A fellow beek in a bind needed to give up his hive, and I agreed to take it.
He Warned me that it was quite "hot". He told me he got his last queen from "Jack", who's bees are also quite "hot".
Arriving at his house, he was in bee suit, with smoker in hand, screwing and *hammering* boards and straps to the side of the hive for transport. For some reason, the inner cover had been removed. Hive was dropped a few times in the process of loading.
After delivering the (roaring) hive to the apiary, I let it sit for 2 days to let it settle before attending to it.
As part of my practice, I am committed to wearing neither suit, nor smoking, and instead using my ears, eyes, sugar spray, and a soft touch. I was unsure how this would go with this "hot" hive, but needed to try, for the sake of my own learning.
To make a long story short, I was able pry and unscrew the wood and straps off of the hive, remove the telescoping cover, and replace the inner cover. The hive was incredible strong, it was nerve-wracking work, and took about an hour while a cloud of beez buzzed around me.
I only received one sting, on my thumb, from a bee I squeezed while picking up my screwgun.
The significant lesson I learned is this: The other beek's fear of his hive caused him to treat his hive in a way that contributed to the hive's bad mood.
As a newbeek, I feel this was a bit of a light-bulb moment.
He Warned me that it was quite "hot". He told me he got his last queen from "Jack", who's bees are also quite "hot".
Arriving at his house, he was in bee suit, with smoker in hand, screwing and *hammering* boards and straps to the side of the hive for transport. For some reason, the inner cover had been removed. Hive was dropped a few times in the process of loading.
After delivering the (roaring) hive to the apiary, I let it sit for 2 days to let it settle before attending to it.
As part of my practice, I am committed to wearing neither suit, nor smoking, and instead using my ears, eyes, sugar spray, and a soft touch. I was unsure how this would go with this "hot" hive, but needed to try, for the sake of my own learning.
To make a long story short, I was able pry and unscrew the wood and straps off of the hive, remove the telescoping cover, and replace the inner cover. The hive was incredible strong, it was nerve-wracking work, and took about an hour while a cloud of beez buzzed around me.
I only received one sting, on my thumb, from a bee I squeezed while picking up my screwgun.
The significant lesson I learned is this: The other beek's fear of his hive caused him to treat his hive in a way that contributed to the hive's bad mood.
As a newbeek, I feel this was a bit of a light-bulb moment.