When do you consider a hive too HOT?

[riverbee]

whatever you do jj........please let us know how you dealt with it.....

[Gypsi]

EFmesch suggestion to split, with 2 new queens, smear the old gal on both queen cages, and just plan on a 4 hour bee day, but that would get you 2 strong healthy hives and the aggression drops immediately when less crowded

[LazyBkpr]

Saw a hive killed with a set of Oxy Acetylene torches.....   BOOOM
   Dont know why that one didnt kill one of us...   Never go to help a mad Redneck with hot bees, wait for the boom then go over to his house.....

   I like the sulfer, I have seen it done a few times, but have never had the SULFER to use if needed..  I'll have to see if I can find some. It sure would be handy next time I run across some of those MEAN black bees.

[Gypsi]

you need to come to texas and meet some ahb Lazybkpr

[Jen]

Scott- "Never go to help a mad Redneck with hot bees, wait for the boom then go over to his house.....

    LOL

[Bakersdozen]

If you want to destroy them, go to drugstore and get powdered sulfur. Get your smoker going good and put a tablespoon of sulfur on top the coals. Smoke the hive liberally. All bees will be dead within minutes. The sulfur will dissipate within a couple hours. You can eat the honey, feed it to the next package, whatever you want. There will be NO unwanted residue.

I just read in Larry Connor's Increase Essentials that sulfur has been used to kill bees since Medieval times.  Pre-Langstroth logic.  iddees suggestion would be considered "Tried and True". 

[brooksbeefarm]

Medieval Times i knew he was old? hmmm, so that's why he eats all that funny food. Jack

[kebee]

 I think Jack you may have bit off more than you can chew this time.

Ken

[brooksbeefarm]

Naw, at his age he's already forgot. Perry

[Curtchann]

Lazybkpr, you should be able to find powdered sulfer at a pharmacy. That's the last place I picked up some. When I was a kid living in Florida, we put that in our socks when hiking and camping in the scouts to keep the chiggers off of us.

[Gypsi]

I get it at the feed store but I use it for chiggers and to keep ticks off my land, not bees.

[LazyBkpr]

you need to come to texas and meet some ahb Lazybkpr

   I have met some mean bees, and they are as close to AHB as I care to get.  I watch the vids of folks going into Dee's hives, and I have to stop watching.. I get angry just seeing the vid.. there would be a LOT of burning hives if they were mine..  if/when the AHB ever manages to get into COLD climates, I will be done beekeeping shortly thereafter.   I talk about how mean my wife is, but honestly, I dont put up with ANYTHING that is mean, dog, bees, or wife. One of these days I am going to have to "sulfer" myself!!

[Gypsi]

Texas beekeepers are the first line of defense for our communities in preventing deaths due to AHB. 

While the AHB are diluting the DNA in our hives, we are diluting theirs. By the time they get to you they will be no worse than germans probably

[brooksbeefarm]

Gypsi, that's not encouraging Have you ever been around or had dealings with the German Black bees? Jack

[Gypsi]

Possibly, there was a hot feral hive of black bees but compared to Africans they were mild, just chased us off, no stings.  (owner wasn't paying for removal so I left them)

but how many people, horses, chickens and cattle have German Black Bees killed?  A hive of AHB in Pantego Texas put the man in the hospital with 500 stings woman about 300, killed 2 miniature horses.

[brooksbeefarm]

Back in the German Black bees hey day the news med. wasn't that great (mostly Radio, no tv) so there wouldn't no way to compare. I understand you have to make a noise (lawnmower, ect) or bother the hive of the AHB to rile them up . The German Black hives we finally burned would attack you for walking within 100ft. of there hive, and working a hive of them most of the time was a nightmare , they would cover your veil and upper clothing. There were times i worked them during a flow that they act more normal, but not what we call normal these days, and that's why we kept them around. Then farmers started talking in the feed stores and telling about the gentle bees they bought  or a neighbor had (the Italian breed) and started changing. I'm not saying the German Black was worse than AHB but i'll put them a close second. Jack
PS. wonder what we would of had if the two of them would have crossed.

[Gypsi]

I do not want to know what would have happened of African Honey Bees and German Black Bees had crossed.  Full Africans you still usually get attacked if you disturb the hive, the couple in Pantego opened their shed door.  The groundskeepers in Aledo picked up a box behind a shed that happened to have a hive in it.  These people were not in suits.

The pantego couple had a bad time but that was 2 years ago, after 45 years of dilution the african bees are not quite as bad as they were, for which I am very very grateful.  I can requeen a hot hive, usually after about 2 years I have to, which means I can open the hive, and my bee suit isn't fancy and armored., and usually if I pick up a sting it is only 1 or 2 usually in glove if the duct tape slips or where suit is tight, through suit.

[rcannon]

Efmesch is dead on with his recommendation. Break them down into as many nucs as you can and requeen them. I think Florida Queen Bees & Honey may sell queens year round. They're down there fairly close to you, I think.
Jay, I think the state is full of crap about all feral hives being Africanized in Florida. That has not been my experience. Nor my state bee inspector's. He was raised in a beekeeping family and has been inspecting bees for years and he said he has never come across a hive that was confirmed Africanized.
The best hives I have are from feral hives and swarms that I've caught. I much prefer them to store-bought queens.