eggs from a good hive is placed in a deep, with an excluder below it, on the top of the hive. Both will eventually have queens, and if the lower queen(daughter of mean Q) is mean, she gets blown out again, and the top queen(and box) is put on the bottom. The 2 queens for a short time will help them recover from the time they had none.

Roland
 
#31 ·
OK, mean in my eyes? When I start crying I am getting so many stings. A few months ago I had a guy come and get all my mean queens (he likes them for some weird twisted reason). I had him come later in the evening to pull the bad queens and then help me load the dequeened hives onto a trailer. They stung me so much I just started crying. I can take a lot but those hives was mean!!!!
I like the 3 strikes and your out rule.

Mike
 
#33 ·
....stings are for people trying to prove their manly ...to whoever?
Well Mike, using that type of generality, one could say "Beeks who wear gloves are cowards." Or perhaps "Beeks who wear gloves don't care to learn about and be careful with their bees - they're like bulls in a china closet." Or perhaps "Beeks who wear gloves haven't matured as beeks yet." Personally I don't believe either generality (gloved or glove-less) is true. As has been demonstrated time and time again, going without gloves makes one more sensitive and careful while working the bees. But hotter hives require the use of gloves.

And then, when you get my age, with arthritis, one discovers the joys of venom therapy. :lpf: The first few times the treatment I swear was worse than the ailment. But my physician was surprised when I reported to him that I no longer had any arthritis pain in my left hand. I had heard about that, but I was very pleasantly surprised too. Works for me, YMMV.
Regards,
Steven
 
#35 ·
MSbeekeeper, I think you already know the answer. If you feel uncomfortable while working them then they are too mean for you. What is too mean for me may be nothing to someone else. I have three hives and one is as gentle as they come, the second is pretty calm, and the third is usually very nervous, but not aggressive. At least not to me. I have worked these hives with only a veil and usually with a short sleeve shirt, shorts, and crocs. That is until I accidentally dropped a frame on that third hive and seven stings later I will, for the most time, wear a long sleeve shirt. I guess what I'm saying is it should be enjoyable for you and not a chore and you shouldn’t be afraid to go into a hive.
 
#39 ·
Well, shucks... I just discovered what I've been doing wrong all along... been wearing a shirt and jeans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_BzPcrCt7E :lpf:
I dirty-double-dog dare this guy to do this first inspection in the spring, or go down into the brood nest like this. :lpf: But ya gotta admire him! (Wish I had a physique like that! :eek: )
Regards,
Steven
 
#40 ·
I have always marveled at how subjectivity which in most cases is combined with ego can warp a persons ability to comprehend what another is actually saying...:) and since I have this very propensity I have learned to step back and read a post objectively as opposed to subjectively.....makes life more enjoyable and peaceful and I tend to actually get something from the writer or take the correction instead of being offended. :D

Now as far as naked beeking....well even I have to draw the line somewhere:lpf:
 
#41 ·
I think you have recieved some good advice here reference your question...my advice is wait to "pass sentence" on this queen...its still very early in the spring here in the south...up until the orange blossom started 2 weeks ago...most of ours were "testy"....Im pretty certain they will calm down as warmer weather and more forage arrives. I usually plan for the hives to be a little "testy" in the fall as pepper tree flow ends (last flow before winter dearth) and in the spring before orange blossom starts...they have stores to defend.
 
#42 ·
Trust me, there is a time and place for gloves, there is always a pair in my left hand bee suit pocket. They are there for a quick draw! This week the bees have just been ticked, rainy, been in them way to much (esspecially breeders, finisher, and hives that get starters shook from them :D). Most of the time aggression from them is subjective.....

mike
 
#43 ·
:lpf: Whenever I need a chuckle, or think I'm taking myself too seriously, I take a look at this. I just love these guys... don't have a clue who they are, wouldn't want my daughters to marry one, but... you gotta admit, they're not afraid of showing their "manliness" ... er, or is it... ah... well, here you go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaVq3NJJYLY
Regards,
Steven
 
#44 ·
It seems to me that if when you take a step back from the hive they leave you alone, they are not mean but very defensive. Mean is when they attack and then follow you for 100 yards. Defensive is when you've got your hands into their home. My bees are pretty calm but act up the closer I get to the brood and Her Majesty.
 
#45 ·
I will have to say that I got a mean hive ,and there is no dought that they produce more honey than my others.whether it be by robbing or what ever. I have also noticed that they are more aggressive toward shb than my other hives which is a good thing. I also keep a pair of gloves around just in case, because there temperament can change anytime..

Dan
 
#46 ·
Know a woman who manages her bees in a t shirt and shorts. Complained to me last fall about getting stung 50 times in one day? What? Really? I have been stung exactly 10 times in my life, by honey bees. No reactions, just no fun! I wear them gloves and all because it works for me....and thet dont get in the way when im running away from them either!!!! LOL!!!!:doh:
 
#47 ·
Last time I was stung nearly 50 times was last July when I moved 12 hives after dark. Had on gloves, veil, and those little darlings still flew and crawled and nailed us time and time again...
Absolutely no fun. But to work them in shorts and t shirt? LOLOL no thanks.
Regards,
Steven
 
#48 ·
Well I went out to the hives today. I smoked them like suggested and it was a world of difference with my testy hives. I smoked the entrance rather heavily and let them sit while I worked my gentle hive. I went back to the other and smoked the entrance again. Took the top and and gave some puffs. and I was in them with confidence and less testy bees. That made it much more fun and a lot more enjoyable. Sure I took two stings to the hand but they were no where near as testy as they have been! Thanks!
 
#52 ·
2years ago I had the gentlest hive on a watermelon patch.I was gonna pull honey,but the migrant workers were picking the last of the melons so I waited till the next week-end.Came back&to my dismay the workers had cut the foundation out of my frames harvesting my honey for me.[no thank-you either]last year I put a hive from an extraction which had been in a house for 30+years&were MEAN[40-50come 'greet' you at 30yds out]....got a LOT of honey that year&all of it too...the top was a little crooked on 1 hive,but that was it...farmer told me a couple workers were stung&when I told him about the year beforewhile we were standing by the edge of the field not being bothered we concluded they tried it again...sometimes a 'protective' hive is better than a gentle hive&more profitable too
 
#53 ·
I have a hive that I just hate having to get into. It is my strongest hive but those bees are MEAN! I must duck tape the bottom of my jump suit around the boots, and cover the connection where the two zippers on the front of the hood attaches. I smoke them before I enter the hive it seems to make them mad. When I open the top, I have a few that take aim at my head. When I touch a frame, the fun really starts. Bees everywhere! I park about 20 yards from the hive and they follow me to the truck. To keep from getting stung after I am finished working the hive I must get in the truck all suited up and drive up the road for a piece then get out and remove the gloves and veil. Oh yeah, they gonna get a brand new mama real soon!
 
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