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I purchased a lone queen from a local breeder last year to do a split. As soon as her daughters began hatching I knew something was different.
These bees are MEAN and that's almost an understatement.
I cannot go within 20 feet of the hive without having a few bees go for my hair or face. When working on the hive, smoke or not, they are bouncing off my veil and when moving my hand over the open hive, any visible bees will swarm to my hand in full attack. When done with the hive, a small group will follow me back to the house and I usually have to walk around for a bit with my suit on until I "lose them".
I also noticed, which is very strange, that these bees seem to work together...when out of the hive. I'll see a group of a dozen or so traveling around the yard looking for water or...whatever they are looking for. I've only ever seen one bee foraging, never a group...before this.
I keep this hive on my property as I didn't want to move it to my apiary since its close to people, so it's my only hive here. It's located about 100 yards from my house up on a little shelf on the mountain I live on. Today I was working in my driveway and they kept attacking me! I had to go inside and even the dog wouldn't come outside.
I'm currently raising queens from my docile stock to replace her. However I'm curious if there are any giveaways to tell if I have AHBs?
These bees are MEAN and that's almost an understatement.
I cannot go within 20 feet of the hive without having a few bees go for my hair or face. When working on the hive, smoke or not, they are bouncing off my veil and when moving my hand over the open hive, any visible bees will swarm to my hand in full attack. When done with the hive, a small group will follow me back to the house and I usually have to walk around for a bit with my suit on until I "lose them".
I also noticed, which is very strange, that these bees seem to work together...when out of the hive. I'll see a group of a dozen or so traveling around the yard looking for water or...whatever they are looking for. I've only ever seen one bee foraging, never a group...before this.
I keep this hive on my property as I didn't want to move it to my apiary since its close to people, so it's my only hive here. It's located about 100 yards from my house up on a little shelf on the mountain I live on. Today I was working in my driveway and they kept attacking me! I had to go inside and even the dog wouldn't come outside.
I'm currently raising queens from my docile stock to replace her. However I'm curious if there are any giveaways to tell if I have AHBs?