Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => Beekeeping 101 => Topic started by: WantToBeeLady on June 17, 2016, 08:44:38 pm
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How is it that some of us have to suit up and others do not? I'm getting stung WITH the suit on. They are climbing up my sleeves if there is any little gap and all other kinds of creative stuff.
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You are still nervous around them and they can sense it. Dress as comfortably as you can and as confidently as you can. As time goes by and you can relax more around them, they will relax more around you. I only have a hooded jacket and put it on 2 or 3 times a season when they get rowdy. Of course, I don't pay much attention to a sting when I do get one. After 40 years of stings, they hurt less than a mosquito.
(https://s31.postimg.cc/nbjeukvvr/DSCN0071_14_53_01.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/nbjeukvvr/)
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Also good to pick your times to visit. Cloudy or rainy or other weather conditions that make for poor foraging make for poor times to visit your hive(s). When few bees are flying, there will be more bees in the hive, especially the older bees that tend to be more grumpy than the younger bees that are in the hive most of the time. As odd as it seems, the more bees you see in the air, the easier it will be to get along with the bees in the hive. Busy bees are happy bees that tolerate disturbance very well. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon aren't good times to visit as a rule nor are times when some disaster (like hail) has trashed the flowers the bees were working the days before. Use a little smoke, not much, and give the bees a little warning before you open the hive. Smoke a little, slowly take off the lid and work through the frames slowly and deliberately. As you get experience, you can speed up a little but that's comes with the confidence Iddee mentioned. Don't be afraid to stop when the bees smack your vail with force; you can always try again a little later when conditions are better. This should be fun :)
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Ok...I'll be going to visit the girls in a few, so I will keep these things in mind. It's been kind of rainy the last few days, so not much activity outside the hive. Today is sunny though and not too hot yet so it should be a good day for this.
Thanks so much. I feel more confident with the information you all have provided.
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Bees will not know where to forage till the scouts get back and tell them. also it takes a few hours of sunshine and warm weather to get the plants producing nectar as well. so they may still be a little testy do to the weather. I would hold of on going into them till the afternoon or the following day after a few days of rain
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I'm not afraid of the girls, but the last three weeks they have put in a lot of time trying to make me afraid. :yes: Been stung more in the last three weeks than i usually get stung all year, they like my left ear? i'm thinking they are saying, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW, They also don't like to be cussed loud at either?but it makes me feel better though. O:-) Jack
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It's okay to call them bad names like "%$%$&^*" but you should avoid calling them "little %$%$&^*". It's the little part that seems to strike them the wrong way :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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I found out long ago that one of hardest things to get accustomed to was a bee landing on you, they are very curious creatures and like to explore you just as much as you like to look at them. Slow deliberate movements will cause less of a commotion. Rough handling them will also get them stirred up pretty quick.
As Stated above weather and time of day plays a big part, and yep working bees are happy bees!
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Like G3 said they are curious, many times working the hoe in the truck patch next to the beeyard i'll have bees light on my arms and start licking sweat, i'll lean on the hoe handle and watch them :) When i start working again they don't pay me no never mind and keep licking. :D Jack
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WantToBeeLady:
Small colonies, packages and nucs, are often more domestic than large mature hives. As the colony prospers, it has more brood and stores to protect and the population of guard bees increases. Five years ago I started with three packages of bees, and the first year they were real sweethearts. The next year they were large colonies. One day I was looking into the hives with only a veil and a long sleeve shirt. There wasn't a sting one on the first two hive inspections. On the third hive inspection I dropped frame of bees onto the topmost super. (I have some problems with neuroptathy in my left hand, and occasionally it just turns loose of something.) My docile bees stung me 27 times on my hands and arms before I could put the hive back together and get away from them.
Bees can sometimes turn on you pretty quick. Continue to wear your jacket, and if you do not wear gloves, keep them handy. Once they start stinging your hand the pheromone is in the air and they will continue to sting your hands. If stung on the hand, apply smoke immediately. The smoke will somewhat mask the pheromone.
You're going to get stung so learn how to lessen stings and doctor stings. I find liquid benadryl works the best on my family. I'm like Iddee, bee stings do not make me swell.
lazy
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Really Scott? then what makes mine, perry's, and iddee's belly swell up like they do. :laugh: :laugh: Jack
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Jack, that's good wives and good cookin'. Not bee stings.
PS. Wrong Lazy. That's Don. The other Lazy is Scott.
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I can't disagree with any of the various bits of advice everyone has given ---all of it is true and valuable. But I'd like to add a bit of emphasis to what G3 said in post #7. It's hard to have the bees crawling all over you yet still ignore them. That ability comes with confidence and experience. Too many of us are raised on the thought that any time a bee lands on you it wants to sting and that just ain't so. When you reach the stage where your confidence allows you to ignore their presence as they roam all over you, including on any spaces between your gloves and sleeves, you'll find yourself getting a lot fewer stings.
I found that when I stopped wearing gloves, my hands were more sensitive to the presence of the bees and I irritated them less, resulting in far fewer stings.
