Melbee
House Bee
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2013
- Messages
- 125
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- North Staffordshire UK
- Hive Type
- WBC
- Number of Hives
- 3
My first colony, when I began beekeeping last year, were a pretty tetchy lot from the outset. This year, this very strong colony have gone from bad to truly terrible. Even my mentor said he couldn't remember such a fierce colony. From the start of weekly inspections in April, I've been attached - stung, pinged and followed not to mention stings to others who have dared be in the vicinity of this hive in the 2-3 days following inspection. By May,when one part of the garden became almost out-of-bounds, it was time to do something.
Mid May, I bought, on good advice, a new marked, mated queen from G-- Ma-----ll who I understand is known for his lovely Buckfast queens. In she went (into a queenless hive - I know the colony was queenless but that's another story). 12 days later I looked. No queen to be found anywhere in the BB despite 3 of us looking for her. There was some sealed brood but no eggs and no open brood. However, there was a large, sealed queen cell in the middle of one frame (supercedure ?).
I left this well alone. Two days later, I was given a virgin queen from the Association apiary and I put her into the hive - nothing to be lost I felt. Hopefully, they would choose whichever queen suited them. By now it was the end of the first week of June.
Following advice from my mentor, I left the hive alone for a few weeks except to check how the supers were getting on. Today I did an inspection, nearly 8 weeks on from the introduction of the apiary queen and 8 weeks on from finding the queen cell. I found plenty of eggs, brood open and closed, and loads of bees - and with a third super filling up, lots of reasons for them to be aggressive.
But today I was not attacked! Some were quite 'fizzy' and there were quite a few flying around during my work but I was not stung, nor was my husband. They generally seemed calmer and when we walked away, only ONE bee followed - my husband commented that this one was probably from the Old Brigade. This is a real contrast with before when 20-30 bees followed us many yards away from the hive and into the house - stinging us on one occasion in the kitchen - shocking stuff!
This rather long-winded post is really to say that although it has taken time (and patience), perhaps re-queening has worked. I feel I may be winning with a colony that I had begun dreading looking through and I was beginning to think I would have to move to an out apiary.
I hope that this small contribution may serve as an encouragement to others who are struggling with difficult bees. It has certainly not been easy. I've read and re-read the thread that was posted here on 9 July by the beekeeper with the hive by the public footpath and really felt for him in that situation. So glad there was a good outcome for him and good luck to others who find themselves battling with difficult bees.
Mid May, I bought, on good advice, a new marked, mated queen from G-- Ma-----ll who I understand is known for his lovely Buckfast queens. In she went (into a queenless hive - I know the colony was queenless but that's another story). 12 days later I looked. No queen to be found anywhere in the BB despite 3 of us looking for her. There was some sealed brood but no eggs and no open brood. However, there was a large, sealed queen cell in the middle of one frame (supercedure ?).
I left this well alone. Two days later, I was given a virgin queen from the Association apiary and I put her into the hive - nothing to be lost I felt. Hopefully, they would choose whichever queen suited them. By now it was the end of the first week of June.
Following advice from my mentor, I left the hive alone for a few weeks except to check how the supers were getting on. Today I did an inspection, nearly 8 weeks on from the introduction of the apiary queen and 8 weeks on from finding the queen cell. I found plenty of eggs, brood open and closed, and loads of bees - and with a third super filling up, lots of reasons for them to be aggressive.
But today I was not attacked! Some were quite 'fizzy' and there were quite a few flying around during my work but I was not stung, nor was my husband. They generally seemed calmer and when we walked away, only ONE bee followed - my husband commented that this one was probably from the Old Brigade. This is a real contrast with before when 20-30 bees followed us many yards away from the hive and into the house - stinging us on one occasion in the kitchen - shocking stuff!
This rather long-winded post is really to say that although it has taken time (and patience), perhaps re-queening has worked. I feel I may be winning with a colony that I had begun dreading looking through and I was beginning to think I would have to move to an out apiary.
I hope that this small contribution may serve as an encouragement to others who are struggling with difficult bees. It has certainly not been easy. I've read and re-read the thread that was posted here on 9 July by the beekeeper with the hive by the public footpath and really felt for him in that situation. So glad there was a good outcome for him and good luck to others who find themselves battling with difficult bees.
