africanized, mean, or just mower..

2028 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Greenride, May 7, 2014

jsm

Discussion Starter · May 4, 2014

how long after a mower episode should it take for normal bees to calm down. stop being defensive etc. 5 days? 5 hours? 2 hours?

an event today has me concerned-- time to kill the queen. etc... which i'm going to do but need a few days to get that in order. just in case. Its time.

I'm worried for the neighbors, me, goats, other animals.. etc. because:
2 other episodes happened that individually never warranted worry.

1. taking honey from this hive. much more aggressive then normal. but hey i was taking honey! 5 weeks ago.
2. stung me 4 weeks ago slightly unprovoked i felt it was the perfume or voice of friend that i started to see excited behavior at hive entrance we walked away. no attack. but did get stung once.

in the meantime. could use advice. i was thinking of closing up hive. giving them food. tonight at dark. till i can requeen or move successfully further away from neighbor fence. etc. I know this neighbor he will be a problem and keep causing problems.

Or other options? -moving hive off property not an option unless really they are evil africanized little buggers. Then for safety reasons will..

Don't live in an urban area, but i do live in close proximity to the bees. and would hate to have another episode...

My neighbor was stung about 30 times today deservedly so, he mowed debris right into the hive... less then 5 ft mowing.

warranting a trip to the clinic for epi. Son came out 8 hours later, got a sting from bee possibly still in hat. plus all the extra weird ness that was happening today i'm just in need of feeling like they aren't evil africanized bees..

My three other hives not as healthy no odd activity so ...

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psfred

· #2 · May 5, 2014

Are you in a dearth? Lack of nectar can make them cranky, and if you have recently removed honey they will stay aggressive for a few days.

I almost always get one or two guard bees that become very defensive for a few days after inspections, which is why I wore my veil down to feed my package today, I'd been in both hives and did a complete inspection on the big one. Sure enough, had a single bee banging me in the veil repeatedly. I usually end up smashing that one or two that get aggressive, they usually ignore me.

Blowing mower discharge directly into the hive is going to get you stung, and while I don't have a problem with my mower, when my neighbor used is large mower on my back yard last year the bees came pouring out, must have been the sound or vibration that is different.

I would rotate the hive so that you not so very cooperative neighbor cannot blow grass clippings into the entrance, and I also recommend using a hive stand tall enough to prevent it under any circumstances. If that doesn't work, I would move the hive away from his properly as far as I could. If he still gets stung, I would move the hive off the properly, not worth the hassle or potential for lawsuits, however unfounded.

Peter

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jsm

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 5, 2014

psfred said:
Are you in a dearth? Lack of nectar can make them cranky, and if you have recently removed honey they will stay aggressive for a few days.

I almost always get one or two guard bees that become very defensive for a few days after inspections, which is why I wore my veil down to feed my package today, I'd been in both hives and did a complete inspection on the big one. Sure enough, had a single bee banging me in the veil repeatedly. I usually end up smashing that one or two that get aggressive, they usually ignore me.

Blowing mower discharge directly into the hive is going to get you stung, and while I don't have a problem with my mower, when my neighbor used is large mower on my back yard last year the bees came pouring out, must have been the sound or vibration that is different.

I would rotate the hive so that you not so very cooperative neighbor cannot blow grass clippings into the entrance, and I also recommend using a hive stand tall enough to prevent it under any circumstances. If that doesn't work, I would move the hive away from his properly as far as I could. If he still gets stung, I would move the hive off the properly, not worth the hassle or potential for lawsuits, however unfounded.

Peter

no not in a dearth. i'm in the start of good pollen. but rainy last few days. ugly out colder temps then normal and hot/humid and lots of wind lately. Not sure how much weather changes are a consideration. Though i'm starting to think this was just a perfect (bad) storm of events.

hive stand is tall enough. chair height. Should it be higher?

I went over tonight suited just in case. they seemed more like normal. just stood there like earlier and not the outrage i saw during the day. I am hoping this was a one time huge mess and not the beginning of a mean hive. i have a lot of work to do in the next week with them. neighbor threatening to torch them forces me to rethink where they are. so that needs to change. At least far enough where he can't do anything nasty over fence. moving them a couple feet every few days? Then i'm going to rotate them like you say. and then requeen soon as i can locate a mated or considering taking a frame of eggs from the docile hives. now i'm wondering can i do all this at once? or must do in stages?

While i was standing there mid day they were pretty pissy more then one or two hitting my suit. but not like in the video i just watched about requeening vicious hives. .
thanks!

