Requeening aggressive hive

[Dadnlad]

A prime swarm that I picked up in April is now on double brood with 3 supers and laying fantastically with a marked (by me) queen
However I have received plenty of stings to gloves and suit over the last 3-4 weekly inspections. I have washed the suit, changed gloves between hives and tried to keep inspections short and only in good weather (like today)

Today my neighbour in his polytunnel was stung 5-6 times by bees that followed him - all while I was inspecting said hive and was unaware of his presence next door

So, enough is enough, I'm going to have to requeen

I have a small 5 frame nuc with a new queen that has recently started laying (her first brood capped at the weekend) that I can combine with the aggressive hive

Will the disparity in colony sizes reduce the chances of successful combining ?
Would I be better to combine with a single brood colony and older queen ?

Any other suggestions most welcome

 

[drex]

What is new queens provenance? How is she performing? Has your hive only just become feisty? Many reasons for aggressive behaviour, not just genetics. Stinging of gloves etc does not really mean aggression.
Despite what you hear, size does not matter in this situation.

 

[oliver90owner]

First, move the hive away to somewhere it will not be a nuisance or a danger.

 

[enrico]

I agree with RAB, re queening can make them worse for a short time and by then your neighbours patience will be waining!
The combining is relatively easy. Make your stroppy hive queenless, I would put her in a nuc with a couple of frames as back up! Leave queenless for a couple of days, combine new queen, about five days later check for queen cells.
Works for me!
E

 

[Dadnlad]

Cheers for your replies all

I agree my priority is to move the hive away from neighbours and prevent further trouble. This behaviour even if only when being inspected is unacceptable

I had a back-up plan agreed with a local farmer some time ago, but until now hadn't had need to use it. They seem to have become gradually more aggressive as they have increased - in marked contrast to my existing resident mongrels

I guess yesterdays events are what the plan was for ! Will try and get them shifted out at the weekend

 

[Swarm]

I used to keep bees in farmers garden, his wife wanted hives there. During an inspection I realised someone was watching from behind a Willow hedge, just as the bees decided she should not be there!! Luckily she wasn't stung but it brings home the need for your apiary to be in a place where it is out of harms way.

 

[itma]

... They seem to have become gradually more aggressive as they have increased - in marked contrast to my existing resident mongrels…

If the Q mated with 15 drones, and just one was from an evil colony, then you can expect 1 in 15 of your workers to be nasty.
While that isn't many nasty adult bees in a nuc-sized colony, by the time they are on double brood with a couple of supers, you are going to have quite a lot of rather aggressive bees …

It is a favour to the nation's beekeepers to ensure you cull the drone brood in your nastier colonies! (And it helps varroa control too.)

There are lots of reasons other than genetics for bees to be bad-tempered.
Q- is near the top of the list. A nectar flow ending is another common one. And a high varroa load can result in a high incidence of a virus that actually makes bees a bit bonkers aggressive. Lots of other reasons - kids (or even neighbours) throwing stones at the hive can be a hard one to track down…