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Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
2,984
Reaction score
7
Location
Exmoor
Hive Type
None
Number of Hives
None of my own
One colony had a new queen in mid July, the result of an AS. Bees were all sweet as can be for about two months but from mid September have started turning nasty, today I was chased a couple of hundred yeards back to the house for the first time.

I'm making the following assumptions, and would be grateful for any corrections:
  • New bad temper is an indication of what I can expect from future projeny of this queen
  • Too late now to re-queen
So I'm planning on seeing how they are March/April and re-queening then if they still grumpy

All comments welcome
 
Bees do get a little defensive at this time of year (still active but knowing what's round the corner) .
If this is the first time , maybe something without your knowledge had them wound up (wasps ,robber bees . dog having a leek on the hive .)
As your hive visits /manipulations are almost over for the season, I would leave the re-queening (if needed) until spring :).

John Wilkinson
 
Thanks John - the increase in aggression did indeed co-incided with their defence from a fairly ferosious wasp attack and though the wasps have long been defeated they are still ultra defensive - do they generate more guard bees when under siege?
 

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