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I had a thought about your question today while feeding bees. Which side of the hive do you stand on when you work your bees? Mine are on 4-way pallets and I left the entire pallet with a forklift so they are a comfortable height for my old back. That helps since it gets the bees above where they are used to be but I think a more important factor is that I work the bees from the side of the hive versus the front where are the bees are coming and going. If you're working them from the front, try working them from the side and see if that helps
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I usually stand on a side opposite to the opening. Try not to be too rude when going in. But lately it doesn't seem to matter where I stand, what time of day or anything else. They've been pretty hostile, like "Hey!!! Can't you see we are busy??? We don't have time for these interruptions". So I've been keeping my visits short and sweet....with sugar water. I'm not about bribery at this point.
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Sometimes you just have a grumpy hive. You can always requeen with a line with a better disposition.
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What chip posted You have gone in enough times with the knowledge of weather time of day to eliminate the their having a dad day. Some queens raise grumpy mean defensive bees. If they are bad at this time of year when they should be at their happiest you will not be wanting to go into them in late August\September when there is a dearth. I would think about requeening.
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Want to add,... when you do get a sting, SMOKE it with your smoker heavily.. It is an imperfect cover for the alarm pheromone, but it does help.
If your bees are aggressive enough to seek out the openings in your suit, it may be a good idea to requeen them..
I use an ultrabreeze when forced to wear a suit, and it has velcro around the wrists to keep bees out. If your doesnt a bit of duct tape might help. I always take my jacket wherever I go when checking hives, but seldom use it, and I have leather gloves as well, but use them even less... Not because I am trying to be macho, ort becuase I think someone that uses a suit is a sissy.. its because I can see better with no hood, and FEEL better with no gloves.. The ultra breeze is a NICE bee suit, but wearing anything when its 95+ degrees and there is NO breeze is miserable.. I'll deal with a few stings before putting that stuff on.. But, Once I do start to get stung I WILL put my gear on to finish the job.
Usually finishing the job entails discovering WHY they are angry.. no queen? Mites? Something like a branch rubbing against the hive? Etc...
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lots of good posts here! weather and other things do affect the bees temperament. also, if the hive is queenless, they will not be happy. no nectar/pollen coming in, cranky. many variables as to why a hive is snarky.
like g3 said bees are curious, and they will crawl wherever and explore, and they do find the crevice to get in the veil, up the sleeve, up the pants legs, etc.... :D
but if you have bees nailing your veil or your hands/gloves when you open (use a smoker) this would indicate something else going on.
also, as iddee said, when we are new beeks, the bees can 'sense' so dress comfortably as you can to work them.
it's possible as chip mentioned that you have a queen that needs to be replaced.
i wear full gear, only because i am allergic, makes it hard when handling frames with gloves on, but i manage. whether i was allergic or not, i have always worn a veil and used the smoker. don't like the stings to the face.
i am sort of wondering about your queen. when you open the hive, do they immediately fly and start nailing your veil and hands?
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For what it's worth,I wear my jacket when I do inspection because my bees are bad to head bump when disturbed. Nothing more irritating when trying to look for eggs and larvae while bees are ramming into your face. I often don't suit up to feed but I do give em a shot or two of smoke. I have a habit of at least once a day sitting in the yard out of the flyway and observing them. I believe it gets them accustomed to my smell. Sometimes I miss a day or two but if one misses for a couple of weeks you are a complete stranger to them.
An old beekeeper told me years ago (long before I ever seriously considered beekeeping) to hang a sweaty shirt in the bee yard or on the fence nearby and the bees would become accustomed to your smell as part of the yard. I did this at first, can't say with any certainty that it helped but they've never been very aggressive to me.
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About wearing a bee suit of jacket:
From time to time a pearl of wisdom comes into my thick skull. These pearls are things that I apply to many happenings. Long ago while taking flight training and talking about flying in marginal weather conditions and old flight instructor said: "It is better to be here (on the ground) wishing you were up there (in the air), than to be up there wishing you were here." It's better to have the bee suit on than to have the bees on attack and wishing you had the bee suit on. I am well trained in safety and seldom does to much PPE (personal protection equipment) harm you, but quite often not having enough PPE causes pain. If in doubt wear the suit.
As a sidebar, I have never met an experienced beekeeper that doesn't say, "keep the smoker lit."
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I like many of the suggestions provided. I've been paying attention to the sound of the hive and you can almost hear by the sound of their buzzing what kind of mood they're in.
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I like many of the suggestions provided. I've been paying attention to the sound of the hive and you can almost hear by the sound of their buzzing what kind of mood they're in.
Absolutely! The sounds of the hive , the smell when you open it and the action at the the entrance are all key to understanding the colony's mood.
