devils spawn revisited

[BERNIE]

Went to inspect the hive I have in works garden after work tonight with the intention of taking off supers and splitting this hive into two nucs,so set about removing two of the supers which I used beequick to do, there were two more supers on one which was not capped and one they were drawing out removed these to one side and placed on top of upturned roof to leave queen excluder and brood box pried the queen ex off and then they really started to go for me,must have had 30 or so bees pinging of my veil took the dummy board out and tried to lever the first frame back then upward,broke the lug off this frame as it is full with capped honey,then I lost my nerve and thought just close it up and call it a day.walked away about 20 metres and around corner of building another 10 meters which has windows to toilets, unknown to me my boss is sitting on toilet when I walk round corner with my thirty little flying friends and yes you guessed it got stung on the.....leg. Another colleague was working inside building and got done on the neck,I got away lightly just one on the ankle. would like to split this hive and re queen but maybe this is one for the petrol can.

 

[Arfermo]

I find that fiddling with hives late in the day when all the foragers are back home and the bees are working like stink to pack the stores away etc, it is NOT the time that they will be happy to see anybody. I wanted to put supers of extracted frames on last night and mine got very angry too. Try and change your routine?

 

[Chris Luck]

Not being funny but perhaps you need the assistance of a keeper that is used to working that type of colony.

Chris

 

[pargyle]

would like to split this hive and re queen but maybe this is one for the petrol can.

I think you need to plan ahead and dothings in stages - firstly, do it when there are less bees in the hive so late mornng or early afternoon works for me on a day when it's a moderate temperature. Some people seem to prefer manipulation of this sort early in the mornng.

If you are going to split the hive anyway you might consider moving the hive a few feet away and putting your nuc in it's place to draw off the flyers which will give you less bees to contend with.

There's another recent thread which deals with angry hives:

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=25643

Sorry ... it was a split thread - it started here:

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=25449

Might be of some assistance.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Went to inspect the hive I have in works garden after work tonight with the intention of taking off supers and splitting this hive into two nucs,so set about removing two of the supers which I used beequick to do, there were two more supers on one which was not capped and one they were drawing out removed these to one side and placed on top of upturned roof to leave queen excluder and brood box pried the queen ex off and then they really started to go for me,must have had 30 or so bees pinging of my veil took the dummy board out and tried to lever the first frame back then upward,broke the lug off this frame as it is full with capped honey,then I lost my nerve and thought just close it up and call it a day.walked away about 20 metres and around corner of building another 10 meters which has windows to toilets, unknown to me my boss is sitting on toilet when I walk round corner with my thirty little flying friends and yes you guessed it got stung on the.....leg. Another colleague was working inside building and got done on the neck,I got away lightly just one on the ankle. would like to split this hive and re queen but maybe this is one for the petrol can.

It concerns me that you retreated from the situation. Were you not wearing a half decent bee suit? Losing your nerve should not be in a beekeepers vocabulary in my opinion.

 

[pargyle]

It concerns me that you retreated from the situation. Were you not wearing a half decent bee suit? Losing your nerve should not be in a beekeepers vocabulary in my opinion.

No ... I reckon it's sometimes better to run away, re-group, rethink and try again with a different approach on another day ! No point in upsetting the bees and feeling uncomfortable with what you are doing - I'm sure the bees sense when you are not confident and will take advantage (or at least respond - take advantage not a good way of putting it).

 

[Luminos]

It concerns me that you retreated from the situation. Were you not wearing a half decent bee suit? Losing your nerve should not be in a beekeepers vocabulary in my opinion.

Confidence in your beesuit is key...wearing wellies helps avoid stings to the ankles.
30 bees pinging your veil sounds pretty normal, to me, anyway; especially if you're taking their honey.

 

[Sean.]

Didn't you ask this question a few weeks ago, and get lots of advice? Such as treat the hive as an Artificial Swarm, to reduce the number of bees in the hive. So that you could replace the queen with a new one? And as already mentioned the timing of when you are inspecting. Since the hive will be full at that time of evening. Use a water sprayer instead of smoke, if that helps.

 

[HM Honey]

It concerns me that you retreated from the situation. Were you not wearing a half decent bee suit? Losing your nerve should not be in a beekeepers vocabulary in my opinion.

When one of my hives was in hyper aggressive mode earlier in the year, I often used to walk away for a few seconds to let the girls calm down.... Not losing my nerve, just a letting them calm down a bit....

 

[BERNIE]

Was wearing suit from friend lost confidence in my one as bee ended up in suit on previous inspection and got stung on forehead.my friend is a little shorter than me and had to tape bottom of legs to boots to stop it riding up.will have another go weekend.

