Bees remember my smell

[victor meldrew]

I haven't noticed the bees having a different reaction to what I smell of!
My bees are certainly not perturbed by the 'Lynx Effect '
VM


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[Headnavigator]

Bear in mind that many solvents and items that give off solvents while curing (eg nail polish, some adhesives) can smell similar to sting pheromones and bring on some fairly aggressive behaviour. Not the bees' fault.

 

[kazmcc]

Yes, on that note, I would recommend against belching over a frame after a cheese and onion sandwich...

Now there's a man speaking from experience

 

[Heather]

My husband is on daily medication after his transplant.. and the bees do seem to 'check him out promptly, follow, pester, sting..' much to his annoyance. If you 'exude' any unusual smell then they may go for you. Worth checking if this is the cause.

Wait for the comments now!!!!

 

[pargyle]

Bear in mind that many solvents and items that give off solvents while curing (eg nail polish, some adhesives) can smell similar to sting pheromones and bring on some fairly aggressive behaviour. Not the bees' fault.

Yehh ... I got singled out by a whole slew of bees one afternoon at the Association apiary after I had been using some cellulose thinners spraying some furniture during the morning - they really didn't like the smell.

 

[kazmcc]

I assume he's on steroids Heather. I am on a lot of steroids too, so it can't be that that is causing them to seek him out as I am still waiting on my first ( proper) sting. Wonder what it could be?

 

[victor meldrew]

I must be on a black list


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[victor meldrew]

The smell of ripe bananas are supposed to drive the bees bananas the smell matches the alarm pheromone of a colony , so if you detect a smell of bananas when working the bees ,be prepared to close up sharpish!
VM


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[kazmcc]

The smell of ripe bananas are supposed to drive the bees bananas the smell matches the alarm pheromone of a colony , so if you detect a smell of bananas when working the bees ,be prepared to close up sharpish!

Thanks VM, got the message, loud and clear! I have been lucky so far not to have had the pleasure of this experience

 

[Jimy Dee]

Well I have never laughed as much as reading this thread. Absolutely hilarious. Bees remembering a persons smell is total horse ****. Stop leading beginners astray. Bees get protective at various times of the year (autumn is notorious) and if you go too near them smelling of roses or man smell you get nailed - full stop. Some smells will aggrevate them but there is nothing like them personally remembering your "smell". Thanks for the entertainment.

 

[Swarm]

and if you go too near them smelling of roses or man smell you get nailed - full stop.

How does that explain me not getting stung when my bee suit is drenched with sweat?

 

[alldigging]

How does that explain me not getting stung when my bee suit is drenched with sweat?

Cos you've not eaten garlic the night before?

 

[Jimy Dee]

Do you really expect me to believe that sweat prevents bees stinging!!!!!. Come on , stop this mis-information. How we Smell has VERY little if anything to do with the bigger picture of how bees act. It really is unfair on beginners to be feeding them this hocus pocus.

 

[pargyle]

Do you really expect me to believe that sweat prevents bees stinging!!!!!. Come on , stop this mis-information. How we Smell has VERY little if anything to do with the bigger picture of how bees act. It really is unfair on beginners to be feeding them this hocus pocus.

You are wrong Jim ... Bees' sense of smell is incredible ... like 400 times better than the average sniffer dog .. there are people using this ability to 'train' bees to sniff out drugs, explosives and other things that are currently detected by dogs but at a much more sensitive level.

I think bees are more than capable of detecting even minor differences in smell and clearly there are some odours which they naturally react to. I believe bees have remarkable (but not completely understood) abilities to remember things (how else would they find their way to a single patch of nectar bearing flowers miles away) so it's not a substantial leap of faith to believe that YOUR bees remember YOU ... whether you do good things to them or bad things may result in them reacting to you - and it may be your particular 'smell' that they remember. Just think how dogs retain the memory of a scent and the multiply that ability by a hundred or so.

 

[Jimy Dee]

PA - I dont doubt that they have a super sence of smell and whether they remember or not is not the point i am making. This thread is leading beginners to believe that a beeks smell is a major factor as to how bees behave. It is NOT a major factor (or a minor one in my opinion). Think of type of bee , time of year, status of colony, a beeks ability to handle bees, forage available, bees protecting hive from robbers , honey removal etc etc. These factors are a marathon ahead in the list of factors affecting bees behaviour. As to whether or not one put on lynx on before beekeeping is irrelevant. Look at the early posts - some half baked genius let a beginner to believe that remembering his smell caused bees to sting him. This is wrong and unfair on the beginner.

 

[Little John]

Look at the early posts - some half baked genius let a beginner to believe that remembering his smell caused bees to sting him. This is wrong and unfair on the beginner.

Which post was that then ?

LJ

 

[Magwat]

My bees can occasionally be a bit shirty with me if I pass the hives soon after disrupting them but my husband, who has nothing to do with the bees, cops a sting almost every time he walks along the track about 10 - 15m from the hives. He invariably wears black jeans & tee shirt & has usually been under a tractor or dismantling an engine so presumably has an odour of oil & diesel. Even if we are walking together he will often get a sting & I'm left alone. He is definitely singled out.

 

[madasafish]

To suggest that bees do not sting as a result of smell is just wrong based on my personal experiences.

My bees have always been very placid. But when I ran (miles and miles and miles), if I approached them in sweaty T shirt and shorts they WOULD sting me. Anywhere...

Mind you, my sweat smells acrid likes cat's pee so I cannot blame them...

 

[Little John]

Bees operate in a world dominated by smells - I'd even go so far as to suggest that it's their principle sense, just as ours is vision. But with our reduced olfactory capability, we cannot even begin to appreciate what their world may be like.

Indeed, many animals have the ability to smell the presence of water - something which we would normally consider quite impossible (because there's no obvious aromatic molecules involved) - but we know it must be true because folk constantly witness this happening in arid regions of the world.

Anti-robbing screens - in my experience, far more effective if made from mesh rather than panes of glass, for precisely this reason. Then watch the robbers head-butt the mesh as they try to follow the scent plume, as the other girls nip around the side to gain entry.

LJ

 

[pargyle]

Bees operate in a world dominated by smells - I'd even go so far as to suggest that it's their principle sense, just as ours is vision. But with our reduced olfactory capability, we cannot even begin to appreciate what their world may be like.

LJ

Spot on ...... Anyone who suggests that bees are not affected by the smell of anything - including the relative odours of their keepers is misleading any new beekeepers following this thread.

I would suggest that there is plenty of evidence that bees can be attracted to or will avoid certain smells ... try a bit of lemon grass oil on one hand and some olbas oil on the other ... see which hand gets covered in bees !

We know that a colony is warned of any attack by pheremones given out by the bees - indeed, injured or dying bees - particularly ones that have stung - are often the start of a stinging frenzy and the resulting, collective, odour is even noticeable by human (pretty low level) scenting abilities.

It's absolutely ridiculous to suggest that smell does not play a significant, indeed huge. part in affecting bees behaviour.

Do they remember certain odours ? ... well they MUST have some retained cognisant ability if they are able to react to pheremones ...QED.