When Bees Go Bad: splitting and moving a colony in a top bar hive

[@mikereynolds8804]

This is a great reason to own a full-coverage bee suit! Very Mean Bees! Thanks also to the intrepid camera operator! Mike

[@DARKLYLIT]

Hi Philip. I'm wondering where I could find one of those great little hand-crank sugar dusters you're using. Do you have a source/link I could check them out at? Please let me know. Thanks a lot.

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

DARKLYLIT this is the only one I have ever seen! It was made in Japan, who knows how long ago...

[@DARKLYLIT]

Thanks Philip. I actually Googled the heck out of it and found that it's actually a "Glitter Gun", for applying glitter to drywall ceilings et al. You can still buy them new for about $95 CAN (approx. 56 pounds sterling). Too rich for my purse! Here's a link: www.amazon.ca/Kraft-Tool-DC615-Glitter-Gun/dp/B0030LIK44/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480050410&sr=8-2&keywords=glitter+gun Here's a vintage one like you have, on Ebay: www.ebay.ca/itm/Vintage-Glitter-Gun-Kioritz-Model-Tokyo-Japan-Working-With-2-1-2lbs-Of-Glitter-/131915144437?hash=item1eb6c15cf5:g:KFUAAOSwIgNXuNZA

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

DARKLYLIT wow I didn't know there was such a thing as a glitter gun!

[@DARKLYLIT]

Me neither. Crazy, eh?

[@baddestbees3347]

I think would've stayed calmer with smoke ..or Maybe even better sugar syrup and honey bee healthy,they be cleaning Frames and each other off..I know you dusted to keep from flying , but I think you would gotten better results with Syrup sprayed lightly.Some bees just mean,no matter what.. Good Video Phil ,nice hive too

[@Kitsapbeek]

Where do I get that sugar duster??? That is amazing.

[@discosdead5915]

There's some sort of buzzing in the audio...

[@FlatlandMando]

They talk about " top bar" as being a simpler form of beekeeping, yet I can easily see there is so much bee methods & bee lore you still need to know! (intimidating)

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

It is certainly simpler in terms of equipment, but bees are far from simple creatures! However, top bar hives give you an opportunity to experience them behaving as they would in a tree cavity, without the imposed structure of frames, foundation, etc.

[@yaddahaysmarmalite4059]

@@BarefootBeekeeper Not to mention a backsaving lack of heavy lifting as one is required to do with a vertical telescoping hive.

[@magicvalleybees]

Boy, was that hive HOT! I don't think I've ever seen that many bees on a beekeeper before. Any stings through the suit & veil???

[@DonaldRogersBaldEagle]

Where did you get the sugar airator?

[@Dyshof]

I love that sugar blower! Seems to drive them mad😉

[@eco-beehive]

Hi Phil Opened up my hive for the first time this pm. ( they have been in for 1 week. A swarm I court in the front yard. ) Follower At the entrance end. Man they came streaming out. Mad as hell. Just hope this is not a sign of things to come!! Any how got the feeder in left the follower in and just dug a hole though the wood chips on the bottom. After that I did give them a few pufs of smoke and the calmed down a little. Cheers for now. Another great video Phil and crew

[@mjp431982]

Will you requeen each split you made? Could you let a new queen emerge and hope she is friendlier?

[@honeybacres]

What a strong hive that was. To think so many bees had already been put into the nucs and there were still so many bees remaining at the original hive.

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

We distributed queen cells (15 of them!) among the splits and put them all in an isolated apiary, anticipating that they would each end up with a new queen and hoping they would mate with nicer drones. What actually happened was that the weather went bad for 3 weeks, and not one of the new queens were mated! Probably just as well - we really didn't want more like that...

[@mesuno1]

Did you end up requeening them from elsewhere then? I had a series of failed swarms last summer with queens that didn't mate properly due to the weather. They were small to start with and by the time it was clear the queen was not viable they were already dwindling to the point of no return.

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

***** We shook the remaining bees into single box in the end.

[@TheCraftyskill]

+Philip Chandler Why didn't you use smoke

[@ابنآدم-ز2ف]

@Phill: why don't you get what of those Ikea mesh laundry basket, connect to a hoover and suck em all into the basket, and you're done, then move the hive to wherever you want and split as you wish. Unless there's a reason why not!

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

I now have a bee-vac that I use to get bees out of places that would otherwise be inaccessible. I didn't have it back then, but would have used it for sure.

[@woodspirit100]

Hi I wonder wehre Ican get thos "shugar blower"?

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

That's the only one I have ever seen!

