grumpy bees

[dtompsett]

My limited experience... time will tell if the hive is just mean.

Poor weather makes for grumpy bees
strong hives makes for grumpy bees (more to protect)
moving, disturbing, rearranging boxes... makes for grumpy bees.

Sometimes it's environmental/situational... and sometimes it's just bad genetics. I've had strong hives turn progressively HOTTER, only solution was to requeen.

Hives at my house have a flight path across the whole backyard/front yard. Now that the flow has dried up, I've been chased out of the backyard a few times. Can't blame the bees... 6 strong, 2 medium, and 3 nucs... Lets say 50k/30k/15k... that's somewhere around 400,000+ bees in the backyard alone (not including the other nucs in the front yard). That said, my immediate neighbour has never complained of bees being an issue.


I'm always amazed at how strong and docile a swarm can be. Caught one 2 weeks ago, and another last week. Both from the same hive (Which only had a tiny cluster this spring and minimal stores left... but couldn't bring myself to combine with another). The most recent swarm I caught, the parent hive had 8+ frames of capped brood, a bunch of it hatched, and off goes the swarm. If they had a queen she was a virgin... 6 days later no eggs, so I gave them a cell (started a batch last week). In the meantime, the 5F nuc box they're in is PACKED with bees... and they are incredibly docile... open the lid, bees just sit still. Pull a frame out, they're too busy drawing comb to care about me. Same thing with swarm #1 I caught... although they have a queen so they're a little more active.

But a queenless nuc with older bees and emerging brood is a little grumpy with me.

[Allen Dick]

I agree. IMO, this is just a mood related to the move. Otherwise, it is the location.

[cam bishop]

I have mentioned how my hives were cranky before 0900 in the mornings on canola pollination and gentle as kittens after 0900; how bees that were vicious in Ontario were gentle when I brought them to Alberta; and how US beekeepers said that bees they worked without a veil in California were hot, hot, hot when moved to Arizona.

I have several hives in one yard that are quite docile when there's a flow on.. and meet me at the truck door when there's not. Maybe that's the problem with your sale? Another thought is the bees haven't located any nectar and are extra defensive defending stores because of the move?

[Allen Dick]

Could be. Only time will tell. Different people have different sensitivities to having bees look at them. So far I heard no mention of anyone being stung, merely followed.

[Vance G]

I went on one of my regular fools errands today concerning defensive bees. I will not tolerate a colony that comes looking for me when I come in the yard and whom I can't work with bare hands especially during a flow. I drove some distance and picked up queens to break up a really bad bunch in a strong hive. Low and behold I went in they were queenless! Not a drone cell left unemerged. I have heard of queenless hives being grumpy as you put it but I had never seen it like this. Since I had the queens I used them and will recombine or winter as nucs depending on the rest of the season. I wonder if they will act like swarms and really get after it or if they will just fade. I may just use them to requeen a couple of dinks by combining with them.

[Allen Dick]

I guess the lesson I learned here was that I should have moved the hive a time or two the day before to lose the flying bees. That way the hive would have fewer defenders and it would take a few days to get a field force back and by then they would be settled down. I wanted to be sure to give full measure, but my generosity is coming back to bite me it seems. Apparently, the bees are not attacking, just following, but for people who don't know bees, that is intimidating.

[dtompsett]

"Production hive"... I wish I could get my hives bearding like that with a stack of supers... and not have them swarming! Seems like regardless of the genetic lines in the hives, they don't beard. Maybe because we don't have the hot temps you're seeing.

It's been another cool wet week in Northern Ontario. Sunny days and rainy afternoons. The house (with no A/C) is holding around 66F, and likely will be cooler after another day of cold and rain. I extracted a pile of supers last week, and *fingers crossed* I'll be able to get them back onto some of the hives tonight before I head on vacation for a week... long range is still mid-20's and sun.

[Allen Dick]

I'm glad I don't have a skunk. These beards are sitting ducks.

Beards are usually a sign of a heavy flow as well as a bit of crowding, but these hives have room. I have a lot of foundation on them.

These hives are pretty good, but they are all splits and probably half the size of the really big hives we ran at times. Such hives needed seven or eight supers.

We've had a pretty good summer so far, with heat when we need it and good rains every so often.

Hope Ontario warms up. I haven't been there since April and I am hoping to make it down in August.

[karen]

Our weather has been damp and cool. That makes for grumpy bees so I am just leaving them alone. We have had white wet fog every morning until noon for over a week. Temperatures in the low 70's, great for working but it makes for grumpy bees with it being so cool things never dry. They are saying it is the coldest summer we have had in a long time. The bees have made honey but right now they are probably loosing weight with the wet weather we have had.

[cam bishop]

Was in my hives today... still have a light flow on... but no grumpy bees. did have one new queen die in the cage this week. but otherwise bees are doing great.

[dtompsett]

I made the mistake of leaving a few extracted supers sitting on the back step while I ran over to a yard last night.

Based on the massive numbers of bees attacking those empty supers, I'll have to say we have no flow right now. Feels pointless to be stacking more boxes on hives... come on 2nd blooms!

[Allen Dick]

We got an inch of rain last night. I'm seeing light robbing this morning.