# dont know how much more i can take



## poor man (Sep 30, 2006)

these bees are killing me, i got my old suit all duct taped up so they cant get in, and ive now split them into 2 hives and they are still hot as all get out.. smoke doesnt phase them, you cant spray enough sugar water or fast enough to keep them down, they hit the veil like rocks outa a mower, they cover the veil so bad you cant see, .... the other day we were sitting on the porch talking and 1 bee flew through and mad a u turn and come back and stung me  now the hive is about 2-3 hundred feet from the house and they still will try to get ya while walking in the yard, i dont know what to do, i cant wait 2-3 months for a new queen to "calm" down the hive, my choises are getting slimmer buy the day  my wife is starting to hate bees already and i have a friend who is alergic to bee stings and with these as hot as theyare she cant even come over, i could move hive and all out in the woods farther away from the house but they would get verry little sun and proly would have more animale bugging them, im lost....thanks for all the help.......


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

Have you tried killing the queen? I have had hot hives that calmed down almost immediately after I pinched her, like 5 minutes. I don't know why, but I have seen it several times. I had to split one hive down to 5 frame nucs to find her, but as soon as she was gone, they calmed down. Even with a new queen, it usually only takes a few weeks to see a significant difference in attitude.


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## Keith Benson (Feb 17, 2003)

Split them again. Colonies can definitely ratchet up the aggression as the population builds. If you have the equipment, cut them down again and they should get better, at least more manageable. I will also make it easier to find and kill her highness.

Keith


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## poor man (Sep 30, 2006)

ok here is what i did, in the original hive there was 4 frames covered solid with bees, so i took 2 full frames of bees and brood and moved them to a 5 frame nuke (did this last night) bolth hives are just as hot as they were before i split them, i didnt want to make 4 hives by putting only 1 frame and make 4 hives as i thought there wouldnt be enough bees to keep everything warm, thanks


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

Did you ever resolve whether this hive is queenless?? My bet is that's the case here. Until you do something to get them a queen, breaking them up isn't going to solve your problems. In my opinion, with only four frames of REALLY nasty bees and no queen its almost a lost cause. Its going to be really hard to requeen this hive, without more resources than simply a purchased queen. You run a big risk of turning your wife and friends against you, which won't be good for future bee ventures. Unless you can get ahold of a beekeeper that would be willing to sell/give you some eggs or a nuc, I'd be tempted to wipe the slate clean and start fresh before someone really gets hurt.


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## Bigtbbq (Apr 12, 2008)

Im telling you poor man, take the mean bees back and place them on the porch of the guy you bought them from..... I will even pay for your gas....
You and your family DONT need hot bees like that, heck before long yer wife will say NO bees....
T.G.


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## iddee (Jun 21, 2005)

>>>Im telling you poor man, take the mean bees back and place them on the porch of the guy you bought them from.<<<


>>>I'd be tempted to wipe the slate clean and start fresh before someone really gets hurt.<<<

DITTO....Do one or the other now. One hive is not worth the hassle.


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## poor man (Sep 30, 2006)

AstroBee said:


> Did you ever resolve whether this hive is queenless?? My bet is that's the case here. Until you do something to get them a queen, breaking them up isn't going to solve your problems. In my opinion, with only four frames of REALLY nasty bees and no queen its almost a lost cause. Its going to be really hard to requeen this hive, without more resources than simply a purchased queen. You run a big risk of turning your wife and friends against you, which won't be good for future bee ventures. Unless you can get ahold of a beekeeper that would be willing to sell/give you some eggs or a nuc, I'd be tempted to wipe the slate clean and start fresh before someone really gets hurt.


there is caped brood, in the picture i posted the other day, so i guess there is a queen  
im still waiting for a good suit, now the ones in the nuke box seam to have calmed down a little bit today so im not sure witch box has the queen...

here is the pict http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/shan38574/aaaf0b46.jpg

and il quit bothering everybody wit my bee troubles... thanks


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## Sasha (Feb 22, 2005)

Capped brood doesn't mean that you have queen. Only if you can see eggs less than three days old can you think you have a queen in your hive. Capped brood is older. I forgot how many days lasts the brood cycle.


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## Bigtbbq (Apr 12, 2008)

and il quit bothering everybody wit my bee troubles... thanks[/QUOTE]

Poor man..... your NOT bothering anyone here..... If I offended you by saying take the girls back Im sorry... I didnt mean anything except total concern for yourself and your family. I feel so bad for you starting out with bees like this.
I think the guy you got them from knew they were out of controll and it sucks and is down right wrong for him not to warn you... and for a newbie, I dont think this is a good start.
I wouldnt want to start out with mean bees..... We "newbies" have alot to learn and no sence getting mobbed by angry girls....
So PLEASE keep sharing, seeking help, and know that we feel bad for you...

