Aggressive Bees

[Beagle23]

I'm a bit of a sentimental soul, so I don't want to condemn my bees when it's my own inexperience that's causing the problem.

Somebody here recommended the Haynes manual which I've now purchased and read through, one of the results of which is my own confidence around the bees has improved. I'm sure this will be a helpful factor going forward

 

[MerryBee]

I dont think anyone has asked yet if you are a member of your local beekeeping association or if you have a mentor. They should be able to help you to learn the right way to handle your bees gently and to assess if handling is part of the problem. Or they can help you assess if your bees need requeening and if so the best way to do it. They may even be able to provide you with a new queen or a queen cell from a colony with good temper.
Trying to learn all this from a book, or even with the advice of forum members, is not the best way.

 

[Millet]

Good for you. There are many reasons for bees to become 'defensive'. It was your first year so you probably have quite a bit to learn.

I 100% agree, my first year i got on with it and learned by my mistakes pretty quickly as far as bees go, my second year was more hectic than the first but no matter what i tried or did calmed the bees and stopped a all out attack on each inspection, not all inspections but most.
If this forum was not here i would have cracked on with stingy bees and in the end maybe thought (frig this for a game of soldiers) but the forum was here and hopefully i can move onto nice bee's .

 

[For want of a better word]

Time for a nice gentle Carni

Menu idea... Chilli con Carni... nice and HOT !!



Yeghes da

 

[Swarm]

They do get quite 'hot' further down the line.

 

[B+.]

They do get quite 'hot' further down the line.

That pretty much describes the local bees. If I had to choose between them and nothing, I'd choose nothing!

 

[rdmw]

Interesting thread
The calmest bees I have ever seen were black amm bees on colonsay handled by the calmest beekeeper I have ever seen, Andrew abrahams
My bees have also got calmer as I have got calmer. Use less smoke and be gentle and kind to your bees. Hate the crunch of a squashed bee ad shoogle the frames back together. Re queen aggressive colonies quickly by having spare queens in nucs split from your kindest ladies. Abandoning the leather gauntlets was a good move. Disposable nitrile and cotton cuffs. Now Ivan feel what I am doing
Also - sit down doing an inspection rather than looming over the hive.
Enjoy your bees and relax!!


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[For want of a better word]

That pretty much describes the local bees. If I had to choose between them and nothing, I'd choose nothing!

OH NO YOU WOULDN'T...
you would have set about improving them... just like your beloved Carniolian..... and if I lived in the next village to you I would be making a bee line to you to buy some!

Yeghes da

 

[Swarm]

Now Ivan feel what I am doing
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Who is Ivan?

 

[Millet]

Who is Ivan?

.. it could be a slight keyboard error but Ivan could also be the other half..

 

[rdmw]

Ivan the typo. An evolving new species [emoji50]


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[B+.]

OH NO YOU WOULDN'T...
you would have set about improving them... just like your beloved Carniolian..... and if I lived in the next village to you I would be making a bee line to you to buy some!

Yeghes da

No. I mean it. I've had my fill of the local bees.

I'd miss the bees, but, I could never keep those bees again

 

[Gaz1]

No. I mean it. I've had my fill of the local bees.

I'd miss the bees, but, I could never keep those bees again

When was the last time you had local bees? Only asking as in my first year here I'm wondering wether 'local' bees change from year to year with whatever's around? When i got my nuc I asked what they were and he said just mongrels of what's around. I can walk around cut the bushes and so on when I open the hive I may get a bump on the vail but don't get stung with nitrile gloves.

What I'm saying from reading through the forum over the year is there is such thing as a 'local' bee surely they change year on year depending on what's around

 

[For want of a better word]

When was the last time you had local bees? Only asking as in my first year here I'm wondering wether 'local' bees change from year to year with whatever's around? When i got my nuc I asked what they were and he said just mongrels of what's around. I can walk around cut the bushes and so on when I open the hive I may get a bump on the vail but don't get stung with nitrile gloves.

