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Do you use smoke everytime and does it set them back?

9K views 37 replies 29 participants last post by  shannonswyatt 
#1 ·
I watch people on UTube working bees with no smoke, veil, safety glasses or anything. Are there bees out there that gentle? I want some, where can I get them. Even with a touch of smoke, my girls can be grouchy.
Does it set the bees back when using smoke?
 
#2 ·
I give them a little every time, normally it doesn't take much just a couple puffs under the bottom screen. Occasionally they need more.
Doubt if a couple puffs affects their performance in any measurable amount. Moving the frames & removing their bridge comb causes a bigger setback IMO
 
#3 ·
You can indeed work bees with no smoke, but usually only new packages or swarms (and not all of those) with no stores. Once the hive gets full of stores and brood, the bees get much more defensive and you will GREATLY regret not using smoke.

Only took one time for me, I'd gotten into the habit of taking a peek to see how they were doing, and one day I got stung several times before I got the inner cover off. Got a few more in the face on my way back to the house to get the veil.

Not a good practice to work without veil and smoker.

Opening the hive always sets them back a bit, which is why you shouldn't routinely pull all the frames. Smoke does too, but probably no more than opening the hive.

I had one swarm last year that was pretty much unmanageable without smoke, very runny and cranky. They replaced their queen right off the bat, and were hard to handle until she was up and laying properly.

Peter
 
#5 ·
Use the smoke if you can. I took a peek at a hive last fall without a veil or smoke. It was just gonna be a quick peek. WAMMO! What I'd I do? :lookout:
 
#6 ·
It depends on the hive. I like to keep gentle bees. I don't wear gloves. I do use a jacket with veil and I do take the smoker with me, but I only use it on hives that show some meanness or who have a history of the same.

I would imagine down there in Louisiana, you may have some influence from Africanized bees which may be part of your problem. It also may be the time of the year. I try not to get in the hives mid summer when it is hot and nothing is blooming. Most of them are mean then.
 
#7 ·
It shuts them down for the rest of the day sometimes. You will have foragers coming in during inspection and it'll stop typically for a bit til they get things settled again. I use smoke to avoid crushing bees for the most part, to move them out where I need to work. Tough to scrape burr comb etc... with thousands of bees on the top bars. I always give a little puff when I crack the boxes too just to let them know I'm coming. I always wear a veil now so I don't have to worry about getting stung in the face at any time, I can relax a lot more. Smoke also keeps the bees less flighty.
 
#8 ·
I rarely use smoke. But will take the time to light the smoker from now on after my last dealing with my hives, everyone of them was cranky!! Wishin I had a smoker as I took a stinger to the leg, had another trying like heck to do the same, and bees bumping off my veil. It was all I could do to keep one hand pulling my sweat pants away from the nether region while manipulating frames to drop in a frame feeder with the other!!
 
#10 ·
Beeghost, i learned that lesson last year checking out hives for sale, we cracked his strongest hive, no smoke and after 20 seconds it was time to back off, I took 6-7 minor stings to the shoulder through my shirt, no stingers left in me though, and they were butting us for a few minutes afterwards. If you want to worry about bees going crazy at anytime for any reason, go ahead and don't smoke them, but if you want to relax and not worry about angry bees, smoke em and wear a veil. You don't need a lot of smoke, i might puff the hive 4-5 times during an inspection very lightly.
 
#12 ·
Use smoke, and wear a veil. Sure, occasionally you can get by without either, but are you willing to risk your vision (a sting in the eye)? And remember, ALL bees come armed! Even if they're gentle one day, doesn't mean they won't be cranky the next time you go out there. Sometimes it depends on which drone's semen the queen is using when she lays eggs. You know, some of those drones don't come from "good" neighborhoods! :lpf:
Regards,
Steven
 
#13 ·
I usually just set the smoker on the ground slightly upwind. Kill a bee and they stay calm, injure a bee and you will run around flapping your wings for all your worth.
I will take a veil off to see better, after I see how they feel that minute.
 
#15 ·
I always give the entrance a couple of puffs then sit the smoker under the hive so some smoke will occasionally drift up through the bottom vents. Generally it keeps them quuiet and easier to handle so they are less disturbed.

As for the veil, its permanently on, it only takes one sting to the face to ruin your day.
 
#16 ·
"it only takes one sting to the face to ruin your day"
I completely agree. I didn't use smoke at first because I was too cheap to buy one. Tried making a coffee can smoker it didn't work to well, when you blew on the hole in the bottom you burnt your lips(joke). My wife bought me one and I use it every time I go into the hive now. I don't know if its the smoker or if its just me getting better with my handling but I can actually work them without gloves now.

By the way did you find a queen?
 
#19 ·
I always wear my veil and gloves. My bees don't seem to be aggressive but I am with the rest of you. I don't like being stung in the face. Last summer I took a sting just below my left nostril and it started to swell up. I had to coach a softball game with a bunch of girls that night. We were struggling with the pitching and I called a time out and went to the mound. I was trying to talk to the girls and they just kept looking at my swollen upper lip. Finally one of the girls asked me what had happened to my lip. I thought for a moment and said, one of three things happened. 1) I've been to the dentist today. 2) I got stung by a bee and 3) my wife punched me in the mouth. One of the girls said, "What did you do to piss your wife off" all I could do was laugh and tell them I got stung. We all got a laugh and the girls played better and went on to win. I learned after that experience that I will always wear a veil and use smoke. I also learned that if I take a dried bud from my sumac tree and break it up with my burlap in the smoker that it will really calms them down and keeps them calm for a week or two. Don't know what it is but it works for me. Keep those veils on.
 
