Mean bees, fixing a mean hive Part 1

[@maineiacacres]

WOW! I'm so grateful you sold me a nuc full of very laid back girls. I think I could work them without any PPE at all in fact, I've refilled their feeder a couple times w/o suiting up and they're just a joy to be around.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Thats the way they should be! Thats why I take action if I ever come across a mean hive...I dont want those genes in my gene pool!

[@johncolson5705]

I'm dealing with that now with Africanized bees down in Texas.

[@crazierthings3022]

I plan on starting an Apiary next spring. I am doing my research way ahead of time. I would love to thank you for the detailed explanation on what can cause them to become aggressive. I am subscribing to your channel.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Good luck!

[@donotcare330]

just be prepared to have deep pockets and lots of fuel money. and do about 2-3 years worth of research. People jump into this profession and think you can take care of a beehive like a Cat or dog. its more like a cow. You have to know how to properly take care of its health and properly harvest it. People jump into the profession thinking they are going to make big crops and survive the winter. I run a Cowen extractor, have a CDL and load bees up for leasing on almonds... So the other day my buddy calls me up to tell me about this hobbyist next door to them, how stupid they are that bought a hive in August and they are taking ALL of the honey off of it and thinking they are in the right mindset... um its October and that hive is going to STARVE.

[@pixie_386]

@@donotcare330 this is crazier things on a new KZbin account. This year I am working with a local beekeeper to learn more from her. There is really only so many books I can read before I have to have some hands on experience. I am taking my time though. I won't start doing this by myself until I am completely comfortable with it. Thank you for your advice and yes you are right I will need some deep pockets.

[@pixie_386]

@@donotcare330 I am also NOT going to be doing it for honey. I have been rescuing wildlife since I was a child. I think bees are fascinating and I respect their role to our ecosystem. Just as I respect the so called "pests" like raccoons, opossums, snakes and squirrels that I have saved over the years.

[@intheshell35ify]

Been through some stuff in my 50 years. Not picked the nicest of crowds to run in. Mean bees are different. It feels so personal.

[@Dan-qp1el]

This was fascinating! Wow.

[@gaurd3]

"life is too short for mean bees"

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Agreed, pitty it takes so much time and effort to fix the issue!!!

[@lilymcalister1825]

Lol, that could be a bee keepers song..."bee's in my boots" sounds catchy!!😉🐝🐝

[@notit2730]

Also when you go back in to find the queen in a couple days kill off any queen cells the agressive hive has started to make.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

A very good point!

[@heatherbailey8594]

Well done. You handled that well.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Thanks!

[@PonderosaRancher330]

Naughty, Naughty AGGRESSIVE Hive. Dispatch Queen.

[@tasmedic]

Interesting bee behaviour. They are flying around a lot and making a lot of noise but not landing on anyone in significant numbers. It seems more intimidatory than anything else. It's when they land all over your suit and start closely invesitigating for weak spots that it gets a bit thought provoking! Mine go for the ankles when they are really serious, and try to climb up the trouser leg! I advise wearing gum boots and tucking your suit inside the boots. They always try to crawl upwards.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

I totally agree with that description of behavior however in the summer when I have short pants under my bee suit it is not bulky enough to stop bees going DOWN my boots!!! I also advise not spilling a frame of bees into your loose fitting boots which I did several times this summer!!!!!!

[@humanperson4132]

I was at the range where i shoot my bow Sunday and all of a sudden, got swarmed by bees. That's when i noticed the guy next door in a bee suit doing something with the hive. The bees were into the horses in the paddock, i was 50 yards from the hive but got hit several times none the less. I got out of there but it wasn't until i was about 80 yards away they stopped attacking me. I take it that's an aggressive hive hahaha.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Yup sounds like one that needs requeening!

[@dennistaylor7653]

What about the agressive bees going to the new queen? Is there a fighting issue? Will they try to kill the queen since they're not of that hive?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

There is always that risk with a new mated queen but ironically in this example having moved the hive all the old and meanest bees are in the hives surrounding the orignal hive and this hive getting a new queen is full of young bees much more receptive of a new queen, even though genetically they are pretty bitchy!

[@mehmetburakaykenar]

arent you get stung? i always get stung when working with mean colony, is it my bee suit does not provide enough protection?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Some suits are better than others!

[@kswoodsman2115]

Should a beekeeper have any concerns about the "hot" genetics in the current brood ? At the same time as introducing a new queen , would deleting her drone brood and adding brood frames from a more friendly hive shorten the amount of time required for this hive to change their disposition ? And help keep from passing on her "hot" genetics , through the drone brood in the wild ?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

The currect worker brood in Spring and summer will die out quickly and almost entirely about 10 weeks after replacing the queen. If possible kill off drone brood to prevent passing those genetics onto other colonies.

[@miketullo5025]

All of your videos are informative. This one was tough to hear due to the bees buzzing your microphone

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

I agree.... but it certainly shows why I was replacing that queen!