What I'm saying from reading through the forum over the year is there is such thing as a 'local' bee surely they change year on year depending on what's around

There you go Gaz1... some bod rocks up next door with a grist of possibly (to him) pleasant foreigners... and all hell breaks loose....

#which is why I stated that if I lived near to B+ I would be keeping the same type of bees ( as he does as his bees dominate the local population, and by default are the "local" bees)
It is what thoughtful would beekeepers do.

Nos da

Yeghes da

 

[B+.]

if I lived near to B+ I would be keeping the same type of bees ( as he does as his bees dominate the local population, and by default are the "local" bees)

The problem is that there are beekeepers popping up everywhere. It takes time to influence the feral population and someone can bring in bees for a specific crop and change it all. There is no control over that. I can control my bees by instrumental insemination but I can't control the ferals

What I mean is that there's a big difference between "control" and "influence".

 

[B+.]

There you go Gaz1... some bod rocks up next door with a grist of possibly (to him) pleasant foreigners... and all hell breaks loose....

Its not as though I was a newbie Icanhopit. I have kept bees in Beds / Herts / Bucks for close to 30 years. Your idea that I was some fly-by-night saboteur just doesn't make sense. It may suit your agenda to think so though.
The truth is that the local bee is a mongrel with nothing special to commend it. There are some enlightened beekeepers who want to make a difference, but, there are also some old timers who just collect swarms and take whatever honey they can. I suppose it is the same everywhere.
Perhaps this is the real problem. Poor stock is maintained while the efforts of those of us who want to keep better stocks are thwarted.

 

[B+.]

Abandoning the leather gauntlets was a good move. Disposable nitrile and cotton cuffs. Now Ivan feel what I am doing

Those thick leather gloves are terrible. Nitrile are much better (hygienic too).

 

[Swarm]

Its not as though I was a newbie Icanhopit. I have kept bees in Beds / Herts / Bucks for close to 30 years. Your idea that I was some fly-by-night saboteur just doesn't make sense. It may suit your agenda to think so though.
The truth is that the local bee is a mongrel with nothing special to commend it. There are some enlightened beekeepers who want to make a difference, but, there are also some old timers who just collect swarms and take whatever honey they can. I suppose it is the same everywhere.
Perhaps this is the real problem. Poor stock is maintained while the efforts of those of us who want to keep better stocks are thwarted.

You don't have to be a newbie. It's your drones who are influencing the local population. There is no agenda it's just how things are, unless you want to admit that you also have an agenda?

 

[Tremyfro]

Do you remember the awful experience that Obee1 had with her bees?
She was a new beekeeper and struggled with an aggressive colony which grew very rapidly into a huge mature colony. To begin with when you are new to beekeeping...you don't know whether the colony is aggressive or that your own inexperience is causing the problem. Confidence is quickly shattered too which doesn't help. The Mean Green Queen dominated her small apiary.....they were local bees. In the end they were shipped out up the mountain, split up and requeened...and still they were mean bees.

 

[B+.]

You don't have to be a newbie. It's your drones who are influencing the local population. There is no agenda it's just how things are, unless you want to admit that you also have an agenda?

Yes. I have an agenda. I want bees that don't sting people, pollinate crops and produce lots of honey. I am not here to preserve aggressive mongrels.
I think you overestimate the influence any one person can have on the local population. It takes a long time to make any real difference and beekeepers move their hives around too. I've had other beekeepers bring their bees and stick them in a field right next to mine so they could get a crop of borage honey. The horse-riders in the village were all "up in arms" about these aggressive bees that someone had put in the field. I even tried talking to the beekeeper concerned, but, all he was interested in was the huge crop of borage honey he would get. It's crazy to see him: he has to dress up in layer after layer (even under his bee suit) and even he calls them "little buggers", but, will he do anything about improving them? No.