# Is late afternoon to early dusk the worst time to check hive?



## indypartridge (Nov 18, 2004)

shaneTX said:


> In others experience, is 5-7pm the worst time to inspect a hive?


I usually don't get home until after 5pm, so I've often been in my hives during that time frame and generally don't have any problems. I'm guessing your bees were grumpy for some other reason (dearth, weather, you name it).


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## jbraun (Nov 13, 2013)

After your bees have spent all summer collecting and storing honey they now have a reason to be protective. I wouldn't be any different any other time of day. This is why we wear our bee suits. The first time that you have a cloud of bees flying into your face and trying to string through your suit can be pretty unnerving.

Your bees may have been upset because of other animals trying to get their honey as well.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

I tend to expect bees to be more aggressive, considerably more, this time of year. not so much any time of the day particularly. but your observation has caused me to think that it is possible bees having a poor day needed to have had a day that was poor. I am wondering if early morning inspections might improve the experience when bees are expected to be aggressive/protective.


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## NiceTom (Jul 23, 2015)

As it gets closer to evening, all the bees will be coming home, while in the middle of the day, a good portion of the bees will be away.


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## THEROOKIE (May 27, 2015)

I'm about 30 miles from Houston. With all the rain we have had the past few days I noticed my hives were extremely busy yesterday. Sometime the changing weather makes them pissy. Or it could just be they needed the exercise.


shaneTX said:


> The weather was unseasonably cool yesterday after some rain in houston. Yup. It was only 79F at 1pm. Crazy. I figured I would take advantage of the weather and go out to the farm and check on the girls.
> 
> I opened the hive about 6:30 , used smoke and all and I was quickly was chased off. They were boiling out of the hive as soon as the lid was off. I decided they were having a bad day so shut the hive up and went to the other one. Same thing.
> 
> ...


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## Titus_TN (Jun 13, 2016)

Bees work during the day and want to rest in the evening. The time on the clock won't matter as much as where the sun is. If the sun is starting to go down in the 5--7 range, you'll have angry bees when you disturb them. If the sun is still up in the sky, their behavior will be based on other factors. 

For what it's worth, I have successfully worked bees in the 5:00--6:30 range at a time of the year when that would be late afternoon based on the sun. Once it transitions to true evening and starts getting dark, you're looking at getting stung, like I did when I tried to work them just a little bit later than that in the day.


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## Agis Apiaries (Jul 22, 2014)

A lot of factors can get them cranky:

Overcast or rain coming
Dearth
Late in the day
Late in the season
Been recently harassed by invaders (animals, other insects, etc.)


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## Motomania (Oct 31, 2015)

Agis Apiaries said:


> A lot of factors can get them cranky:
> 
> Overcast or rain coming
> Dearth
> ...


-
I've made mental notes myself on what time of the day inspections work best for me. All things considered equal; Ive found consistently that getting into my hive between 10-2 has really been ideal for me. It seems most of the foragers are out; hard at work. Other times of the day when the whole gang is home; mob mentality can take over quickly...........but keep in mind; I am a total noob this year.


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