Aggressive Bees!

[Beefriendly]

When you say you are shutting in, does that mean you close the entrance so there is no morning activity from the offending hive and then you gauge apiary ambience? If less nastiness you know which of the two is worse?

I have one suspect shut in at the moment (closed entrance). An 8:30 inspection shows t'other hive is fine and no aggression. ....although it may be too early in the day to be certain.
However, after Breakfast the closed in hive is getting moved....if I start getting pinged this PM then I have got it wrong.

 

[coffindodger]

I wonder if it could be related to the high level of air pollution in built up areas at the moment. Hopefully things will improve when we have rain this week.

An interesting thought. Recently published research on pollution in UK shows a correlation between behaviour of people, crime and pollution levels.

 

[Beefriendly]

No air pollution where I live....
Twas t'other hive,,,,started getting pinged as day warmed up....now moved to out apiary some 10 miles away.
All is now peace and quiet in the garden.
Thank God for Kaptar Hive Lifter, moving double brood with 3 supers all getting well filled is not easy on your own.

 

[JonnyPicklechin]

Thank God for Kaptar Hive Lifter, moving double brood with 3 supers all getting well filled is not easy on your own.

A happy story BF.

Beginner lifting and transporting full hive to no planned location with no available equipment is today's stress filled challenge.

 

[Beefriendly]

Beginner lifting and transporting full hive to no planned location with no available equipment is today's stress filled challenge.

Not an easy one......

 

[boywonder]

Is anyone else suffering from very aggressive bees? ...

I've browsed this thread with interest. Into my 5th year of beekeeping, I have never experienced anything like today. I have 4 Q+ hives currently in my (rural) garden apiary. One has a fabulous Hivemaker Queen, and I could normally inspect these unsuited if I dared; the others are mongrels - of which two head similarly docile colonies (the other one less so - with runny bees also). These traits were all in evidence when I inspected last weekend and again - to a greater or lesser extent - when I inspected yesterday (Saturday).

Today, I was in the garden working on the veg patch, without any power tools etc... and was being relentlessly pestered and dive-bombed by bees. This was well out of normal 'following' parameters, and my wife, who was weeding at the other end of the garden was also being attacked, and became so stressed she had to go inside. The garden is about a third of an acre - and it was pretty much all a no-go area.

From the location of the hives, and from walking closer to them, I know that the super-nasty bees originated from at least 2 of the 4 hives, if not all; including the sweeties with the HM Queen.

Needless to say, I sustained several stings, and had to finish planting my onions in a full bee suit.

Nightmare. Whilst it is reassuring that very many others are experiencing the same thing, I am finding it very hard to draw any meaningful conclusion.

What I will say is that I have lots of OSR nearby. I have noticed one colony going from no wax-drawing to drawing almost 4 full brood frames in the 36 hours from Friday morning to Saturday afternoon. All colonies are storing unusual amounts of nectar on frames near the centre of the brood nest - even where there is space outside of this.

The other thing I am have noticed over the past couple of days - which is something picked-up on other threads - is a massive amount of scouting activity. EVERYWHERE (garden bin, garage (amongst the hive parts), weatherboarding, you name it). This (assuming they are my bees) in spite of the fact that I see no swarm preparations (yet).

There is something out of kilter, for sure. I am hoping that the return of cooler weather will see normal service resumed in short order.

Sent from my Google Pixelbook using Tapatalk

 

[Beefriendly]

There is something out of kilter, for sure. I am hoping that the return of cooler weather will see normal service resumed in short order.

There is certainly something going on that is upsetting some hives of bees. Mate of mine reported the same at 4 of his apairy sites, getting npinged as he approached them...unheard of with his bees.
I had one out of 6 in the garden...now removed.
And we have no **** within 2 miles bee flight this year.

 

[philipm]

So much for breeding nice bees if even the nice ones are going to turn nasty. It looks as though it very much a bit of a lottery.

 

[B+.]

So much for breeding nice bees if even the nice ones are going to turn nasty. It looks as though it very much a bit of a lottery.

Proper breeding requires controlled mating (i.e. instrumental insemination or island mating). If you don't control the mating process, you will get whatever nature throws at you

 

[enrico]

That are all working hard, everything is open at once, of course they are getting grumpy! Most will settle down as the blossom goes and the weather cools. All you can do is try to breed from docile bees but ..... Even the quietest creatures have days when they want to bite and when there are thousands of you, a few biters can seem like a stroppy hive!
E

 

[citrus]

I've browsed this thread with interest. Into my 5th year of beekeeping, I have never experienced anything like today. I have 4 Q+ hives currently in my (rural) garden apiary. One has a fabulous Hivemaker Queen, and I could normally inspect these unsuited if I dared; the others are mongrels - of which two head similarly docile colonies (the other one less so - with runny bees also). These traits were all in evidence when I inspected last weekend and again - to a greater or lesser extent - when I inspected yesterday (Saturday).

