Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => HONEYBEE REMOVAL => Topic started by: Luckyparrot on July 01, 2009, 01:42:45 pm
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Hi Robo,
I just did a cut out and I got about 11 frames of broods and eggs, plus lots of bees and queen too. But these bees are extremely aggressive. I have a much gentle smaller hive, with only 3 frame of broods and eggs. Should I order a new queen from internet, or should I do the trap out, using eggs from my gentle hive? Thanks
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I'd suggest buying a new queen, local if possible. I'm not sure what you mean by a trap out, but even if you did try to let the aggressive hive requeen with eggs from your gentle hive, with 11 frames of brood and eggs, you'll have your hands full trying to prevent them from raising a queen from the old queen. Since it is an aggressive hive, I would advise not to introduce the new queen too quickly as they might not accept her if done too quick.
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Almost every cut out I have done has been agressive when first brought home but I find that after 6 months or so in one of my yards they almost always settle down.
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Thanks Robo and BeeFarmer. The bees are little calmer now. At first I didn't know how bad they are, that's why I put them too close to the street, but now I want to put the hive all the way to the back yard, about 300 ft away. My question is how many days do I have shut the entrance before letting them out, so that they don't fly back to the old location?
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Why is this sticky? I nearly missed it.
I wouldn't keep them shut in at all this time of year. Way to hot and you'll have dead bees. Stick a leafy branch in front of the entrance and they should reorient.
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Ditto to the "Charmed one" place a branch in front of the entrance and lightly stuff a little green grass in the entrance... should make them reorient
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Thanks, Charm and Farmer. I would never found that trick out by myself in a thousand years! I opened the box and helped the bees to remove rubber bands. I'd tied so much rubber bands that the bees spent the whole week chewing and pulling them out. Very hygienic bees.
Here is the picture of the queen and her workers. http://picasaweb.google.com/Luckyparrot2009/Queen#
Do you think they are normal bees or they are Africans?
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Hi Lucky, You can't tell just by looking whether or not your bees are AHB. You will need to send them to a lab to determine if they have some african in them.
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they look good to me, magnify the pics and did not see any mites either.
doubt they are AHB or it would have been tough taking those pics :lau:
G3
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them mighty yellow bees to be AHB. sure a pretty queen ... if they was AHB you wouldnt be in there messing with rubber bands even if you are lucky! LOL give em time... bet they settle right down.
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My introduction to beekeeping was in Tennessee where I was given 2 hives that had been left out in the woods for a couple of years. They were essentially wild bees having not seen a beek since their grandparents were alive. One hive was strong the other very sparse, but both were NASTY MEAN! They buzzed angrily in my face, covered my suit and gloves and tried to crawl up my pant-legs. The strong hive emptied when I smoked it so I ended up leaving most of crankiest bees behind when I moved the hives to my house. When I pulled the block from the entrance at home, more bees poured out and tried to attack me. This was years before any African bees appeared in the U.S. One managed to find a hole in the worn out hood the guy gave me and I had a bee in my bonnet! I got away from the hive as I struggled to unzip it and get it off. I whipped off the hood and ran for the house with the bee in hot pursuit. Normally, bees won't pursue you beyond a few yards from the hive. Not this one! she chased me 3 laps around the house and stayed with me in spite of my ducking under branches. I finally escaped into the house. When I came back out a few minutes later, she resumed the chase! I sprinted to where I dropped my hood and managed to put in on to protect my face. At that point I stopped. She landed on me to sting whereupon I mashed her guts out. It took a few weeks, but they eventually calmed down without re-queening. The guards were still agressive and would buzz angrily at my hood, but the rest got used to my intrusions. Give them time, they'll be fine.
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Thanks alot guys. The bees are nicer to me now. However, there seemed to be not as much bees as the beginning. I also found a strange insect in the hive last time I opened it. Since the hive is under the tree, I'm not sure that this thing fell from the tree or it was living inside the hive.
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I tried to post the picture here but don't really know how, so I have to use Picasa. http://picasaweb.google.com/Luckyparrot2009/Insect#