How I deal with a mean aggressive beehive

[@multivitamin486]

Just a heads up for the beginner beekeepers, these shown in video are definitely not mean bees. Mean bees will make you question wanting to keep bees :D.

[@normanboyd]

That is absolutely correct. No way I could wear shorts and t-shirt with my mean bees. I don't have any bees this nice.

[@davidsanbeg2335]

Shorts and a t-shirt. Man, I wish I had some "mean" bee's like that ; )

[@sheilamclaughlin963]

I those r mean ill take them anytime, I am a newbie nd bought a weaver queen and she had a nasty att. Shared by the. Whole hive, case u a 100 yds if u forgot ur Vail. The only thing I use, hardly ever w ear gloves, only a white shirt and vail

[@mescalp]

yeah I'd like to buy some of his mated queens and requeen my mean hives. LOL

[@yahsephhawkins9503]

If you had a hive like what I call a very calm hive, you definitely would have a complete bee suit on. No doubt!

[@kathyvalentine2040]

Me too if he calls that mean I'm screwed , I have some who if I didnt have 2 layers under my suit I'd be dead

[@CoffeeNo0b0514]

People have different definitions of mean or hot hives. The mean hives I’ve seen would have you covered, wouldn’t even be able to see the skin on your arms.

[@banditva8040]

Wish my mean bees were that calm

[@mescalp]

Mean Hive? I wish my hives were that calm

[@christopherhindle1174]

Amazed that you are not wearing full protective clothing! Personally I would not class that as a mean hive, you would be covered with stinging bees, and then followed for many yards from the hive.

[@tedadams1324]

That was a clever idea! Thanks for posting!

[@user-qc9xf9hf9i]

If they were in swarm mode you’d see at least a dozen queen cells and the mature queen would have already left. The “one with the queen cell” is probably a supercedure cell.

[@TarlBooth22]

+D I cut down nearly a dozen the day before. They were in full swarm mode.

[@yahsephhawkins9503]

Mean bees, where are they? I'm talking bees that come after you by the hundreds, and sting through a full suit and gloves.

[@silenceddemolisher4085]

Honestly that hive is not mean I have seen an angrier hive which stung me through the bee suit

[@jackrussellman2]

Me too

[@corneliualdea5385]

U call that mean bee men ?

[@elpicsa]

sorry for my ignorance.. ...what are u spraying the bees with inside the brown plastic box?

[@beguileme8201]

He said, "Water." I'm guessing it's sugar water to keep the bees from flying. (They usually will stop flying and start grooming/consuming the sugar water.)

[@tritonewr4054]

How do you keep the mature bees ( the foragers) from leaving your mating nucs ?

[@TarlBooth22]

I don’t keep them from leaving it’s nearly impossible to make them stay if they don’t want to. I just break them down enough and move them to a new location. I leave the queen behind at the original yard. This tends to help keep them from moving around too much but more often than not I’ll have one or two move out and into one of the other split boxes.

[@347raptor]

Could you please do some close-ups so that beginner beekeepers can see what a drone cell looks like compared to a brood cell thanks I like your reinforced frames with the bar running across the middle very smart

[@barbarapreddy616]

Those Bee's aren't mean! They're rather calm.

[@clergyurge]

How many days will the pheromone strips hold the bees in the splits? Long enough to get a new batch of queen cells capped or do you have some already ready?

[@TarlBooth22]

+clergyurge You will have plenty of time to get a new batch of cells capped. I’ve never test how long it will hold them but you’ll have plenty of time. That being said I still try to have some ready where possible but that doesn’t always work out.

[@clergyurge]

Thank you for your reply!

[@cubaniton74]

This is what I read on a comment from another KZbin video related to aggressive bees and how they deal with them in Africa (I took a screenshot of the comment and saved it for future reference). Comment by Neal Skelton. "When I was stationed in South Africa, I was able to meet a local beekeeper. After a while, he was asked to help out another beekeeper several miles away. He didn't have reliable transportation, so I gave him a ride. What he did, was build a bonfire in front of the hive about 10 feet away from the front of the hive. Then he banged on the hive. Several hundred bees came out and went straight to the fire. The next week we went back and it was a completely different hive. That's when he replaced the queen." My suggestion would be, if you can't replace the queen, then repeat the same procedure every time you see that the aggression starts to build up again, that way you will be able to keep the number of the most aggressive bees down very effectively. That's apparently how they deal with aggressive bees in Africa, and apparently it works for them, it should work on your Africanized bees also. You could use a portable grill instead of a bonfire, get creative, and share this technique so beekeeper can work around their Africanized bees.

[@jamesbarron1202]

I’ve wondered if you could get a tether ball and paint it black and hang it in front of their entrance and leave it there for the wind to blow it around. Seems like the aggressive bees would sting it and pull their stingers out and die. Leaving the more docile bees who didn’t attack it to survive.

