Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => Swarms, Cut Outs, Trap Outs and Bee Trees => Topic started by: LazyBkpr on August 22, 2018, 09:19:04 am
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I have been in Maine, but I have not been without bees.
My buddies bees decided to swarm while we were having a rum and coke and walking through his bee yard. He panicked... I laughed at him. He got a little pouty. I convinced him to stand there in the middle of the swarm with me. Wide eyed and a little pale, he stood looking around and said..... wow!
Yep, a new initiate to the wonder of a bee swarm!
Now, to the hard part.... They clustered in a tree about 10 feet up. He had his son gather ladder, box, bucket, etc... Once they were well settled and I had set up the new hive to accept them, I laughed at the bee suit offered and climbed the ladder, and shook them into the bucket.
I had abpout 10 stings by the time I was on the ground. I dumped them in the hive, put the lid on, and walked away, having about 40 stings by then.... walked into the cornfield about 40 yards away, and I know I took another 20 or so stings getting there.
I have NEVER seen such aggressive bees while swarming...
He said they stayed in the box and they were nice as pie to work with... While I am glad they stayed and all the stings were worth it, I have to wonder WHY they were so angry?
Scraped all the stingers out.. two hours later I threw up, Twice... then I was fine, and went back to Rum and Coke....
Yeah, he laughed so hard he cried. My wife laughed, HIS wife laughed, the other spectators laughed... they all had a great time.. Sometimes entertaining everyone is painful! But, that IS the story of my life!
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Well that's an interesting story. I hope we have some opinions posted regarding the nasty attitudes.
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Really enjoyed the story, though I did wince a bit for your stings. :)
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scott, good to hear from you and have missed you!
i have never experienced collecting a swarm that became aggressive or receiving stings while collecting them. perhaps they were aggressive based on why they swarmed? or environment? genetics?
i have retrieved some swarms that became snarky AFTER i collected them and hived them. couple years ago, took a huge swarm off some grapevines in a vineyard. no problems, some of the scouts coming back in to the vines were a little annoyed, but overall, no problems. hived them, and wow, they were hard to work, but queen laid awesome, and honey production was great. little buggers absconded in the fall, and have no clue why.
not sure why these swarming bees were aggressive?
maybe it was the rum and coke............ :D :D :laugh:
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I have been in Maine, but I have not been without bees.
My buddies bees decided to swarm while we were having a rum and coke and walking through his bee yard. He panicked... I laughed at him. He got a little pouty. I convinced him to stand there in the middle of the swarm with me. Wide eyed and a little pale, he stood looking around and said..... wow!
...
Scraped all the stingers out.. two hours later I threw up, Twice... then I was fine, and went back to Rum and Coke....
There's the problem. I bet you never offered them any rum and coke.
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I'm surprised no one mentioned it but I'll just say it. The real tragic part of this story is all that good rum getting wasted! :laugh:
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Hi Scott! :) That is just crazy that a swarm is that stingy! But I have to say that here in upper northern Calif there have been plenty of complaints regarding hot bees. No news of africanized bees yet.
This is the first season I have purchased hybrid queens for nucs, brought up from southern Calif. So far I am liking them a lot. Great layers and so far producing friendly bees.
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Is July a time of year for reproductive swarms in Maine? In Piedmont North Carolina, this is after our regular swarm season. ("A swarm in July is not worth a fly.") Bees are "swarming" (absconding) for some less than ideal reason. In our area, best case would be that they have been crowded by nectar/honey and need space. More common would be starvation or weak hives leading to wax moth/small hive beetle infestations. If the bees are leaving without full loads of honey, they are likely to be testy. If the atmosphere is unstable, I have had less friendly swarms. Just some ideas.
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I have seen a swarm or two that had aggressive bees. I just avoided them after the headbutting. :)
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Yeah, good Idea Lee... except, we went from hanging peacefully in cluster to OUCH! No headbutting involved... I am thinking that Mrs River may be right. They were bailing out of their hive for a reason OTHER than because they WANTED to... and THEN, THEN.... this half drunk dude dumps them in a bucket?
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I like the mental picture of the unsuspecting, half drunk guy, knocking them into a bucket, seemingly without a care in the world, until..... Actually had me laughing! Thanks!
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Your laughter is justified bro. That half drunk guy DID knock them into a bucket without a care in the world... I have to admit, the HARD part of getting stung that many times, was walking CALMLY toward the corn field, trying not to look like I was an idiot.... I should have screamed like a girl and sprinted, it would have cut down about HALF the stings I got...