T.G.


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## iddee (Jun 21, 2005)

Ditto Tileguy

Don't go away. We just want to ensure you are still with us a month from now, not in court over unusually mean bees in the neighborhood. This hive isn't normal and would take all the fun out of beekeeping. We just think it would be better for you and the ones around you to get friendlier bees.

Like these:

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/Iddee/BEES016.jpg

Or these:

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/Iddee/BEES002.jpg


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## poor man (Sep 30, 2006)

tileguy said:


> and il quit bothering everybody wit my bee troubles... thanks


Poor man..... your NOT bothering anyone here..... If I offended you by saying take the girls back Im sorry... I didnt mean anything except total concern for yourself and your family. I feel so bad for you starting out with bees like this.
I think the guy you got them from knew they were out of controll and it sucks and is down right wrong for him not to warn you... and for a newbie, I dont think this is a good start.
I wouldnt want to start out with mean bees..... We "newbies" have alot to learn and no sence getting mobbed by angry girls....
So PLEASE keep sharing, seeking help, and know that we feel bad for you...

T.G.[/QUOTE]

No im not offened buy anything you ar anyone else has said. ive beat these hot bees into the ground trying to "fix" them and there is no "quick" fix and i cant/wont wait for weeks on end for them to cool off, so they have a few days to do "somthing" then we will see,,, 


Sasha...........

""Capped brood doesn't mean that you have queen. Only if you can see eggs less than three days old can you think you have a queen in your hive. Capped brood is older. I forgot how many days lasts the brood cycle.""

i have had these bees for about 2 weeks now so i dont know about the queen

thanks


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## Bigtbbq (Apr 12, 2008)

Thats what Im talking about iddee.... 
T.G.


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## allrawpaul (Jun 7, 2004)

I would euthanize them and start over. Same as I would with africanized bees. We dont need those genes in the genepool. Mean bees are a real pain. Like a barking, jumping and biting dog. Put em to sleep.


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## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

how often do you try to get into this hive


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## okb (Apr 16, 2007)

Poor Man, You could always register your bees and request the state inspector take a look at them. 

Or, contact your local beekeeping assocation and ask if they have someone who will assist you with them. I'm sure they have someone who would be more than happy to take a look for you. 

As for myself and probably most on here we wish we were closer to be a part of this experence.

Here is the contact information for the Cumberland county beekeepers association.

Cumberland County Beekeepers - meet 4th Thursday of each month at the Crossville Farm Bureau office at 7:00 p.m. Contact Kenneth Bryson, President, - (931) 484-6646 or Rebecca Abner, Secretary (931) 788-6297

Keep us posted.


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## poor man (Sep 30, 2006)

Riverrat.... i brought them home about 2 weeks ago, i let the hive set for about 3 days and then i tried to look to see what i had, didnt work; then i left them for about 3 more days and tried again no luck after that i just looked in on them and have been ate up 

Okb... thanks for the contact info, i didnt regester them as i have a thing for "big brother" looking in on me  i did have an older man from around the county (he has 3 hives for many years now) he looked in at them and was promptly ate up  he said kill em  there goes $75.00 out the window. i dont know when il have any extra money to buy more.

to the rest of yall............Thank you


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## LSPender (Nov 16, 2004)

*African*

Get rid of the mean bees. Then go find some gentle bees to work with.

My guess is you have an Africanized hive. 

If they are AHB, you will not be able to requeen, they will not let it happen.

You are best to start over, them the rest of the family will enjoy also.


Larry


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

You have uncapped brood so the queen was there at least a week ago.

Take them back to the guy you got them from and ask for a replacement nuc. A four frame nuc should not be that aggressive, you may have AHB with that kind of temperament.


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## sierrabees (Jul 7, 2006)

The biggest risk you have with these bees is that they might survive. You should never tolerate this level of aggressiveness. I would drop a chunk of dry ice into the hive at night when they were all home and seal the hive, clean out the dead bees the next day and order a package or two with new queens from gentle stock asap. Beekeeping should be an enjoyable occupation. If it isn't, it's up to you to change it.


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## trapperbob (May 27, 2007)

Register those bees and have them inspected they may be AHB. If they are I would demand a emediate replacement of your bees. the more bees in the box the more dangerous they will bee. If the inspector checks them and decides there just hot bees and not AHB go buy a queen and leave them alone for alittle while and your problems will be solved. Don't be dicouraged just let it be a learning experiance. If money is a issue then a top bar hive may be the way to go for you you have to make them yourself but they are less expensive overall and real easy to work with not to say you can't do it the regular way to and just starting out langs are probably the best way since most beeks use them and are more able to help you.


