how to calm bees?

[dpearce4]

Just been reading an old beekeeping book circa1910 and in it there is a suggestion that if bees are feisty you can use a scarecrow to calm them down.

it suggests that you place it 10ft from the front of the hive and move it around every couple of days for about a week. the bees get used to seeing a human form that wont move when attacked so give up.

has anyone ever tried this? sounded really interesting.

 

[For want of a better word]

Just been reading an old beekeeping book circa1910 and in it there is a suggestion that if bees are feisty you can use a scarecrow to calm them down.

it suggests that you place it 10ft from the front of the hive and move it around every couple of days for about a week. the bees get used to seeing a human form that wont move when attacked so give up.

has anyone ever tried this? sounded really interesting.

Send the wife down to the apiary to check them out on a regular basis!
​

 

[drstitson]

"Send the wife down to the apiary to check them"

That's what i did and they went from pussycats (no gloves, suit,veil) to absolute little b*gg*rs! she slipped topping up the feeder and knocked the hive - ended up with hair full of bees and a dozen stings.

 

[Finman]

.
1910,........after that bee breeding has made some progres.

Behind the Russian border beekeepers tell how they get honey from angry hives.
One man (not wife) put a bear suit on and goes to kick the beehive. When all bees attack on bearman, two other guys rob quickly the honey. That was told 2006.

.

 

[drstitson]

Finman - are you sure the tale of 2 men and a bear was about beekeeping?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_(gay_culture)

 

[Teemore]

Just been reading an old beekeeping book circa1910 and in it there is a suggestion that if bees are feisty you can use a scarecrow to calm them down.

it suggests that you place it 10ft from the front of the hive and move it around every couple of days for about a week. the bees get used to seeing a human form that wont move when attacked so give up.

has anyone ever tried this? sounded really interesting.

Ormand Aebi's books suggest something similar - he basically hung up some old clothes and let them flap about in the wind near the tetchy colonies and reasoned that the bees got used to the movement, colour and 'scent' of the clothes.

 

[Gardenbees]

There are several ways of getting bees more tolerant of disturbance - but I hadn't heard of the bear suit approach!

My hives are on decking, and I've left one of the surrounding bits of fence panel loose so that it bumps gently against the deck every so often when it's windy. Otherwise they tended to get alarmed when I walked on the decking, as the sound of footsteps is like a milder version of knocking on a hive. It doesn't bother them at all now.

I also put one of those whirly windmill things near the apiary at the point where people walk in.

In all other respects it's an ideal location, and as I can now walk right up to the hives with no alarm to the bees I assume that they have got used to a small amount of disturbance. Whether it's because of the loose panel or the windmill I'm not sure...

 

[testka]

need to check when i get home but sure I've read this before. possibly in Clive De Bruyn's practical Beekeeping. sounds like a easy solution and worth trying.

sent using tapatalk

 

[OXFORDBEE]

Ormand Aebi's books suggest something similar - he basically hung up some old clothes and let them flap about in the wind near the tetchy colonies and reasoned that the bees got used to the movement, colour and 'scent' of the clothes.

I think he called them "wave cloths"...

 

[Poggle]

That's what i did and they went from pussycats (no gloves, suit,veil) to absolute little b*gg*rs! she slipped topping up the feeder and knocked the hive - ended up with hair full of bees and a dozen stings.

There has got to be a moral there some where

 

[jakethedog]

Just been reading an old beekeeping book circa1910 and in it there is a suggestion that if bees are feisty you can use a scarecrow to calm them down.

Hi, a couple of questions;

Any chance of a quote or reference to the book? Is it actually claiming that such action will calm down an out of control hive (at all times including during manipulation) or merely that getting the colony 'used' to people/animals can reduce any predisposition to launch a preemptive attack against passers by?

Two different aspects of behaviour.

 

[Swarm]

There has got to be a moral there some where

Yes. If you are messing with bee hives put a veil on.

 

[Finman]

.
You have nursed bees and they have stung you. However you must read from 100 year old book, what bees are going do to you.

 

[Winker]

Finman - are you sure the tale of 2 men and a bear was about beekeeping?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_(gay_culture)

Your thinking Brookback mountain.

 

[Winker]

.
You have nursed bees and they have stung you. However you must read from 100 year old book, what bees are going do to you.

I thought the Germans had no sense of humour, but reading your post of late Finman, You take the biscuit. Is everyone from Finland as grumpy as you?

Maybe you just need to be re-queened! A New younger wife or something just to lift your spirits

 

[Finman]

Haha hah hah hah hah. Now I got it! hah hah.

Would you please put a sign H if it is ment to humour.

 

[TBRNoTB]

There are several ways of getting bees more tolerant of disturbance - but I hadn't heard of the bear suit approach!

My hives are on decking, and I've left one of the surrounding bits of fence panel loose so that it bumps gently against the deck every so often when it's windy. Otherwise they tended to get alarmed when I walked on the decking, as the sound of footsteps is like a milder version of knocking on a hive. It doesn't bother them at all now.

I also put one of those whirly windmill things near the apiary at the point where people walk in.

In all other respects it's an ideal location, and as I can now walk right up to the hives with no alarm to the bees I assume that they have got used to a small amount of disturbance. Whether it's because of the loose panel or the windmill I'm not sure...

At last someone has found a use for a " whirly windmill things" other than as a blot on the landscape!

 

[Finno]

I had some particularly difficult colonies that always "came out to meet me", whenever I entered the apiary. I erected a very lifelike scarecrow, with a coat that flapped in the wind, the theory being that they would become used to the movement of a human like figure in the vicinity. They paid no attention to the scarecrow, but if I crawled in on my hands and knees and stood up inside it, they would immediately surround me with evil intent.

 

[richardbees]

rig up some speakers and play the best of Perry Como ?

 

[dpearce4]

rig up some speakers and play the best of Perry Como ?

no that would just make them even more angry lol.