Is this the meanest hive you’ve seen?

[ericbeaumont]

Thats got to be the saddest, in every sense of the word, video about bees I have ever had the misfortune to watch.

Yup. So misguided, so lacking in planning and practical skill, more interested in showing off...

I agree with what he's done

So did 76 of those 77 that commented; educationial, informative, thank you, educational, you did the right thing, educational, thank you...on it went. The seventy-seventh was the only one make a correct assessment.

the video showed little aggression.

If those bees were really out to get him they would have gone up his unsealed ankles and up his unsealed waist and he'd have been in real pain. The colony may have been excessively defensive but were not that bad, and the worst part of it was that he had no insight into his part in their behaviour: wearing a furry glove and ignoring the message, banging combs about, leaving them queenless, no alternative strategy...

Every aspect of the 35 minutes of that video would make a good online BKA meeting about how not to go about it.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

A bit worrying that a couple of replies suggest these bees don't look that bad. I'm not coming round to your apiaries,

Yes, it could have done it better like dividing the queen from the foragers. ? And leaving it till the next day to look through them.

Would they settle once requeened before the existing population dies out and is replaced?

There must be a difference in the behaviour you'd accept from a hive down the side of a field and one at the bottom of the garden.

 

[GuyNir]

A bit worrying that a couple of replies suggest these bees don't look that bad. I'm not coming round to your apiaries,

+1

Also worrying that some are quick to pass full judgement without watching the clip fully or properly.

I’m not here to defend the guy, of course many mistakes were done in the making.

Just wanted to share as it’s not something I see often.

 

[ANMAW]

A bit worrying that a couple of replies suggest these bees don't look that bad. I'm not coming round to your apiaries,

There must be a difference in the behaviour you'd accept from a hive down the side of a field and one at the bottom of the garden.

+2. You can make many criticisms of the inspection, his technique etc, but to say they are not that bad is pretty stupid in itself. Bearing in mind that on home shot video bees are barely visible and it never gives the full impression of how noisy/defensive/aggressive they actually are. I also note its not a particularly click baity title to the video so I don’t think he was playing to the camera. I suspect he was just worried about his family and neighbours, and the various animals and livestock in the vicinity, and basically panicked.

 

[buchaness]

Im no expert but i have ha 3 hives in the same place that you couldnt see through your veil for,and the smell of alarm pheromone made me shudder, But they requeened ok. It was a task but I just went slower and gentler with them, That bloke seemed pretty hard handed,

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's the american way - treat everything with 'extreme prejudice'

 

[ericbeaumont]

A bit worrying that a couple of replies suggest these bees don't look that bad. I'm not coming round to your apiaries, There must be a difference in the behaviour you'd accept from a hive down the side of a field and one at the bottom of the garden.

Examine again the extent of the stinging: burrowing into his ankles, suit, trousers, or head? None that I could see. When bees are demonically defensive the pain would be far greater than he received, and he was stung only because he was daft enough to wear a furry leathery glove. I recall being stung on the underneath of my wellied foot, so determined were the bees to get me. It was torment x 20 going to that apiary (not mine) but once we took them out of the woods and into a field the madness disappeared by the end of summer.

You're welcome to any of my apiaries, PB, where you'll meet good-temper. Years ago I thought that frisky or defensive bees were par for the course, but when I heard Roger Patterson talk of Bee Improvement I learned that a large boot is a most useful selection tool.

Field or garden, it should make no difference: bees should be manageable, productive and healthy, for me, my neighbours and other beekeepers' virgins within flight range of my drone genetics.

I don’t think he was playing to the camera.

His repeated demonstration of the stings and bees on his left-hand glove confirmed only that bees will attack leather or furry surfaces, not that these bees deserved death. A beekeeper less concerned about drawing attention to filming and more interested in resolving the problem would have put those gloves in the washing machine (with only washing soda) and used a new pair, over which he could have put nitriles or Marigolds or smooth plastic builders' gloves.

 

[bingevader]

A bit worrying that a couple of replies suggest these bees don't look that bad. I'm not coming round to your apiaries,

Yes, it could have done it better like dividing the queen from the foragers. ? And leaving it till the next day to look through them.

Would they settle once requeened before the existing population dies out and is replaced?

There must be a difference in the behaviour you'd accept from a hive down the side of a field and one at the bottom of the garden.

+1

Also worrying that some are quick to pass full judgement without watching the clip fully or properly.

I’m not here to defend the guy, of course many mistakes were done in the making.

Just wanted to share as it’s not something I see often.

+2. You can make many criticisms of the inspection, his technique etc, but to say they are not that bad is pretty stupid in itself. Bearing in mind that on home shot video bees are barely visible and it never gives the full impression of how noisy/defensive/aggressive they actually are. I also note its not a particularly click baity title to the video so I don’t think he was playing to the camera. I suspect he was just worried about his family and neighbours, and the various animals and livestock in the vicinity, and basically panicked.

Yes, it's bad, but then you are back to what I said earlier!

Unless there was some physical assault (we had a hive kicked over once), this isn't something that happened overnight.
He said he'd already split it and is now up to 4 boxes.
I'm not sure why he let it get so bad to the point that they had to be destroyed?

 

[GuyNir]

His repeated demonstration of the stings and bees on his left-hand glove confirmed only that bees will attack leather or furry surfaces, not that these bees deserved death. A beekeeper less concerned about drawing attention to filming and more interested in resolving the problem would have put those gloves in the washing machine (with only washing soda) and used a new pair, over which he could have put nitriles or Marigolds or smooth plastic builders' gloves.

I’d assume he’s using the same gloves and technique (or lack of) on all other colonies with different outcome.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

You're welcome to any of my apiaries, PB, where you'll meet good-temper. Years ago I thought that frisky or defensive bees were par for the course, but when I heard Roger Patterson talk of Bee Improvement I learned that a large boot is a most useful selection tool.

Field or garden, it should make no difference: bees should be manageable, productive and healthy, for me, my neighbours and other beekeepers' virgins within flight range of my drone genetics.

I'm sure most people's apiaries are calmer than the video. You're saying, "Well I've handled worse". I can see myself making the same decision as Kevin. (I've thought of doing it to a colony that were just followers) You don't have an out apiary away from everyone. You don't have enough floors and roofs to split up the boxes. You don't have the time. You and your pets want to get on with your summer in the garden without hassle. You want to do the right thing and reduce the chances of bad genetics being spread by drones.

We hold ourselves to very high standards on this forum compared to the general population who are swatting and spraying any insect within range merely for getting in the way.

. . . . Ben