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## papar (Apr 10, 2007)

*send to the lab*

If you can, get some of those bees into a zip lock bag with some alcohol (maybe about 30) and send them to the test lab in beltsville, MD(you'll have to search out the address I don't have it handy)include a slip of paper with what you suspect is the problem and your return address. They will test them for free and send you the results in less then 2 weeks. The inspector would have to do the same thing anyway- might save you some time. If they are that aggressive and sesative to vibrations from your mower- I suspect possible AHB.
good luck.
ps
you can also ask to have them tested for nosema cerana- even though you don't have any symptoms it can be a silent killer


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

I would agree about having them tested.

This is the time of the year that bees should be their best. They have plenty to do and should be the easiest to work. If they are that hot now, it would only get worse later on.

Look for mud or scrape marks on the front of the hives. If they are being bothered every night from skunks or other animals, they can also have an attitude.

Good Luck.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

with testy bees a smoker and proper bee suit is essential. I had a group of bees that was unusally testy this spring (I worked them one day and they never seem to settle down) and when I moved them about 200 feed deeper into the woods and away from human movement (they had bothered the livestock very little) they seem to have calmed down. what a mess that was since all except one (which I left to catch the stragglers) was loaded down with honey.

most time I am not so much into killin' bees, but sometimes they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. requeening would be best, but if you think they have becomes to much of a hazard kill'em... kill'em all.


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## poor man (Sep 30, 2006)

thanks again yall....

a smoker seams to pee them off even more, a little or a lot of smoke same reaction...

i dont see any sign of anything bothering them at night, we have cats, 1 walked up to the hive to check it out one day and was promptly zaped a few times and hasnt been back over there at all  


i have found out that if i want to change feeder jars (have a couple entrance feeders sitting off to the side of the hive) i do it at night so i dont have to "suit up"


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## okb (Apr 16, 2007)

Poor Man,
If the hive is registered and you tell the inspecter the problems you are having and he finds a problem "AHB" he himself may have a little something to send/say to the guy who sold them to you.

Oh yeah, If the inspecter says/send a letter to that guy, remember it will some with a state seal on it, I dought seriously he will/can ignore it as he has you.

Better yet call these people below and tell them your story ask them should you register it and tell them there too hot to get into. See what they think.

http://state.tn.us/agriculture/regulate/apiary/apiarist.html


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## Brandy (Dec 3, 2005)

I've just gone through the same issue. Hotter than hot in my home neighborhood. Out of 20 hives this one has alway's been saved until last. It was a PB superceded queen that I probably cut some slack thinking she would shape up at some time. But after the last inspection with plenty of smoke on a 76 degree day I finally had enough. Had no interest in dividing up brood to have 4-6 hot hives or to add 3-4 new queen's to the divides and wait for these kamakazee's to die off. So, I took my loss now. I did make one mistake in taking the hive and splitting it in 3 different divides away from it's hive stand. At the time I was in the divide and conquer mode. But that left the returning field bee's to drift into the neighboring hives. Luckily I got most of them but there are still a few out there wondering who's the next target.


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## okb (Apr 16, 2007)

Brandy,
If you should encounter this in the future simply remove the hot queen, place one frame from the hot hive into another hive, place the frames removed from the "mild" hives into another empty box, when finished there should be no hive with more than one frame from the hot hive and another box with 10/8 frames that were removed to make room place this box at another location and allow them to produce their own queen. this shouldnt be a problem with that number of hives.

You end up with the same number of hives and the new queen will hopefully be of milder genitics.

Or just rid yourself of them completely.


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## Brandy (Dec 3, 2005)

Thought of that as I said. But handling 20 deep frames with a full on attack trying to find the ringleader (queenie) was asking for more fun than I wanted. I also would have cut out all the drone cells if I was going that route since I didn't want to risk any future queen mating's as I'm gearing up for grafting season. 
But the real issue was my neighbors with their young children. I've tried to reassure everyone that the bee's are not a threat. But if I can't go out into my yard without full protection then I put everyone at risk and I lose a little credibility. My home yard location is too valuable to me to let one hot hive become a problem. So, I tried to remedy the problem quickly (& in the dark!!) With additional yards I could have just moved them, to say Wyoming!!! Although they probably wouldn't have wanted them either!!


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## xen (Jun 12, 2003)

Hey was that first shot a swarm you picked up?


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