Happy to be inspected but annoyed being put away

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E1M

House Bee
Joined
Apr 24, 2011
Messages
169
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0
Location
Wisbech
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
6
We did our weekly inspection an hour ago and on one of the hives, same as last week, we opened it up and they were nice as pie, frames out, inspection all was fine, then, as soon as we start to put everything back, they get annoyed.
Any ides why?
We are very gentle with them at all times.bee-smillie
 
I found a few mistakes that I was making (bearing in mind im still learning all the time):

- Gloves wasnt the right size and getting stuck although it didn't look like it was causing much trouble I was vibrating the frame slightly
- Squishing bees putting frames back, more inspections I do better I get - I found the gloves helped a lot, I dont squish hardly any now. Slow and steady.
- I was rolling the frames when putting them back only slightly but enough to make them pour out of the top of the frames

Since fixing all those apart from the occasional mishap when I squish one accidently my buckfast strain's seem fine. Also found if they do attempt to sting me in the gloves I tend to smoke the area and it does seem to mask the smell to them a bit.

Just my findings im sure there's lots more that people will tell you and you will learn :)
 
I found a few mistakes that I was making (bearing in mind im still learning all the time):

- Gloves wasnt the right size and getting stuck although it didn't look like it was causing much trouble I was vibrating the frame slightly
- Squishing bees putting frames back, more inspections I do better I get - I found the gloves helped a lot, I dont squish hardly any now. Slow and steady.
- I was rolling the frames when putting them back only slightly but enough to make them pour out of the top of the frames

Since fixing all those apart from the occasional mishap when I squish one accidently my buckfast strain's seem fine. Also found if they do attempt to sting me in the gloves I tend to smoke the area and it does seem to mask the smell to them a bit.

Just my findings im sure there's lots more that people will tell you and you will learn :)

:iagree: Almost certain you are either rolling bees, or squishing some- even one releases pheremone.

In terms of squishing I'd say badly-fitting gloves are the worst culprit. In terms of rolling, always worth e-a-s-i-n-g out the end frame, then you can angle the following frames.

in ters of putting back in the last ones a bit awkward, but other than that you can ease theframes together, then back off to realise the awkward ones trapped between the frames once they've got out.
 
Thanks for your views, we thought we were being very careful but next week we shall be more so.
Thanks again.
 
We did our weekly inspection an hour ago and on one of the hives, same as last week, we opened it up and they were nice as pie, frames out, inspection all was fine, then, as soon as we start to put everything back, they get annoyed.
Any ides why?
We are very gentle with them at all times.bee-smillie

Do you take all the frames out? ie, empty the hive?
Every week?
 
Do you take all the frames out? ie, empty the hive?
Every week?

Don't you ?
Bees tuck queen cells in the most peculiar places rendering it necessary to inspect every frame carefully(Not every week though!)
VM
 
We did our weekly inspection an hour ago and on one of the hives, same as last week, we opened it up and they were nice as pie, frames out, inspection all was fine, then, as soon as we start to put everything back, they get annoyed.
Any ides why?
We are very gentle with them at all times.bee-smillie

what do you mean by putting back?, when i inspect theM i put all the inspected frames tight up as i go, then push them all back in 10 FRAME BLOCK to the start posItion and add the dummy back at the start site....or if they are proplising bees, i dont ( or should i say cant) push all the frames in one go ,so the dummy goes in a the far end AND I WORK THE OTHER WAY ON THE NEXT INSPECTION
 
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Crushed bees between frames can be avoided by blowing between the frames where they meet before moving them together
 
I tried that on my buckfasts and they either 1) start fanning like crazy or 2) start pouring up
 
MM - I'm with you - that's the way I do it - as few movements as possible - and for propolisers, I do maybe three frames together pushing one Hoffman side with hive tool levering against tight frames and other side with thumb and finger to guide.
 
Picking up on the idea of taking all the frames out. The OP says they take all the frames out. To be clear not all the frames should be out of the hive at the same time.

One or two could be left out to give working space but generally each frame needs to be put back in after it is inspected and then the next one looked at.

Second nature to most but thought I would mention it in case. On the other hand I might just be reading the post the wrong way.
 
It would greatly help if the OP spell out precisely what they are doing, and say what behaviour it is that is upsetting them?

PH
 
Don't you ?
Bees tuck queen cells in the most peculiar places rendering it necessary to inspect every frame carefully(Not every week though!)
VM

You seem to be contradicting yourself here. So do you inspect each frame each week or not!!:willy_nilly:
 
You seem to be contradicting yourself here. So do you inspect each frame each week or not!!:willy_nilly:

I don't think so.
At times when QCs are likely/probable/possible a full weekly inspection is a damn good idea, for the hobby beek.
At other times, it can actually be better to leave well alone for a bit, just checking that things are ticking along nicely - which doesn't require every single frame to be pulled.
The action depends as much on the state of the colony as the calendar.

When inspecting for QCs, you do need to look carefully in all the nooks and crannies, at least on every frame with brood.
But pulling out the dummy board (plus at most the end frame for the duration of the inspection) makes plenty room to remove and replace one frame at a time.

I'm an advocate of replacing the frames into their final position, when they go back into the box, and then lastly replacing the dummy board at the opposite end to where it came out of. Snugging the hoffmans together, one at a time as they are replaced, minimises trapping of bees because you can attend to one seam of bees at a time.
 
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Thank you for all your comments. Mostly useful.
The problem with making a post is that you (me) sometimes try to put thoughts down in an understandable way, but clearly this leads to confusion.
I do this for brevity and hope you all understand what I mean. When I said ALL OF THE FRAMES OUT I did not mean all together, and YES we do inspect once a week, that's what we were taught to do, and being a new BEEKEEPER, we follow, to date, our mentors.
Actually my question was "what do you think is annoying them". I think I now have gathered that it is all down to more careful handling ( I don't mean picking each bee up individually, just to clarify) and to reduce movement within the hive.
I agree about the gloves, our leather ones are a bit loose on the fingers. Back to the marigolds.
Thanks again everyone.
 

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