Bees turned aggressive

[slangers]

Last season my three colonies were pretty mild-mannered and no trouble to have in the garden. I went in to the hives yesterday to put the QEs back in place and picked up a sting in the process. There was a lot of bracing comb with brood inside, linking the frames in the brood box to the frames in the super, and that got pretty mangled in the process. Today they're being a nightmare and going for us even when nowhere near the hives.

Could they still have the hump from yesterday's invasion? Can temperament change from one season to another?

 

[Poly Hive]

If you queen is marked/clipped the answer may be they superceded in the autumn and that is the source of the temperament change.

PH

 

[Nige.Coll]

It's possible they remember you from yesterday.
It's also possible that they superseded and the new queen is not so nice.
Is it all of them or just one colony being nasty ?
Have you seen the queen in them this year ?

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[slangers]

I haven't inspected properly yet- just put the QEs in and closed up. Also don't know which hive the bad girls are coming from. All queens were new last season so I think supersedure in the autumn is unlikely.

 

[drex]

I had fallen into bad habits last year. Too hasty in inspections, wrong use of smoke, with roughshod handling, and the bees reacted. So far this year have gone back to " proper handling" and they have been pussycats. Lesson learned. Too easy to get into bad habits and forget the basics.

 

[thorn]

First inspection of the year. They and you are out of practice. They'll get used to you, and you'll get more gentle. Don't write them off till you've been in a few times.

 

[pargyle]

First inspection of the year. They and you are out of practice. They'll get used to you, and you'll get more gentle. Don't write them off till you've been in a few times.

Totally ... one of mine was awful last week - I suspect the weather was not to their liking - when they are like that I just give in and shut them back up - winding them up does not help. The following day they were back to their usual affable selves.

They don't like it when you are ripping their winter home up at the best of times but I reckon you just picked a bad day and kept going ... better sometimes to run away and play another day ... if they persist in being agressive then you need to see what is going on and possibly re-queen. But - with new queens last season it should not really be necessary.

 

[user 6228]

Last season my three colonies were pretty mild-mannered and no trouble to have in the garden. I went in to the hives yesterday to put the QEs back in place and picked up a sting in the process. There was a lot of bracing comb with brood inside, linking the frames in the brood box to the frames in the super, and that got pretty mangled in the process. Today they're being a nightmare and going for us even when nowhere near the hives.

Could they still have the hump from yesterday's invasion? Can temperament change from one season to another?

its you not them,

you probably banged a frame in process, and then you disturbed then a day later...

been there done that got the sting....

if stuff goes badly wrong ... and it does to all of us occasionally dont go back for a minimum of 4 days unless you have got the armour on.

 

[colinc]

Totally ... one of mine was awful last week - I suspect the weather was not to their liking - when they are like that I just give in and shut them back up - winding them up does not help. The following day they were back to their usual affable selves.

They don't like it when you are ripping their winter home up at the best of times but I reckon you just picked a bad day and kept going ... better sometimes to run away and play another day ... if they persist in being agressive then you need to see what is going on and possibly re-queen. But - with new queens last season it should not really be necessary.

you threatened yours with a bear, to be fair to the bees......

 

[thibault]

I had fallen into bad habits last year. Too hasty in inspections, wrong use of smoke, with roughshod handling, and the bees reacted. So far this year have gone back to " proper handling" and they have been pussycats. Lesson learned. Too easy to get into bad habits and forget the basics.

so true, I have got a queenless hive, last summer I found them so aggressive, but as well I was to hasty, now I am more gentle, proper use of smoke, take my time and do slow moves (so very rarely crush bees), even being queenless I barely get an aggression , and with my AMM (have the reputation of being aggressive) I could even work without veil so far, if I make a wrong move the worst that would happen is one "jumping" on my hand, no sting.

 

[Amari]

I've had unpleasant surprise this week with three colonies. I attempted preliminary inspection i.e. checking a couple of frames from the brood box to check for BIAS and the bees went wild and ferocious. All three were OK last year. On subsequent days they have been lying in ambush and attacked as soon as I entered the apiary. I was slow to veil up and got stung on the lip. It's unlikely they have been superseded because all three Qs are 2016. I'm going to let them be for a couple of weeks.

 

[gregior]

Mine have been much more aggressive than usual this spring too.

 

[mbc]

I've mostly been gloving up in the cool spring temperatures but went through an apiary bear handed yesterday with no problem, it was a lovely Sunday afternoon though, downed tools after going through that lot to join the landowner for a few swifties in the sun.

 

[slangers]

They got my window cleaner today, even though he went nowhere near them. Mrs Slangers pursued too.

 

[slangers]

Has anyone ever tried using floral scents as a calming measure? I was reading a paper in Nature which suggested that linalool switches off the brain response to stinging pheremones making bees less likely to attack.

 

[user 6228]

first inspection must 17C+, not my rules, theirs ! they told me so in no uncertain terms
and the way they say it I dont need telling twice

 

[slangers]

 

[steve56616]

I went through one of my hives last week that I left to do its own thing as was only one at the allotment site. I left it all winter with double brood and a super filled with honey. When I went in last week full of honey so went through to rearrange brood boxes as was all a bit of a mess and get some order. In the process I squashed the queen as she was in the top super where I wasn't expecting her to be. Ordered a new queen so went yesterday to remove queen cells for her introduction today. They where really mean and I was smothered in stinging bees. I heard that some allotment holders have been chased quite a bit all week.
Hopefully now they have a new queen things will settle again and they will be nice.
Garden bees have been wonderful....so far and she is original purchased BF queen from last year, Allotment queen looked like she had been replaced as she wasn't marked

 

[SDM]

I've had nasty ones become nice over winter, definitely the same queen, they were a varroa infested swarm, i can only assume they preferred not having mites.
Aggression is influenced by epigenetics isn't it ? So a change of mood over months is not unreasonable. I had one today that seems to think they're africanised, they were fine to inspect without gloves, queen clipped but when replacing the frame they went nuts , 5 or 6 stings to my hands almost simultaneously and many hundreds more trying. I took a few steps back and smoked myself before closing up. No idea what riled them(other than the 6pm inspection) but I've not seen so many go on the attack for no reason, yet be otherwise civilised. Only 9 frames of bees at the . Moment and i wouldn't fancy that response from a big Colony. They best mind their manners the next few inspections or hrh is for the chop.

 

[Fatbee]

They where really mean and I was smothered in stinging bees. I heard that some allotment holders have been chased quite a bit all week.

That's why I would find allotment beekeeping too stressful. No fun for anyone