 

[sunhivebee]

Was wearing suit from friend lost confidence in my one as bee ended up in suit on previous inspection and got stung on forehead.my friend is a little shorter than me and had to tape bottom of legs to boots to stop it riding up.will have another go weekend.

Hi. You have some really good responses. Keep them in mind when you next approach your bees. And try and imagine how whatever you're doing looks like from the point of view of the colony. What do you expect, going there at the end of the day, intent on taking their stores, in probably a nervous state of mind. Then things go a bit frantic, they tell you what they think of you, and next thing you back off and consider the petrol can solution. I would recommend you put that notion out of your mind before you next approach them. They have an uncanny sense of who they are dealing with.
Hope you have some friends who can help you while you get confidence.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Went to inspect the hive I have in works garden after work tonight with the intention of taking off supers and splitting this hive into two nucs,so set about removing two of the supers which I used beequick to do, there were two more supers on one which was not capped and one they were drawing out removed these to one side and placed on top of upturned roof to leave queen excluder and brood box pried the queen ex off and then they really started to go for me,must have had 30 or so bees pinging of my veil took the dummy board out and tried to lever the first frame back then upward,broke the lug off this frame as it is full with capped honey,then I lost my nerve and thought just close it up and call it a day.walked away about 20 metres and around corner of building another 10 meters which has windows to toilets, unknown to me my boss is sitting on toilet when I walk round corner with my thirty little flying friends and yes you guessed it got stung on the.....leg. Another colleague was working inside building and got done on the neck,I got away lightly just one on the ankle. would like to split this hive and re queen but maybe this is one for the petrol can.

i would never want to take the queen excluder off on a nasty Colony in the evening, it would be suicide time, 100% of the bees in the hive, defensive, honey spillage, unusual change in temps and to the bees the sun 's angle is all wrong=trouble, guards up in the air

once they have done their swarming kick , I try to leave my bees until after i have removed the honey, then do a full disease shake off during a warm day not in the evening...if nasty move them to one side and put a super and crown on the stand, leave for twenty minutes, inspect now only about 50% of the bees in the hive....cloths, full suit, double layers with shirt, baseball cap (bald ) and trousers, wellies ( some zip the siut over the wellies but I cant do that with my wellies)

Do i inspect after the swarm period during a flow, well yes but not as a programed event, ...lean on the hive, look and Learn....pollen going in, fanning, water going in, guards out, average foragers out, orientation flights....judge the hive and if it seems wrong, then inspect if all ok from the outside leave

 

[Tom Bick]

I would move them to another site and think about your job. Obviously grumpy bees and may get worse. On another site you can deal with them and not have the worry.

 

[itma]

... some zip the siut over the wellies but I cant do that with my wellies
...

Was that a typo?
Are you sure you mean wEllieS ... ?

 

[itma]

I would move them to another site and think about your job. ....

Damn right. No question.

 

[BERNIE]

thank you all for your advise managed to split this hive into two,hive and a nuc.I was not able to do this at a reasonable hour of the day due to work and and attending to my mum and dad but I think it may be sorted now, squished old queen introduced new one and also to nuc,surprised how number of bees have fallen so quickly.also the spraying of water worked wonders not only on the followers but on me to keep me cool.

 

[Anduril]

i would never want to take the queen excluder off on a nasty Colony in the evening, it would be suicide time, 100% of the bees in the hive, defensive, honey spillage, unusual change in temps and to the bees the sun 's angle is all wrong=trouble, guards up in the air

once they have done their swarming kick , I try to leave my bees until after i have removed the honey, then do a full disease shake off during a warm day not in the evening...if nasty move them to one side and put a super and crown on the stand, leave for twenty minutes, inspect now only about 50% of the bees in the hive....cloths, full suit, double layers with shirt, baseball cap (bald ) and trousers, wellies ( some zip the siut over the wellies but I cant do that with my wellies)

Do i inspect after the swarm period during a flow, well yes but not as a programed event, ...lean on the hive, look and Learn....pollen going in, fanning, water going in, guards out, average foragers out, orientation flights....judge the hive and if it seems wrong, then inspect if all ok from the outside leave

I had a hive like that which I split into 3. Had to wear double clothing as well as sweat bands for the wrists during our hot July weather. I got stung 8 times on the left wrist when I opened up after a newly mated and laying queen had produced my hive from hell
Well done Bernie.

 

[pargyle]

thank you all for your advise managed to split this hive into two,hive and a nuc.I was not able to do this at a reasonable hour of the day due to work and and attending to my mum and dad but I think it may be sorted now, squished old queen introduced new one and also to nuc,surprised how number of bees have fallen so quickly.also the spraying of water worked wonders not only on the followers but on me to keep me cool.

Well done ... gives all of us with hive numbers in single figures hope ! It will happen to all of us at some point ....