Help Needed in Melton Mowbray

[meltonbees]

Hi, just wondering if there is anyone in the Melton Mowbray area that is willing to help me in the art of beekeeping.

 

[pargyle]

Hi, just wondering if there is anyone in the Melton Mowbray area that is willing to help me in the art of beekeeping.

You might consider looking for a local beekeeping association ...

http://www.-------------/about/local_associations/find_an_association.php

There are helpful people on here but your post does not tell us a great deal about what sort of help you need .... Have you got bees ? Do you want bees ? What is it, specifically that you need help with ?

Tell us a bit more and perhaps someone will be able to assist ...

 

[meltonbees]

HI, I have a hive of bees that are very aggressive, you can’t get anywhere near the hive all my family have been stung numerous times, they just chase you. I have requeened but on checking them last week they killed the new queen. I have requeened again Friday last week and hoping that they will accept this one. I am just after a helping hand and guidance as I am still new to beekeeping.

 

[pargyle]

HI, I have a hive of bees that are very aggressive, you can’t get anywhere near the hive all my family have been stung numerous times, they just chase you. I have requeened but on checking them last week they killed the new queen. I have requeened again Friday last week and hoping that they will accept this one. I am just after a helping hand and guidance as I am still new to beekeeping.

How are you introducing the new queen ?... Sounds to me like you have not given them chance to get used to her pheremones. The usual way is to dequeen the colony, (fence post the agressive queen), leave them queenless for a few days and then introduce the new queen in a queen cage .. by the time they have let her out they will, normally, be quite happy with her.

Even after introducing the new queen it is going to take a few weeks until her offspring become the dominant bees within the hive .. it's basically a new lot of bees with different genetics that you will get from the new queen - that will see them better behaved.

Perhaps, also, you need to look at what you are doing with the colony .. gentle handling (and as little intereference as possible), little or no smoke, no banging about may assist. Slow movements and no lawnmowers ... in the vicinity of the hive may help in the short term. But you certainly should not tolerate followers and bees that sting without provocation and requeening is one of only two options ... the other is a cup of petrol and it's terminal and I would not like to see that being used .. we had one on here last year - very sad.

Have your bees always been like this or is is just recently ? Bees foraging on Rape can sometimes get a bit feisty.

 

[meltonbees]

I’m introducing the queen in the as prescribed and in the appropriate manner , the hive was queenless for about five days the first time and about a five to six days this time, I also had to destroy a few queen cells which the bees were making. I didn’t use smoke just sugar water.
The hive is facing an orchard with lots of flowering plum, apple, cherry trees and numerous flowering wild flowers with hedges that look like wild berries, as far as rape fields go there are some but I think the nearest field is about 3 to 4 miles away.
The bees themselves were not to great last year when I bought them, but nowhere near as bad as this, if you attempt to go anywhere near them, approximately 20 meters away they tend to hunt you out and chase and sting.
This is the last time that I am going to attempt the requeening procedure and will take your advice and get rid of the lot as I have children and grandchildren playing in the garden who have been stung repeatedly. No fun at all.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I’m introducing the queen in the as prescribed and in the appropriate manner , the hive was queenless for about five days the first time and about a five to six days this time, I also had to destroy a few queen cells which the bees were making. I didn’t use smoke just sugar water.
The hive is facing an orchard with lots of flowering plum, apple, cherry trees and numerous flowering wild flowers with hedges that look like wild berries, as far as rape fields go there are some but I think the nearest field is about 3 to 4 miles away.
The bees themselves were not to great last year when I bought them, but nowhere near as bad as this, if you attempt to go anywhere near them, approximately 20 meters away they tend to hunt you out and chase and sting.
This is the last time that I am going to attempt the requeening procedure and will take your advice and get rid of the lot as I have children and grandchildren playing in the garden who have been stung repeatedly. No fun at all.

There are bound to be "brave" beeks in your vicinity who can help sort your delinquent gang out but it sounds as though you might be better to ensure the hive is truly queenless then unite with a quiet colony. I had a vicious queenless gang a couple of years ago which I united over paper with a swarm sourced colony. Within a few days of the unite all was sweetness and light in the apiary. A case of the queen having her own army to defend her from the rabble.