Today, I was in the garden working on the veg patch, without any power tools etc... and was being relentlessly pestered and dive-bombed by bees. This was well out of normal 'following' parameters, and my wife, who was weeding at the other end of the garden was also being attacked, and became so stressed she had to go inside. The garden is about a third of an acre - and it was pretty much all a no-go area.

From the location of the hives, and from walking closer to them, I know that the super-nasty bees originated from at least 2 of the 4 hives, if not all; including the sweeties with the HM Queen.

Needless to say, I sustained several stings, and had to finish planting my onions in a full bee suit.

Nightmare. Whilst it is reassuring that very many others are experiencing the same thing, I am finding it very hard to draw any meaningful conclusion.

What I will say is that I have lots of OSR nearby. I have noticed one colony going from no wax-drawing to drawing almost 4 full brood frames in the 36 hours from Friday morning to Saturday afternoon. All colonies are storing unusual amounts of nectar on frames near the centre of the brood nest - even where there is space outside of this.

The other thing I am have noticed over the past couple of days - which is something picked-up on other threads - is a massive amount of scouting activity. EVERYWHERE (garden bin, garage (amongst the hive parts), weatherboarding, you name it). This (assuming they are my bees) in spite of the fact that I see no swarm preparations (yet).

There is something out of kilter, for sure. I am hoping that the return of cooler weather will see normal service resumed in short order.

Sent from my Google Pixelbook using Tapatalk

hear hear .... got the exact same issue ... that said I have more bees this year as went double brood which isn't helping matters as more bees .. more scouts .... just a bit of a shame for the builders working on our extension !

 

[B+.]

That are all working hard, everything is open at once, of course they are getting grumpy! Most will settle down as the blossom goes and the weather cools. All you can do is try to breed from docile bees but ..... Even the quietest creatures have days when they want to bite and when there are thousands of you, a few biters can seem like a stroppy hive!
E

Oh...the excuses!
If I went in for an operation, I would want the surgeon to be on "top form" all of the time...not having an "off day". It's the same with bees. I don't want bees that are good some of the time.

 

[enrico]

Oh...the excuses!
If I went in for an operation, I would want the surgeon to be on "top form" all of the time...not having an "off day". It's the same with bees. I don't want bees that are good some of the time.

I wouldn't want them good some of the time either but I don't mind them being off colour some of the time. Even surgeons get headaches!
E

 

[B+.]

I wouldn't want them good some of the time either but I don't mind them being off colour some of the time. Even surgeons get headaches!
E

That's fine but if it affects the quality of his work, I'll go elsewhere. Same with bees.

 

[enrico]

You think he would tell you he wasn't well? At least the bees let you know!
E

 

[B+.]

You think he would tell you he wasn't well? At least the bees let you know!
E

Indeed they do...which is why I won't make excuses for them. If a colony misbehaves at any inspection, it is marked down. I am using stock that is so close to perfect now that I have to be very critical to find anything to mark them down on.
I posted this a couple of years ago but I look at that now and it's not a scratch on the stock I have now. My point is; we shouldn't make any excuses for stroppy behaviour. We should be always trying to improve.

 

[MartinL]

I wonder if it could be related to the high level of air pollution in built up areas at the moment.

Not sure that bees read the papers?

 

[Eyeman]

I look to breed from colonies that remain calm when those around them are tetchy especially when climatic conditions are not ideal.
It's not a coincidence that those that are troubled by tetchy bees tend to be those who keep them in the garden. My tetchy out-apiary colones don't bother me, or more importantly don't bother anyone else. Gives me plenty of time to sort them out.

 

[thorn]

I look to breed from colonies that remain calm when those around them are tetchy especially when climatic conditions are not ideal.
It's not a coincidence that those that are troubled by tetchy bees tend to be those who keep them in the garden. My tetchy out-apiary colones don't bother me, or more importantly don't bother anyone else. Gives me plenty of time to sort them out.

My garden colonies have always behaved well, but a colony in a friend's orchard out in the country got very nasty three weeks ago. I gave them a week to settle, to no avail, then moved them to an isolated spot on the edge of a field of OSR. They weren't happy when I let them out, but at the first inspection in their new position there were sealed queen cells and no sign of the queen. They had been, and still are a huge colony. I suspect they were overcrowded.
But if you're called about a swarm somewhere in the Leeds/Harrogate/ Wetherby triangle, be wary.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

. I am using stock that is so close to perfect now .

Jeez - we have a new messeiah!