[@cubaniton74]

@@jamesbarron1202 That will just get them more agitated and will attack anyone near, plus they might get use to it after a while or just abandon the hive if they feel too irritated by it overtime. You want to get rid of the most aggressive bees in one shot and fast, the fire idea seems to do both.

[@jamesbarron1202]

@@cubaniton74 if they’re agitated the mean bees will die if they sting it. The stinger pulls out their guts.

[@cubaniton74]

@@jamesbarron1202 Try it and let me know how it went.

[@jamesbarron1202]

@@cubaniton74 mine aren’t mean enough to want to kill them. I have 1 hive that gets pissed off when I’m fooling with them. It’s my oldest and strongest hive. It’s survived when others have failed. -3 record temps took some out back when it shut Texas down. I was out of electricity, water and a toilet for a week. I have a well. I lose power and I lose it all.

[@scottpierson7495]

What are your measurements for those two frame nukes I would really appreciate it thank you

[@alirE2904]

Why water them down?

[@TarlBooth22]

+Alice Estrada it keeps them busy cleaning themselves up so they don’t all end up in the air while you are scooping them out.

[@426superbee4]

i like mean bees, Enough thing messes with em < > Not even wax moths nor SHB's

[@426superbee4]

@ its the truth! and really there not like killer bees . Trying to sting ya to death either. Killer bees will coat ya head to toe trying to fine a way to get ya! The more population they got , the more killer bees become more aggressive ! That the only way to control them ! by population

[@eddevault4604]

You must have got the wrong hive….none of my bees are even close to that calm….I didn’t understand the process of doing it that way…seems like a lot of extra work for such an easy process…why did you shake all the bees-wet them down-why didn’t you just put the frame and bees in the Nucs…

[@kiaya007]

dang is he trying to kill the bees with that sprayer. i dont think he realizes just how much those things can spray even if you dial it down its a lot

[@TarlBooth22]

+wayne d It’s just plain water no sugar. You can go back in 20 minutes later and not even know they had been sprayed.

[@TarlBooth22]

+wayne d It takes a bit more water to keep them down since there isn’t any sugar in it.

[@TarlBooth22]

+wayne d I just don’t like using sugar water because it makes everything sticky and it takes the bees a lot longer to recover from being sprayed.

[@eddybarker5072]

Those are docile bees. You would not be wearing short-sleeves and shorts with real mean bees or you would be in the hospital or worse.

[@jpthedelawarebeeman6239]

That's one way to deal with a mean/hot hive

[@rhondahodges6794]

Why do video makers never tell what state and area they are in? Thats important to those hwo are trying to learn.

[@rstlr01]

Kearns Utah, 84118 at least that’s what he said on the video.

[@dadu63]

They not mean at all.

[@jbielic4067]

It's laughable what some folks call mean. Seems they want flies not bees.

[@tonysicily2687]

Dadu63 yep, if they were mean, he would not be standing there in shorts and sandals. No suit no gloves, Umm.. .. my gentlest hive would kill him

[@incubatork]

I wish my bees were that mean, you aint seen nothing.

[@TarlBooth22]

+Derek Greenhalgh Yeah they are meaner than they look here but in general my bees are very gentle. This is the only one I had to wear a veil with. All the rest I work in shorts, a t-shirt and no veil.

[@denisestover2416]

Scooby Dooby Doo!

[@russgaartexastrainingandbo949]

these are not aggressive bees bro

[@bryantdavis5426]

Great video

[@corneliualdea5385]

I am sorry if you split that hive u don't now how the bees act

[@TarlBooth22]

+Corneliu Aldea I normally work my bees in shorts and no veil and this is the only colony in all my yards that I had to wear a veil. You are right... compared to many other hives it wasn’t that aggressive. It was just more aggressive than I want in my colonies. Splitting it like this would be the same for me whether it was really aggressive or mildly aggressive though.

[@corneliualdea5385]

That's a very good hive,,,,,,,,,if that's a mean bees u don't now how mean bees act,,,,,,, a mean hive u not going to open that hive in short pants and t-shirt men

[@TarlBooth22]

+Corneliu Aldea 🐝

[@RaySarasin]

My first year cheers

[@TarlBooth22]

+Ray Sarasin That’s great! Good luck to you and be sure to ask lots of questions.

[@bigweb0311]

I say mean bees? Ppffff. Them bees are nice.

[@TarlBooth22]

+Michael T yeah compared to the rest of my bees they are a bit irritable but in general all my bees are quite gentle.

[@Series-of-Time]

They are not mean bees he don`t know what he talking about. Things not to do beginner beekeepers. Drowning your bees.