 

[pargyle]

I’m introducing the queen in the as prescribed and in the appropriate manner , the hive was queenless for about five days the first time and about a five to six days this time, I also had to destroy a few queen cells which the bees were making. I didn’t use smoke just sugar water.

Sounds like you are doing everything right ... but ... it's rare for a queenless colony to kill a queen when she has been introduced properly. So .. are you SURE your colony was queenless .. if they had started making queen cells after you had despatched the first queen then they were probably queenless. If they were building queen cells before you despatched the queen then are you sure that they had not swarmed and there was a queen left behind in the hive.

If you killed the first queen then left them for five/six days and they then killed the introduced queen - there would have been no fresh eggs (by now) for some time .. and no means of raising another ..bees are not stupid so I would be surprised if they kill the next one. But ..if they do .. is there anyone locally with well behaved bees who would donate a frame or even part of a frame with some new eggs in it ? Give that to them and let them raise their own queen .. and hopefully she will mate with some drones with less aggressive genes.

If your bees are really that bad I would be knocking down any drone cells as you really don't want those in the local gene pool.

Lastly, are you sure that the bees killed your first queen .. if she was a postal delivery it does sometimes stress them out a bit and they can also get chilled at this time of the year .. could it have been death from 'natural' causes rather than murder ?

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

... it's rare for a queenless colony to kill a queen when she has been introduced properly.

Would definitely beg to differ here. I've had a couple of colonies which have rejected a procession of new queens, all introduced in the recommended manner. Found most success by merging with an existing colony, as per Gilberdyke John's post.

If they are queenless, they will be extra angry, so if you can get another colony to merge with then the sooner the better.

 

[pargyle]

Would definitely beg to differ here. I've had a couple of colonies which have rejected a procession of new queens, all introduced in the recommended manner. Found most success by merging with an existing colony, as per Gilberdyke John's post.

If they are queenless, they will be extra angry, so if you can get another colony to merge with then the sooner the better.

Just goes to show .. bees never do anything the way you want them to !! I'd agree with them being a bit more angry though .. after possibly nearly three weeks without a queen and having had queen cells destroyed it's no wonder they are a bit tetchy ... But .. the OP appears to have only one colony so his options are a bit limited now... but they started out angry when they HAD a queen so whether a combine will yield gentler bees is another unknown quantity ... sometimes it does .. sometimes you end up with another feisty colony until the bad girls die out.

 

[meltonbees]

I did check for eggs and there were none nor any drone cells. I found the first new queen with blue dot dead outside the hive, no idea how she died though. Fingers crossed that everything turns out ok this time.
I don’t know any beekeepers in the Melton area that would be willing to help, hence this thread was started.
Hopefully they calm down within the next few weeks and all will be back to normal.

 

[pargyle]

I did check for eggs and there were none nor any drone cells. I found the first new queen with blue dot dead outside the hive, no idea how she died though. Fingers crossed that everything turns out ok this time.
I don’t know any beekeepers in the Melton area that would be willing to help, hence this thread was started.
Hopefully they calm down within the next few weeks and all will be back to normal.

So ... might not have been murder ? ... Keep your fingers crossed ...

Are you not in an association ? I've found a lot of people locally through my local association who are very helpful.

Someone on here must be somewhere near you however ..

Good luck and let us know if it goes to plan.

 

[Frisbee]

Ring me!
07801108610

Frisbee

 

[meltonbees]

Good news…. Just inspected the hive, the Queen is looking good and laying and the bees were a little calmer, although there were a few still dive bombing my vail, I expect they will calm down after a few days now. This is a big relief.
Next job is to sort out another hive as I’ve been told one hive is never a good idea.
Thanks for all your help and encouragement guys.

 

[meltonbees]

Ring me!
07801108610

Frisbee

Hi Frisbee, I'm Busy this weekend but I’ll give you a call midweek when I get back if that’s ok
Rob.

 

[Frisbee]

That's fine.

F