I have had my bees for two years now. I only keep one hive at this time. When I first hived my bees they were very docile. I could stand off to the side and watch activity without any problem. Now if anyone is within 100 ft. they are likely to get buzzed. My son was a large distance away last year and got stung four times when he swatted at one. I recently had a cousin stung when he was out in the yard and ran near to retrieve a ball. This was on a fairly cold day, also. I believe the hive did requeen itself this year. I have been told we had africanized bees in our area, so was wondering if this could be the case.
aggressive bees-is this normal?
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Its not uncommon for "second generation" of bees to become unpredictable. Aggression is one of the many unpredictable outcomes. This is particularly true for the various hybrid bees. Sounds like your bees are near your house? If so, I'd requeen as soon as the weather in your area supports such a move.
I simply will not tolerate aggressive bees. If you do live in an AHB area, then requeening will be an integral part of your beekeeping experience.
Perhaps you should consider filling out the from section of the online registration form so that we can give you more location-specific advice.
Best of luck.
I simply will not tolerate aggressive bees. If you do live in an AHB area, then requeening will be an integral part of your beekeeping experience.
Perhaps you should consider filling out the from section of the online registration form so that we can give you more location-specific advice.
Best of luck.
I agree on requeening. I don't tolorate mean bees either. It's not worth it. Bees have always varied in temperament. It doesn't necessarily mean they are Africanized, but there is still no reason to put up with mean bees. Having mean bees gives beekeeping a bad name too.
Yes, the bees are on the south east side of my house. I am only on one acre, so chose a side of the house which we don't really use the yard. I can watch out a side window to see the bees at work.
I will plan to requeen in a couple months.
Thanks for the input.
I will plan to requeen in a couple months.
Thanks for the input.
Michael has stated this before, and I have experienced it with one of my hives; sometimes just killing the queen and letting them raise a new one of their own will change the hive dramatically. My most aggressive hive superceded this year and became a considerably gentler hive.
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i need some help here - i have 2 first-generation hives that i've just moved to a new location. the moving itself was no problem, but my bees are increasingly aggressive. i would describe them both as hot, but not vicious - at any rate - NO FUN TO WORK. both hives were weak when i checked them last week - one is queenless and the other hive had some eggs and very little capped brood. i can't find any available queens due to the SHB infestation. since i can't get a queen, i was considering combining the hives - has anyone had any similar experience? is there any point to combining the hives if the queen is weak? if i let them raise their own queen, how likely is it that she'll be as aggressive as they are now? these hives are in an urban area, so this aggression is simply not an option.
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It's kind of late to requeen this year. No drones for the queen to mate with. Unless you're below the Mason-Dixon line. read the above post about putting your location in the registration so we can give location specific advice.
Your last sentence tells me you can't wait until spring so I suggest you contact a queen seller for a new queen now. If you have drones still I would say just pinch the queen and see what they raise. This is how we as beekeepers can improve things. Raise your own queens and replace until you get what you want. But in the fall if you can't see drones, don't try to raise a queen cuz she can't mate.
Good luck,
Hawk
Your last sentence tells me you can't wait until spring so I suggest you contact a queen seller for a new queen now. If you have drones still I would say just pinch the queen and see what they raise. This is how we as beekeepers can improve things. Raise your own queens and replace until you get what you want. But in the fall if you can't see drones, don't try to raise a queen cuz she can't mate.
Good luck,
Hawk
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I too ran into a mean hive within the last week. I am starting to remove my excess honey from hives and monday went to my last 3 hive, one which I know has alot of honey. I opened the top and removed the hive top feeder. All of a sudden they come boiling out of there and allacking me left and right. When I was done I walked about 400 yards away and they were still attacking my gloves,arms and veil. Finally had to crawl in the back of the truck and have the wife drive off. They followed me for about a mile until I went into a darked forest area. When done I had about 300 stingers left in my pants legs.
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requeening seems to be my best bet, but all commercial suppliers i've contacted have been wiped out by SHB. anyone near austin tx with an available queen bee they'd sell me? thanks
I'm not near Austin, but I can mail you one on monday that would be there tuesday.
http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm
I see a pattern here that tells me we are in Beekeeping 101. This is autumn. The queen has slowed on laying, not gone bad. The flow is over, so more bees at home and more protective. It's going to happen. If you have a queen and the bees are bearable, leave them alone. They will straighten up in the spring.
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In the book he Art & Adventure of Beekeeping By Ormond & Harry Aibi who by the way hold the worlds record for most honey from a single hive. They frequently talk about why Honeybees sting. They say they only sting when they are frightened or offended. Granted some bees get offended a lot easier. On thing they also talk about is bees get use to motion around there hives, if they are located in an area where they dont see much motion like people or machinery routinely going by. You can place a burlap sack on a pole or something that will move in the wind, that way the bees will get use to something moving around their hives. If the weather was bad or they were in a nectar shortage this will also contribute to aggression. Things like what color your shirt is or if you have been sweating and might be a little gamey, might offend them. If the hives are productive you might want to evaluate other factors besides AHB being the problem.
>The flow is over, so more bees at home and more protective.
True, but they still shouldn't be this hot:
>Now if anyone is within 100 ft. they are likely to get buzzed.
>All of a sudden they come boiling out of there and allacking me left and right. When I was done I walked about 400 yards away and they were still attacking my gloves,arms and veil. Finally had to crawl in the back of the truck and have the wife drive off. They followed me for about a mile until I went into a darked forest area. When done I had about 300 stingers left in my pants legs.
None of this is what I consider normal behavior even in the fall in a dearth.
True, but they still shouldn't be this hot:
>Now if anyone is within 100 ft. they are likely to get buzzed.
>All of a sudden they come boiling out of there and allacking me left and right. When I was done I walked about 400 yards away and they were still attacking my gloves,arms and veil. Finally had to crawl in the back of the truck and have the wife drive off. They followed me for about a mile until I went into a darked forest area. When done I had about 300 stingers left in my pants legs.
None of this is what I consider normal behavior even in the fall in a dearth.
Maybe not by itself, but add in the weather, a smell in the air which you cannot detact, a recent disturbance you know nothing about, or a myriad of other possibles, and you get an attack from an otherwise docile hive.
I say four weekly visits without a friendly day, then you have a problem.
I say four weekly visits without a friendly day, then you have a problem.
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I agree with Michael this seems to be excessive.
This hive would be on my list for an attitude adjustment (i.e. requeen). I simply will not tolerate a hot hive. HOWEVER, I define hot by repeated episodes under the best of conditions. I cause my own trouble by my own bumbling too often, to blame the bees too soon.
I want make sure on a known producer.
I also believe they can smell fear.
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This hive would be on my list for an attitude adjustment (i.e. requeen). I simply will not tolerate a hot hive. HOWEVER, I define hot by repeated episodes under the best of conditions. I cause my own trouble by my own bumbling too often, to blame the bees too soon.
I want make sure on a known producer.
I also believe they can smell fear.
To me requeening is a last-ditch effort, but I have to agree with Michael and Old Buzzard (love that name) on this one. They sound like really mean bees! The meanest I've ever seen mine was this past spring before the nectar flow and you had to be directly in the bee yard to be buzzed or head butted and it was only a twenty or thirty bees tops, not 300!
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Remember the video of that British woman working her bees with shorts on and no protection? How do you think she got them so docile?
Hawk
Hawk
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