I have to pull my supers this weekend due to time constraints. I have two hives of which I will be removing six supers. I checked the hives last weekend, and the bees were extremely mad when I went to pull off supers to check the brood nest. I don't usually do this but I hadn't checked on them since the beginning of summer. I'm glad I did as one of my non-honey hives had gone queenless. I was able to pull a frame of eggs and larva from a honey producing hive to give to the failing hive.
Since the bees are so defensive while sitting on all that honey, I wonder if anyone has an cheap and easy way to pull supers without getting attacked. I usually wear a bee jacket/hood with jeans but last weekend I took several stings through the jeans (I told you they were mad!) I will probably pull the supers around the noon hour so the bee population will be at it's lowest. I really don't want to use the leaf blower trick so I'm hoping for a better alternative. I have run out of time and cash and I do not have time to order fume boards or escape boards. Any ideas would be appreicated.
Since the bees are so defensive while sitting on all that honey, I wonder if anyone has an cheap and easy way to pull supers without getting attacked. I usually wear a bee jacket/hood with jeans but last weekend I took several stings through the jeans (I told you they were mad!) I will probably pull the supers around the noon hour so the bee population will be at it's lowest. I really don't want to use the leaf blower trick so I'm hoping for a better alternative. I have run out of time and cash and I do not have time to order fume boards or escape boards. Any ideas would be appreicated.