[ocba] Mean Bees
Elisabeth Curtis
granda.curtis at gmail.com
Wed Apr 29 08:27:05 EDT 2009
I'm with Randall on this. Life's too *long* for mean bees. We have two
hives, and last summer one turned "mean" and one remained gentle. No fun. We
requeened the ornery early in the fall and now both hives are gentle.
-Elisabeth
On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 5:11 PM, Randall Austin <ra41717 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Mary Lou,
>
> Where did you get your bees? There is at least one big package supplier who
> operates out of Africanized bee territory. This time of year it is
> reasonable to expect your bees to be as gentle as lambs, unless, like Jeff
> says, you are messing with them during a thunderstorm or doing something
> else to aggravate them. Also, something else could be aggravating them that
> you don't know about --- skunks, teenagers, robber bees, etc. --- so they
> are ultra sensitive by the time you show up. But if you can rule all that
> out, you are left with the fact that bees are like people: some are sweet
> and some are worthless. Life is too short to tolerate mean bees --- put a
> new queen in your colony. Try to get one from somebody who includes
> gentleness in their breeding goals.
>
> Randall
>
>
> Jeff Bollinger wrote:
>
> My bees have a reputation for being "mean", but there are so many
> factors to account for their "attitude". Weather is probably the
> biggest. I once went out in full suit right before a big
> electrical/thunderstorm and they lit me up all over my ankles! I think
> they can feel the static in the air and sense instability in the atmosphere.
>
> I have also been out when it was really cloudy/overcast and experienced
> the same thing.
>
> Other thing is smoke - I learned (after last year's excellent field day)
> that I was WAY oversmoking the bees. Be sure you're not filling the
> hive with smoke - just a little every now and then is enough to keep
> them calm-ish. Too much and they will get angry.
>
> Its also a good thing NOT to stand in front of the hive entrance unless
> there's a really good reason. I stand to the side or behind the hives
> when putting on feed or working inside the hive.
>
> If you're just putting on a feeder like a boardman/front feeder, you can
> do it quickly and not worry about getting stung unless you're making a
> big racket. For the internal style feeders, if you have to pull off the
> cover and start moving things around there's definitely a higher chance
> of getting stung. This is just one of the many reasons I exclusively
> use the front feeders (then again I have never had more than 3 hives at
> once).
>
> Jeff
>
>
> Lewis Cauble wrote:
>
>
> Mary Lou,
> It's hard to say from here if your bees are overly aggressive. It
> might be helpful if you could tell us what type of feeder you are
> using, where the bees came from, how large the hive is, and when the
> hive was established.
>
> It's no fun dealing with aggressive bees. Simply re-queening with a
> gentle queen should adjust the attitude of the hive.
>
> Lewis
>
>
> On Apr 27, 2009, at 9:24 PM, Mary Lou Bethune wrote:
>
>
>
> I am new to owing a hive and I am wondering if it is normal to get
> stung
> every( and several) time one goes to feed the bees? WE have the
> hood and
> gloves and cover up totally but still get stung( we just learned
> that they
> can sting through stretch pants).
> Thanks
> Mary Lou Bethune
>
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________
> Take your cooking skills to the next level. Find a cooking school near you!http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2241/fc/BLSrjpYV33i7g94U4qml81UDWKnfXdY1kieMutd1zTMhcrH7wrBjfiXNyRS/
> _______________________________________________
> ocba mailing list
> North Carolina Beekeepinghttp://www.theocba.org/
>
> _______________________________________________
> ocba mailing list
> North Carolina Beekeepinghttp://www.theocba.org/
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> ocba mailing list
> North Carolina Beekeeping
> http://www.theocba.org/
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/ocba/attachments/20090429/122f6042/attachment.htm
More information about the ocba
mailing list