Angry bees!!!

[Sutty]

Had to move a colony of bees today.
These bees had up until last week been my most gentle ones, giving me a lot of pleasure as well as a good source of Honey.
Last week they changed for the worse.
Attacking the local farmer and his wife.
Following me back to the car 100 meters, and managing to get inside the car.
When I inspected them the Queen was present and laying. Plenty of brood, as well as space. Lots of honey and nectar.
They managed to sting me on my arm and three times on my hand when I was walking back to the car.
My hand has swollen and hurts.
So not a good day

Nasty before or after moving?

 

[steve1958]

Nasty before.
The reason I moved them was because they were stinging people

 

[Boston Bees]

Nasty before.
The reason I moved them was because they were stinging people

Where did you move them to?

 

[rook66]

Nasty before.
The reason I moved them was because they were stinging people

The unpredictability of bees.They changed from nice to nasty for some reason, the weather? Hunger? Requeened/queenless?

 

[jeff33]

I had to deal with a similar one yesterday on an out apiary. Bees were really pleasant at the start of the season then one day became really defensive on inspection as they were preping to swarm. I nuc the queen and from there on they went from bad to worse. Yesterday was the day to remove all Qcs, and I had to move the BB to deal with it. I put jeans and 2 layers under the suit, 2 pairs of marigold, duck tape and went for it. My veil covered in bees, managed to get stung a cple of times through the gloves. The amount of flying Vs non flying bees was really impressive. I have put a frame of bias from another hive as a temporary measure.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yesterday was the day to remove all Qcs, and I had to move the BB to deal with it. I put jeans and 2 layers under the suit, 2 pairs of marigold, duck tape and went for it. My veil covered in bees, managed to get stung a cple of times through the gloves. The amount of flying Vs non flying bees was really impressive. I have put a frame of bias from another hive as a temporary measure.

Yep......When even the supers empty to come and get you is a sight to behold

 

[jeff33]

Yep......When even the supers empty to come and get you is a sight to behold

I usually sandwich the supers between the crown board and roof so these bees can't get out. Same with a dble brood where only 1 box is dealt with and the other completely sealed.

 

[philipm]

Remember all this well ,a boiler suit under my bee suit ,two pairs of thick gloves,a baseball cap to stop my head getting stung.Its a good way of loosing weight.The most frightening thing was all the bees covering my veil.Thankfully I've not had bees as nasty again but it may well be that after the last time I can react a little quicker before things get out of hand.

 

[The Poot]

Remember all this well ,a boiler suit under my bee suit ,two pairs of thick gloves,a baseball cap to stop my head getting stung.Its a good way of loosing weight.The most frightening thing was all the bees covering my veil.Thankfully I've not had bees as nasty again but it may well be that after the last time I can react a little quicker before things get out of hand.

That’s only ok if you ensure you are properly hydrated beforehand. A beekeeper I knew spent a couple of days in hospital through severe dehydration knock on effects, after a fully kitted up session in the sunshine.

 

[steve1958]

Where did you move them to?

In a field away from human beings with an empty super on top.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Last week I had two very strong hives which were a nightmare to inspect that I have marked two weeks in a row as 1 on my 1-5 temper chart. 1 means death to the queen as soon as I can find a suitable replacement. Well I've been unable to find one but I think the stiff talking to that they got last week did the trick as they both got marked as a 3 today.
Strange world eh?

 

[jeff33]

Last week I had two very strong hives which were a nightmare to inspect that I have marked two weeks in a row as 1 on my 1-5 temper chart. 1 means death to the queen as soon as I can find a suitable replacement. Well I've been unable to find one but I think the stiff talking to that they got last week did the trick as they both got marked as a 3 today.
Strange world eh?

Looks like the flow is on then!!

 

[JamezF]

Looks like the flow is on then!!

For some utterly inexplicable reason I just had a mental image of two worker bees at the entrance of a hive, one turning to the other and saying "Come, Watson! The flow is afoot!"

James

 

[Sutty]

Miss Watson of course!

 

[bingevader]

I think we must all have a nasty hive story.
Couple of years back, I went into one hive with the view to splitting to make increase, only to find they were queenless.
It then started to rain (not forecast)! It turned out to be a passing shower and cleared up afterwards.
I was trialling a new thinner pair of gloves, ha ha.
The bees went loopy loo and realised they could sting through the gloves.
'Sting here' pheromone thick in the air.
I kept running away to brush them off my hands and then returning to complete the reassembly.
Air thick with bees, and just putting the roof on, realised that in my haste I had left out several brood frames.
Went through the whole rigmarole again to put them back.
The bees settled back down quickly, my hands took a little longer!

 

[Newbeeneil]

Looks like the flow is on then!!

No, not in their case. There was very little stores in the brood box. I had to put some fondant on them!

 

[SWEET]

That’sI tried to requeen, but the colony had grown huge and I lost the war of attrition trying to find her.

Next time try moving the hive (20 foot or so) and place an empty box on the old stand, open the original and let the angry bees head to the empty box, find Queen and remove, works a treat.

 

[The Poot]

Next time try moving the hive (20 foot or so) and place an empty box on the old stand, open the original and let the angry bees head to the empty box, find Queen and remove, works a treat.

I hope there’s not a “next time“ but I wasn’t aware of this strategy until after the event. I will try anything to avoid a similar outcome, so thanks

 

[SWEET]

I hope there’s not a “next time“ but I wasn’t aware of this strategy until after the event. I will try anything to avoid a similar outcome, so thanks

It works very well as should be left with young bees that can't fly and the Queen, bit of rough handling (and full kit) will clear the angry bees into the new box. There are a few options then, keep the spilt and re-queen both, re-queen the original and combine them. Leave both to raise new queens (add some eggs/frame to the original hive) and hope for a better stock.

 

[enrico]

It works very well as should be left with young bees that can't fly and the Queen, bit of rough handling (and full kit) will clear the angry bees into the new box. There are a few options then, keep the spilt and re-queen both, re-queen the original and combine them. Leave both to raise new queens (add some eggs/frame to the original hive) and hope for a better stock.

Or ..... Immediately combine both parts with other nicer hives!