my hive smells like bananas

[SwedeBee1970]

Didn't expect this post to go on this long. I guess that eating a banana near the hive is out of the question..............

[Barry Tolson]

Eating a banana in the vicinty might be an interesting experiment, though!

[11x]

for those of you who havent experienced this it is neat. i was hit in the face with the smell the second i lifted the cover and looked in.

[devdog108]

Same thing happened to me again today. Saw some at the local gas place scouring on Soda in a can(lol) and so I thought i would go check on them. I was met with about 400 bees and the smell of bananas as SOON as I cracked the top......

[EastSideBuzz]

Originally Posted by 11x

for those of you who havent experienced this it is neat. i was hit in the face with the smell the second i lifted the cover and looked in.

My wife is allergic to uncooked bananas so I guess she will have an other excuse to not help me.

[jdpro5010]

It is amazing to me that a person won't smoke there bees because it "disturbs" the bees in one way or another. Has that person ever thought of the additional bees being killed trying to sting them. It is done for them as well as the beekeeper.

[11x]

it is not about not smoking them, if i am diging in to the hive i smoke them a plenty i assure you. when i peak in or just in to refill a feeder i wont smoke them as not to disrupt the activity of the hive.

[AllTek]

I agree. The bees should be smoked EVERY time they are worked. Although there are many theories as to how the smoke calms the bees, what can be deduced is that bees communicate with smell therefore adding an unknown odor (smoke) disrupts them from eliciting a systemic defense (attack). My personal opinion is that the smoke makes the bees think that their home is on fire which makes them turn into an open cell and engorge themselves on honey which prepares them for building a new nest once they've absconded. And if anyone has gathered wild swarms before the difference between a starved swarm and a newly emerging one as to defense is startling (I've had starving swarms EXPLODE on my face before). Nevertheless it's always better to keep your girls under control than to let them become alarmed and attack.

[11x]

well you all smoke your bees every time you look in the entrance and i will not smoke mine till i feal the need. ill bet if i thought my house was on fire 2 or 3 times a week i wouldent be there long.. i cant see what could be good about introducing a alarm oder in to a hive all the time. plus have you ever put smoke across a cut comb super? trust me the smell/taste stays there for weeks. the great thing about this country is the fact that we can agree to disagree.

[AllTek]

Maybe you miss read. The idea is to disrupt the "We're Under Attack" banana smell by using the smoke. Ordinarily European bees will not abscond the hive under any circumstance, they will protect the brood. We as beekeepers need to keep our intrusions to a minimum, and smoke allows us to do that as we inspect the hive. If the hive becomes "alarmed" by our intrusion, without the aid of smoke, the damage, in my experience, lasts much longer. So, smoke is a tool to keep the bees under control and pacified at the same time. Again, never work bees without smoke.