[@tonyvanoostrom3501]

Hi there Peter. Great video on an important topic. We all have to deal with a mean hive now and then. I just finished requeening a similar or worse temperament hive that was a risk to safety as the hive was located on a farm with workers in a field. I didn’t apply the trick of moving the brood chamber so it was challenging to find the queen and dispatch her. Great idea. Question…if the majority of the mean bees move to the hive next door, is there not a chance they kill the queen in that nearby hive as they are aggressive and enter en masse? Thanks again for some great videos.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Very rare, especially in a honeyflow, but that is possible, but unlikely.

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

Moving a hot hive to reduce the nasty foragers? Thank you! Never thought of that. Keeping in mind the hive the stingy girls will temporarily turn their adopted hive hot for a bit?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Yes for about a month.

[@zacharyyolles8925]

I am wondering your opinion, I have heard that the problem with re-queening the mean hive is that the drones that will mate with other queens in the future will pass along the mean genes and it is better for the bee community as whole to destroy the mean colony to remove the mean gene completely from the gene pool. I am not an expert so appreciate your thoughts.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Watch again...after dispatching the queen I destroyed the drone brood.

[@douglassutherland4646]

Your apiary is directly under power lines and bees do not like the effects of electric currents as amply demonstrated by their reaction to the camera. I have had to learn the hard way and if you mist spray the bees with cool water with a small amount of sugar dissolved in it, the aggressive bees wings become sticky and they find it hard to fly up at you. They should be lightly smoked not blasted with it. Remember the smoker is there to calm the bees it is not a weapon but if aggressively used it could potentially turn into a flame thrower and that is not what you want to happen. Do not make sudden hand moves over an open hive with aggressive bees as they will turn into dive bombers. Do not bump the hive. Most certainly do not breathe all over them. Turn away from the hive and breathe in and hold it while working on them then turn away and exhale. Repeat the process to keep your breath away from them. Do not wear black or red because they do not like those colours. Always have a cover cloth handy to keep the bees confined with only the one or two frames being worked on being exposed. There are other ways of handling aggressive bees. I once had a bad lot next to my rows of apple trees and found it hard going to prune and thin the crop. I bit the bullet and took a very calm queen out of her gentile colony put her in a cage opened the problem brood box and got 35 stings on my gloves and suit before I caught the nasty queen which was in full laying mode and caged her. I immediately released the quiet queen directly where the bad one had been working expecting the bees to attack her, but instead to my delight the nurse bees took to her immediately and I saw an egg protruding from her which she promptly laid and carried on calmly laying. The bad one I took over to the mating box the quiet queen was from and repeated the switch over of the queen into the other colony without any fuss. For some time the bad hive were being aggressive but in about a fortnight they had changed into much quieter bees. The mating box lot started showing aggression and I showed them that beekeepers can also do a bee dance on them.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Thanks for the input.

[@tjones2ful]

Why would the other hive accept them? Is it because they are bringing in resources?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

I believe that plays a part but when there is a flow on nobody fights.

[@johnnybstuddd4482]

Great idea but I have two questions: Wouldn't the field bees go back to the spot of the old hive and not into the hive next door? And wouldn't be bees in the hive next door try to kill the field bees from the moved hive, since they have different pheromones?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

As there is no longer a hive in that spot they will move into the nearest one. During a honey flow the field bees come back full of nectar and pollen....guard bees do not turn away bees baring gifts. It is less friendly when there is no nectar flow but still works.

[@barry552010]

In a 4 colony commercial operation don't you have issues with recruits from surrounding colonies

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Sorry I don't know what you mean!

[@barry552010]

If you have one mean colony aren't they spreading alarm pheromone to all the other colonies in that 4 Colony configuration

[@MattMorris481]

I’d hate to be the linemen that had work on those poles behind you, because I would have pulled up and never got out.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Hahahaha

[@jrippee05]

Another aggressive bee video. This has become more frequent than I would like to see. I am not a big fan of re-queening. How do you account for the drones who may have those aggressive genetics? If the reproduce with the docile queen what will be the offspring? Will it necessarily be a less aggressive bee?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

I only requeen if the queen is failing, has agressive offspring, or I am looking to change the long term use of a hive. In the video I do reffer to killing off drone brood.

[@bradgoliphant]

Poor girls. they are pissed.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Indeed. Hives like this can not be worked with without upsetting them.

[@tprater65]

Maybe Cameron is emitting his “scared” pheromone and that’s why the bees are all over him so often.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

He seems pretty fearless to me!

[@Keith-xc9wf]

Wow!!! 🤮 yuck made me feel itchy with stings!

[@palmwoodshoney9213]

you never really gave them hardly any smoke, but I guess that wouldnt have made much difference

[@tetra3ne56scur3]

For those who are allergic to bee sting venom, have epi pens on you

[@GS-en1nz]

All I see are bumbling bears. Noise, Noise, noise. Near road side traffic. Banging hives, clanging tools. Even docile bees will get aggressive.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

I show my real world. I have very many hives that are a sweet as can be under the same circumstances...this hive is an exception and needed dealing with as a respomsible beekeeper should.