[@woodspirit100]

Philip Chandler Oh, ok thank you for the quick answer.☺

[@wayneparker9782]

Just wondering why you don't use a smoker to calm the bees....?

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

1. They stink 2. They are hard to keep alight 3. I don't like breathing smoke, so why would my bees? 4. A water spray is easier, cleaner and smells just fine, especially with the addition of peppermint oil. 5. Because water works at least as well as smoke, and often better.

[@Snipsey01]

I wouldnt be able to handle that. I'd freak out. Props to you guys haha

[@solamano7239]

My goodness, this had me itching the whole way through!! I hereby declare you all Gentlemen and Lady of Valour!

[@apismellifera1000]

Bees are quite grumpy! Time to pinch the queen and replace her with one that is MUCH more gentle.

[@moondoggey]

That was some colony surplus! Might have been better off letting them swarm. LOL Doesn't the powdered sugar just aggravate them and make them flap their wings to get the powdered sugar off. Using sugar water spray might be better to discourage them from flying. Smoke has been used for centuries, simply because it works. I guess you will be giving bees away for Christmas gifts? LOL

[@hagensteele4447]

Did the original owners even try to re-queen the hive before they decided to get rid of them, or were they just "sick of bees" at that point? They sure seemed like "pissy" bees, but a new queen might have saved you all that work, and might have actually convinced the original owners to keep the little buggers. /shrug Thanks for the upload, and best of luck regardless.

[@grahamrdyer6322]

It would have been interesting to see if these bees have verroa on them, too late now but in future look at them please.

[@lizspencer605]

I live in Texas and that is exactly how two of my hives acted when they got Africanized. I had no idea y'all had such mean bees!

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

Some of our meanest bees are crosses from Buckfast queens.

[@johnmorrissey397]

Might have been an idea to move the hive a few feet away then put the new boxes in its place catch all those flyers. 😩

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

Yes, that's what I would do now.

[@tvideo1189]

Would have been a great video had the mic been properly placed to avoid the swarming bees so listeners could actually hear.

[@4998826p]

...and why do you seem to take a crazy long time, letting them all get airborne?

[@LittleHoneyMan]

Hi Phil, the colony seems to have africanised behaviour, only slightly less aggressive.

[@josiahpoff5702]

Wouldn't smoke have been appropriate. I think it would stress them much less than being angry.

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

Smoke makes some bees angrier. Water never does.

[@TheBoczk26]

Close all exits and use a nice big CO2 fire extinguisher. Humane way to put down an aggressive nest like that.

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

Kurt Boczarski I did consider that, but decided to try to use the queen cells, on the grounds that the next crosses were likely to be more manageable.

[@anokies]

How did not using smoke work for you lol

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

We had already tested the use of smoke on them and they completely ignored it. smoke is useless against bees like those.

[@TheCraftyskill]

Bee vac comes to mind

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

indeed, I did wish I had brought one along.

[@robertmoriarty8543]

I wish I could hear what you were saying ;

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

Robert Moriarty You didn't miss much.

[@electricengineer624]

the bees are very aggressive brother.waw.I guess smoke was better than powdered sugar.

[@robertmurphy9498]

I think iv spotted the hive that needs the queen pinched out....could be wrong though...lol Apis Maliffira Scuttilata anyone?

[@corneliualdea5385]

Some times the bees attack because the smell on somebody over there thei think it's a bear , , , does anyone have parfum on them ? ??

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

No. And these bees were aggressive before anyone went near them.

[@Dodi_Gago]

Africanized honeybees?

[@barbarasimmons4158]

Girls gone wild

[@426superbee4]

I see them getting more and more angry and very aggressive, my bee a little hot

[@Josef_R]

30 minutes of buzzing and mumbling. No information passed on.

[@DonaldRogersBaldEagle]

I think you were moving way too slow and exposing them too much. Nice video of a pack of angry girls. :0

[@josephwoodall832]

Good grief that looks like a real chore. Not a great advertisement for the top bar hive.

[@puntkomma3303]

jongens jongens jongens jongens jongens toch afblijven van die handel echt het maakt mij ziek en triestig

[@barbarasimmons4158]

Off with her head!

[@puntkomma3303]

echte specialisten boaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[@puntkomma3303]

nogmaals beroken

[@kenthompson6539]

Why you need smoke, these bees will be mad for weeks because our did no use smoke!!!!!!

[@Ed20999]

The camera work is awful.

[@4998826p]

You know they're bad tempered, yet you don't wear gloves? Are you macho-too-mucho?

[@alliefoz]

'interesting' bees lol

[@puntkomma3303]

nogmaals beroken