aggressive bees

[markfitz]

hi there whats the best way to calm aggressive bees, one of my hives has been aggressive from day one do I simply change the queen or is there another easier way to sort it thanks.

 

[Mellifera397]

There may be a reason such as a bee suit that hasn't been washed having the alarm pheromone left over from a sting, a clumsy beekeeper ( I'm sure you're not one) or just an overly defensive colony.

If you're sure that it is the last one then requeening is the way to go I think.

M

 

[Rob55]

Is it possible for the beekeeper to turn a friendly hive into an aggressive one? My bees both this year and last year were a doddle at the beginning of the year but after a couple of inspections they got a bit fiestier!

 

[Swarm]

As the colony grows, so does their confidence in their ability to defend. Supersedure can also leave you with a changed behaviour.

 

[enrico]

A stroppy hive is generally a good nectar collector. If they are too stroppy I kill the queen and unite with a less aggressive hive. If that is not possible I requeen, often a daughter has far better manners!
Ifs they are bees from hell then they go......can't be doing with that!

 

[Winker]

A stroppy hive is generally a good nectar collector. If they are too stroppy I kill the queen and unite with a less aggressive hive. If that is not possible I requeen, often a daughter has far better manners!
Ifs they are bees from hell then they go......can't be doing with that!

I have some real stroppy bees at one location, but they collect more nectar than any other hive I have. I would go as far as to say they do twice as much work as the more gentle bees I have. So for that reason I have learned to deal with them.

My best friend is a spray bottle when I visit them. Smoke only winds them up more, but a few sprays of water and they are workable.

 

[RogueDrone]

If you do go down the requeen route remember it will be 6wks before the nasty bees are gone.

I would try spraying them with very weak sugar water give them something to do while you inspect and only inspect when necessary.

Colin

 

[Moggett]

When you say aggressive what are they doing?

 

[Hawklord]

If you do go down the requeen route remember it will be 6wks before the nasty bees are gone.

Colin

Should that be 9 weeks? 3 weeks from egg to hatching, 3 weeks house bee, and 3 weeks flying.

 

[RogueDrone]

Should that be 9 weeks? 3 weeks from egg to hatching, 3 weeks house bee, and 3 weeks flying.

I will give you that, forgot about current eggs but they could be shared between colonies to reduce effect.

Colin

 

[markfitz]

thanks for the replys everyone, moggot when I say aggressive they attack even when observing the hive a few feet away , when you open them up and smoke them there openly attacking no matter how gentle I am with with them, and when you close them up they continue to follow me ontill im a good bit away, it makes inspections difficult its almost imposible to find the queen even though she is there plenty of eggs and brood, I feel nervous inspecting and only have it open the shortest time possible to make sure theres eggs stores ect I have to say it takes the fun out of beekeeping, I have another hive which is no bother and a pleasure to work with, I might try the sugar water instead of smoking the hive to see if it makes a difference

 

[enrico]

No fun, consider mass murder!

 

[Hawklord]

How long have you had problems with it, and how many frames of brood are there? You need to requeen asap before the colony gets any bigger.

 

[Tom Bick]

thanks for the replys everyone, moggot when I say aggressive they attack even when observing the hive a few feet away , when you open them up and smoke them there openly attacking no matter how gentle I am with with them, and when you close them up they continue to follow me ontill im a good bit away, it makes inspections difficult its almost imposible to find the queen even though she is there plenty of eggs and brood, I feel nervous inspecting and only have it open the shortest time possible to make sure theres eggs stores ect I have to say it takes the fun out of beekeeping, I have another hive which is no bother and a pleasure to work with, I might try the sugar water instead of smoking the hive to see if it makes a difference

No fun and you will need to sort it out.

In the mean time smoke the hive a full four minutes before you open the hive simply smoke walk away and then return 4 mins later.

Smoke them one more time prior to opening and try to inspect slow and steady.

Good luck its no fun dealing with grumpy bees but you will learn plenty.

 

[markfitz]

hawklord ive had the hive two years and last year were aggressive aswell both seems to be worse this year, theres six frames of brood on the last inspection think I will try and requeen as soon as I can, cheers for the advice

 

[markfitz]

No fun and you will need to sort it out.

In the mean time smoke the hive a full four minutes before you open the hive simply smoke walk away and then return 4 mins later.

Smoke them one more time prior to opening and try to inspect slow and steady.

Good luck its no fun dealing with grumpy bees but you will learn plenty.

cheers tom ill gice that a go

 

[Moggett]

One of mine act like that but they are in the middle of getting a newly emerged queen mated.

It's a roll of the dice really. A few years ago two queens from the same mother produced one colony that was calm and nice to work, the other I had to put on a wax jacket under my bee suit with the hood up. You could open them but once the first frame was lifted there was a roar and all hell broke loose. They then killed the replacement queen. Carnie crosses.........................

 

[galileo]

If/when your more placid colony gets to making QCs, you could requeen from them, maybe.

The fiery lot, not stripey Italian perchance, are they?

 

[psafloyd]

hi there whats the best way to calm aggressive bees, one of my hives has been aggressive from day one do I simply change the queen or is there another easier way to sort it thanks.

You could try reasoning with them, but most of them are women...

THat is a joke by the way, before I get (more) hate mail.

How long have you had them? Either it's the queen or they have a want of one.

 

[cak29]

One of my hives turned nasty last year, believe it was lack of laying Queen due to swarming and weather. They did all you mentioned but most annoyingly had hundreds flying directly at my face and trying to climb under the sleeves of my suit ever time I inspected. I have hives in my garden and the neighbours were not impressed. Had to let them die over winter. A friend told me yesterday that he had a hive so aggressive that it was constantly on attack so he went the petrol route and through a match in - gone! Bit extreme but was a quick solution.