Howdee back!!!
Good luck with that smoker non-use. You may want to make sure its lit before you start just to have handy in case its needed.
I too tried going like that and in the beginning they were pretty docile. Now that they have honey in the hive they are a lot more aggressive in defending
the hive when I go in and inspect. I started off with no gloves too and thats was pretty good for awhile but I've had to don the gloves the last couple times.
They kept stinging and while i can take a couple "ouches" at a time, when they're batting my hands and they come boiling up outa the box when I pull a frame......I'm drawing the line there and puttin on the gloves. I crush a few more but at least my hands are good! If you have just the one hive, you may wanna look into aquiring more. something about a 2.5 rule needed these days to have back-up resources. (2hives and a nuc min). Welcome to Beesource! Lots of good info and people here.
Good luck with that smoker non-use. You may want to make sure its lit before you start just to have handy in case its needed.
I too tried going like that and in the beginning they were pretty docile. Now that they have honey in the hive they are a lot more aggressive in defending
the hive when I go in and inspect. I started off with no gloves too and thats was pretty good for awhile but I've had to don the gloves the last couple times.
They kept stinging and while i can take a couple "ouches" at a time, when they're batting my hands and they come boiling up outa the box when I pull a frame......I'm drawing the line there and puttin on the gloves. I crush a few more but at least my hands are good! If you have just the one hive, you may wanna look into aquiring more. something about a 2.5 rule needed these days to have back-up resources. (2hives and a nuc min). Welcome to Beesource! Lots of good info and people here.