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My experience is that all of those observations can be way too late for the one that makes A BEE Line for your face. I'm even more stubborn than my bees! I wear protection whether needed or not :o
Tim
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I'll agree with what Neil and Lazy shooter said :yes: Like the other day i lift the lid on two hives with comb honey supers on top. It was in upper 90's F, the bees were bearding from top to bottom on front of the hives, i seen the beautiful white comb down between the frames, i had gave them a couple puffs of smoke when i lift the lid and instead of going down they came up playing peeky boo with me :o. Well i slid the super forward and lifted it up to see if they were capped, they were, and at the same time they were getting noisy and coming up at me which alarmed the bees bearding on the front to come and help out :o.. They were stinging through the jacket so i put it back together and took off on the 4 wheeler, both hives also have 3 med supers of honey on them that i have to take off and put another super on them, not looking forward to robbing mean bees in this hot sultry weather. :no: Jack
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Well yesterday was a bad bee day. I was totally relaxed, fully suited with a smoker that stayed lit. It was sunny and hot, around 11am. The conditions were ideal. The hive has not been disturbed in several days. So I needed to check the feeders, adjust the ER and take a look at the frames. Needless to say, the girls were very aggressive. The frames are loaded with honey, nectar and lots of capped brood. The hive is not consuming much of the sugar water, so they must have found a food source outside that they like. They did not want me disturbing them. And as someone mentioned earlier.....once one the guards tries to sting you and releases that pheromone the game is on. So I had all kinds of stingers on my suit and a couple that got through. This hive is a ten framed and those frames are all filled out, so the girls have lots to protect. Is there something different I can do to calm things down?
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You only have the one hive?
I would requeen When every thing is right and they are still mean it is time for her to go.
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Upon further review I think I realize what I did wrong. There was a group of girls, kind of a large group bunched together fanning the hive at the front entrance. Then I messed with the ER and that was a bad idea.lol. Funny how in retrospect one can usually recognize their errors. All the little tasks I tried to do after that just made things worse. I mowed pretty close to that hive today and they just ignored me. So I don't think this hive is especially aggressive, I think I do dumb things make them mad. I was studying some documentation regarding hive behavior when I lucked up on "fanning". This will be my "learn something new" for this day.
Thanks for all your suggestions and for sharing your experiences. I learn a lot from you all and appreciate your patience with a rookie.
And now I'm getting back into my baseball game (on tv)...I'm addicted.
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Suggestion:
After removing the roof and the inner cover, apply some smoke to the top of the hive and cover the entire top of the hive with a piece of heavy fabric. Then fold it back to expose only the frame closest to the side wall of the hive. Using the hive tool, "squeeze" the frames together. Then pry the frame closest to the wall away from the others (giving room to raise it without rolling the bees) and lift it out gently, examine it and put it aside. Fold back the fabric to expose the second frame and similarly move it away from the third frame and remove it from the hive for inspection. This way you can progess across the entire super, examining each frame while the others are covered with the fabric.
The examined frames can be put down, standing on their sides, next to the hive you are working, on the side away from you, or in an empty super. If you put them in an empty super, you can also cover them with another piece of cloth or an inner cover.
Working your way through the frames this way, keeping as many as possible of the frames and bees covered, generally keeps even the most antagonistic of families relatively quiet. This, of course, doesn't mean that you don't have to use your smoker. Carefully applying smoke is always a good assistant for removing and examining frames.
If necessary, you can also spread the fabric to cover the entire box while you are examining each frame. The fewer bees exposed, the better you can control them and any smoke you apply for control dissipates more slowly.
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:agree: EF, The part about setting the frame on the ground on the other side of the hive is good advice :yes: it took me several stings up the pant leg to learn not to set the frame against the hive by your feet :no: Jack
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I have a couple of suggestions for your consideration: if your bees are hot enough to be fanning, the entrance reducer should go all together. Also if they have 10 full frames, you should have another box on top already. A good rule is to add another box whey they cover 8 frames in the first. If you don't give them room, they will swarm.
As for the original post: bees are like dogs, some varieties are meaner than others. My bees are calm and I wear no protective gear of any kind, just a baseball cap so they don't tangle in my hair. Normally I go through all my hives with no stings at all except for the occasional one on the finger from squishing one. A couple of times a year they get rowdy on me and I have to run for cover and come back with a veil, happens to everyone.
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I have a couple of suggestions for your consideration: if your bees are hot enough to be fanning, the entrance reducer should go all together. Also if they have 10 full frames, you should have another box on top already. A good rule is to add another box whey they cover 8 frames in the first. If you don't give them room, they will swarm.
Pete beat me to it. I think crowding can cause some crankiness.
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My bees have several supers of honey on them (been a good year) and it has turned dry here. They are not flying much in this hot humid weather and even the hives with screen bottom boards are bearding, they are saying rain most of this weekend and and next week, but i can hear thunder all around and towns close by getting 1 in. to 3 in. of rain but not a drop here. :sad: Took two comb honey supers of beautiful white capped honey off yesterday and put in the freeze, they were not happy to let me take it. :no: For the last month abd still, when i take the lid off they fly up and say, My Name Is Sue, How Do You Do. :o Jack