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Bees In Miami

· #4 · May 5, 2014 (Edited)

Some days the bees don't want to be bothered and are nasty as can be, yet they can purr like a kitten the next day. How close to the property line are your hives, or this hive in particular? How much property are you on? Sounds like your hive is wayyy too close to the property line if your neighbor can spew clippings at it.

Also, it is a felony in Florida to mess with managed bee hives. They are protected in the livestock laws. So it would be wise that your neighbor not mess with your hives. (I will try to find a link to the law for you and link it here)

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psfred

· #5 · May 5, 2014

no foraging for a few days can make then cranky.

I would rotate the hive away from the neighbor as soon as possible. Moving it a couple feet at a time will work.

In Indiana it is felony to vandalize hives, check the Florida State Law on this subject, it might be nice to be able to tell your neighbor damage to your hive might end up with him spending a couple months in jail.

I'm lucky, the only problem I have with my neighbors is their barking dogs, which is getting better as they get used to living next to us. Besides, it's not a bad idea to have dogs that throw a fit when a stranger shows up since my aged mother is home alone during the day.

I would move my hives if there was a problem or someone became very allergic though, too much liability.

Peter

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Lburou

· #6 · May 5, 2014

I mow expanding circles around the hives down by the property line so my good neighbor doesn't have to get within 30 feet of the hives. If they are pissy, I flag him down before he gets anywhere near the hives with his mower. Anybody who discharges clippings at a hive with the outcome you describe won't do it a second time...You will not have to remind him. You need to appear to be responsible in managing your hives. Show him and his family they are not in danger, move/remove them if that is what it takes. It will be easy for both households to overreact at this one episode. Good luck.

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jsm

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 5, 2014

Tomorrow is key ! on the bees and the neighbor. wish me luck on both. if they're truly nasty will i see it some how tomorrow?

on the neighbor. we've discuss them over and over. stood over there, talked about things that set them off. They've respected and mowed 30 ft from hive where his normal yard grass starts. This communal fence line is an last 30 ft of it, they never go to. mow. etc. I really don't know what he was thinking. Hives are 8-10 feet from communal fence. I will be moving them 15 ft further from them.

Although would love to repeat the laws back at him, my better judgment just apologized and kept quiet.

The more i'm reading the more i'm realizing that mean doesn't need to be genetic. location has been more active lately. He put pigs back there in a pen. His dogs bark more. My dog goes to investigate, etc just much more activity, loudness etc. but since my other three hives aren't acting up still thinking a requeen necessary.

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warmbees

· #8 · May 5, 2014

Re queen. Unless there is some other qualities that you want to foster, re-queening can solve your problem. Consider Carniolans. They are the nicest bees you could ask for. We purchased 2 carniolan queens last year and while one got superseded, the other succeeded. That hive was a dream. I was never attacked by them and could open the hive at will and show friends and family, without protection and never had anyone get attacked. Absolutely amazing bees! We experienced significantly higher robbing activity with the carniolan hive, however I'm told that this was an exception and usually that is not the case. I've stood in clouds of these bees without protection, and without attack or sting.

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jsm

Discussion Starter · #9 · May 5, 2014

The answer was just mean.

hive was queen less. not sure how that happened. It possibly swarmed. Soon after the last time i was in there. They'd been floundering about for a couple weeks? She was older? didn't leave behind anything? but they were really really really nasty this morning when i went over there... Called in an expert to help and he assessed and then the minute he gave them some eggs in a frame. the bees totally settled down. Within minutes. And then within 20 could walk the paddocks. etc.
So amazing. I thought i would have to get rid of hive. We'll see in a few days if they're progressing back to docile. So i learned even the most docile can get extra mean when they don't have a leader.

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Bees In Miami

· #10 · May 6, 2014

Good news!!! :applause: I'd still get them away from what could become a troublesome neighbor...

Where abouts are you down here?

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Greenride

· #11 · May 7, 2014

My suggestion would be to play it safe and requeen. As you just harvested honey I would also make a peace offering to the neighbor. My hives are in the corner of my lot, behind me my neighbor uses his mower to chop sticks for his compost, right behind the fence no more than 5ft behind the hives. That fence is a 5ft tall wood fence. I've never had a problem and he is the best honey customer I have.
My side neighbors and I have a 3ft wood fence. No problems there either but their lawn stops about 15 ft away from the hives, with veg. garden close up. The get a pint or two per season as they are in the main flight path.
Fabian

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