Help, angry Bees

[isc26]

Hot & humid, sometimes bees get moody when thunder storms in the air

 

[madasafish]

The bigger a hive gets, the more aggressive it CAN be. When they are small, they can be quite gentle.. but when they are in full flow....

Got a hive like that. A swarm last year.. gentle as lambs. Suddenly they have become ankle nippers.

Not for long. Re-quening awaits.

 

[Elaine]

The bigger a hive gets, the more aggressive it CAN be. When they are small, they can be quite gentle.. but when they are in full flow....

Got a hive like that. A swarm last year.. gentle as lambs. Suddenly they have become ankle nippers.

Not for long. Re-quening awaits.

I remember feeling intimidated as our first Nuc grew - one thing to remember is that drones make a lot of noise, and often seem to come shooting out from between the frames. If there are a lot of drones flying round the hive the noise is considerable and can sound aggressive even when the workers are just concentrating on their own business!

 

[Martin921]

Thanks everybody for your replies and shared wisdom. I shall look forward to applying some of it when I examine my hive again next week.

Regards, Martin.

 

[BeeNice]

I see someone has put about cover boards, but the good old manipulation cloth could be handy to cover up the bees that you have already inspected. You can always hear and almost feel when the bees have had enough, so make sure you have inspected the centre of the hive and the outside frames if not used, leave for another day.

 

[Toffeesmum]

I do it by talking to them! Mad or what!
E

YES, totally bonkers!!! I do too!!!

 

[Suzi Q]

BTW - has anyone any advice on how to clean propolis from leather gauntlets?

Regarding leather gauntlets, if a bee stings your fingers you may not notice, but it will agitate bees when you next pick up a frame, and so on through the rest of the inspection. Just a personal preference, but I don't think they are the best type of gloves, particularly for a feisty hive. Many use them, others use marigolds, or nitrile gloves. And they are much easier to clean!

 

[Martin921]

Bee Nice, what is a manipulation cloth?

Suzi Q, are marigolds and nitrile gloves bee sting resistant?

 

[madasafish]

Nitrile gloves are not sting resistant. A determined bee can sting through marigolds. Marigolds on top of nitrile stop almost everything. BUT...

I only use gloves on aggressive - ie. stinging - colonies.

 

[BeeNice]

Bee Nice, what is a manipulation cloth?

Suzi Q, are marigolds and nitrile gloves bee sting resistant?

Any piece of cloth, that's not towelling that you can cover up part of the open hive, keeps the bees down and not flying at you. Gone out of fashion now. But is handy as you only need to work one half of the hive at one time, I usually put an the end frames (first frame you take out from the end) laying sideways on the brood I am not inspecting which also keeps the bees down and in darkness.

 

[Rosti]

Just browsed through the thread and since not mentioned previously .....

Stings be-get stings!

I clear down using almond oil on a soaking pad when harvesting supers, drives the bees down nicely. If you have angry bees a spray of almond oil on each glove / gauntlet seems to over-power any 'attack' pheromone from previous stings, they are reluctant to land on the gloves and certainly reduces the chances of a stinging frenzy.

 

[Dishmop]

Nitrile gloves are not sting resistant. A determined bee can sting through marigolds. Marigolds on top of nitrile stop almost everything. BUT...

I wear the nitriles on the top... then the marigolds dont get dirty.
I also wear a pair of those throwaway overalls with the hood. The cuffs and leg bottoms are elasticated,

and if you really want to get into CSI you can add some Do Not Enter tape around the apiary.

 

[Martin921]

Any piece of cloth, that's not towelling that you can cover up part of the open hive, keeps the bees down and not flying at you. Gone out of fashion now. But is handy as you only need to work one half of the hive at one time, I usually put an the end frames (first frame you take out from the end) laying sideways on the brood I am not inspecting which also keeps the bees down and in darkness.

Thanks. I will make one of these and see how I get on with it.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Thanks. I will make one of these and see how I get on with it.

You really need two, but not like the one-piece thing Th0rnes are selling. Google for pictures of a cover cloth.

You need two separate pieces of fabric with the ends weighted somehow, to keep them in place. The idea is to roll one closed as you open the other, leaving just enough space between them to pull out one frame. Wash them when you wash your suit.

 

[Martin921]

You really need two, but not like the one-piece thing Th0rnes are selling. Google for pictures of a cover cloth.

You need two separate pieces of fabric with the ends weighted somehow, to keep them in place. The idea is to roll one closed as you open the other, leaving just enough space between them to pull out one frame. Wash them when you wash your suit.

2 pieces of cloth it is then. Thanks.

 

[Rosti]

You need two separate pieces of fabric with the ends weighted somehow.

Cheap tea towels, Sew a turn over at each end and use old frame top bars, heavy and the right width. I agree about using two in unison. Painfully slow though and only worth it is you have really troublesome bees.

 

[Graham40]

Time of day when your making inspections also can have an effect. Best time is around 2 in the afternoon when the day is at its warmest most of the foragers will be out, so less bees to deal with.
Evening inspections are problematic, everyone is just about home so you will get more resistance.

If they are being robbed by wasps or other bees that will also make them cranky as they are already on the defensive.

 

[Suzi Q]

Bee Nice, what is a manipulation cloth?

Suzi Q, are marigolds and nitrile gloves bee sting resistant?

As others have said, no, but IMO the bees are less likely to sting if wearing thin nitrile gloves, fingers are more dextrous, and not so likely to squash bees. Also there are some beekeeping activities that are just not possible to accomplish wearing gauntlets.
I like to rest the first frame over the top of one side of the hive, if no brood on it.

 

[Martin921]

Graham40, an interesting point as previously I had inspected the hive in the afternoon at around 15:00 and this time it was the morning at 10:00. In future I will inspect the hive at around 14:00-ish, if possible.

Suzi Q, thanks for the information, I will give it a try.

 

[Tim.S]

I normally have to inspect mine in the evening because of work etc, this weekend I had the luxury of a 10am inspection and boy does it make a difference. They were much nicer, and a lot easier to inspect because their were many less bees in there. Bl**dy hot though!