#20 ·
My most docile hive attacked me the worst of all my hives one day when I chose to eschew smoke for a quick check. They chased me down like a hive full of AMM. Never again. Smoke - veil - gloves at all times. All I did was lift the lid.

Totally different creatures with smoke.
 
#22 ·
i'm starting my second year with 1 hive. i always use smoke and war a veil, but no gloves and short sleave shirt. my bees have been very gentle, but i don't want to take a chance and get stung in the face and end up dropping a frame and really pissing them off. the only stings i got last year were my own fault when i actually pinched them when removing frames.
 
#23 ·
  • Smoke, Gloves, and a Veil is OK
  • Smoke, no Gloves, and a Veil is OK
  • No Smoke, Gloves, and a Veil is OK
  • No Smoke, No Gloves, and a Veil is OK



  • Smoke, Gloves, and NO Veil is foolhardy
  • Smoke, no Gloves, and NO Veil is foolhardy
  • No Smoke, Gloves, and NO Veil is foolhardy
  • No Smoke, No Gloves, and NO Veil is foolhardy
 
#28 ·
Spot on nabber.

My bees are quiet but you get maybe one time in 50 when for no apparent reason a colony reacts really badly to being opened. Working routinely without a veil is daft although you could get away with it on a good day.
Working without gloves is fine as the worst that can happen is a sting or two on the fingers.
Stings around the eyes are not worth the risk.
 
#26 ·
I went out on a nice day this year and didn't see any activity with this one hive. Thought must me a dead out. I lifted the lid a little to look inside and out they came. Got one between the eyes and three on the neck. I can laugh about it now but it takes me about four days for swelling to come down. I keep telling myself that you don't go out without veil and smoke. Yep I was right again this year just didn't have it with me at time. I think I will just wait until I have my equipment next time before looking. LOL

Uncle Bee
 
#27 ·
Lesson learned, unclebee.
I like to err on the side of caution. I've never really understood the reasoning behind ... start working the hives without protection, and if they get too aggressive, go get the veil. It seems to me at that point it's too late, your face is already stung up. If I were one who enjoyed working them without a veil I would go at it in the opposite manner. Start working them first with the veil, and if they were in a very good mood that day, then take the veil off. To each his own I guess.
 
#31 ·
Start working them first with the veil, and if they were in a very good mood that day, then take the veil off. To each his own I guess.
That is an approach makes the most sense to me, if I were to go that route.

I can say with confidence that my hives are calm and behaved, usually. But I have also found that you cannot predict how the bees are going to react, no matter how good of a bee whisperer you think you are. I dont have that much experience keeping bees, so one could easily say that my opinions dont matter. I do have a lot left to learn; however, it only takes a season or two to learn that the bees cant always be trusted. It doesnt take a genius to figure that one out.

Also, my day-job is in an office environment. Besides being laughed at by my cube mates, I don’t think I could perform my job with my eyes swelled shut. The last time I had a bad reaction, my lower arm swelled up so bad that I couldn’t get it through the sleeve of my dress shirt. I didn’t like having to explain to my boss why I had to break the dress code that week. He laughed and understood (one of my best customers), but I dont relish the idea of having to do it again. Oh and before anyone suggests that I should take more stings to desensitize myself to the effects of venom, the second thing that I found out about beekeeping is how variable my reaction to stings are. Most of the time it’s no big deal but other times it is not OK.
 
#29 ·
I was checking some hive for purchase the other day. My normal routine is normally to remove the outer cover and smoke a little and then put on my veil. In any case it had gotten a bit cool so I figured I would put my hood on to keep me a bit warm. First hive I went to I popped the outer cover and about 30 bees flew right into my veil. I'm not saying that they would have stung me, but these were hungry (stressed) bees on a cool breezy day. I think I'm going to change my routine from this point forward and start with the veil on. I can only see out of one eye as it is.

When I have them I will use Nitrile gloves instead of my regular gloves. You get great feel, so you are less likely to crush bees. They can sting you through the nitrile, but I loose the freak out response that I get at times with no gloves.
 
#30 ·
For most of my hives, I don't use smoke until we get past the main flow. I use smoke on every hive once we hit the hot summer.

I went through 19 hives (some were overwintered Nucs) this last weekend and didn't light the smoker. A couple of hives did get a bit cranky, but I wear gloves and veil and wasn't stung. When I say 'went through', I mean a full inspection to the bottom board, cleaning the bottom board and putting it back together.

I don't know if anyone has actually tried to test whether it sets them back or not, but we have a saying on my family farm about things that 'don't help 'em any' that I apply to honey bees. It's hard for me to imagine that it helps them build up to get a lot of smoke, but easy for me to imagine that it sets them back at least a bit.

Plus, with my bees at least, smoke can make them act a bit squirrelly. Some of my hives start running all over the comb and make it difficult to do a quick, effective inspection (for me.)

That said, I recommend all new beekeepers to use smoke. Do any and everythign you can to be comfortable looking in your hive.
 
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