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Author Topic: how hot is too hot for everyone?  (Read 5210 times)

Offline 10framer

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how hot is too hot for everyone?
« on: March 09, 2014, 12:35:13 pm »
i work in a veil, jeans and a tee shirt.  i have one hive that is by far my best producer and the queen is a laying machine.  unfortunately they are my hottest hive.  it's rare to get through them with less than a dozen stings and more is what i usually get.
this hive is one deep and one medium full of brood and another medium with 1/4 last years honey and 3/4 fresh nectar.  i have a deep with a few drawn comb and the rest foundation under all that and the bees really haven't moved down but they are making queen cups.
to me the trade off is worth it.  how does everyone else feel about it?  i want to graft off of this queen but i eventually want to do some small scale queen production for sale and i'm wondering how many people are willing to take the hits for the performance.  this is the only hive i have that consistently stings.  so, what's too hot to yall?

Offline tefer2

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2014, 01:02:32 pm »
I have a couple like that also, fairly sure that they have a good chunk of Russian genetics in them.
They survive with no treatments of any kind.
Have to make sure I have no open holes in my protection and my flame thrower lite and ready.
I keep them away from everything due to the fact that they will tear your tail up.
My plan is to cut some daughters off of them this spring and see if I can tame them down.
Move the nucs to my NWC yard and mate them there.
They do make a ton of honey, but I hate working them  :hissyfit:
Thought about leaving the covers off them this fall!  :-D
« Last Edit: March 09, 2014, 07:51:15 pm by tefer2 »

Offline Hokie Bee Daddy

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2014, 01:35:26 pm »
Too hot for me is when they light up the wife.  She reminds me in our house that she is the only queen that matters :-D

Offline HomeSteadDreamer

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2014, 03:50:13 pm »
I wear more protection so ......

But I'm a wimp,  I don't like it when they follow me 100 feet.  That happens too often and I'll requeen.  I'm lucky though I have some fairly tame bees.  I have one hive that is alittle hotter than the others.  The minute I crack their lid they find the point where my jeans are up against my leg and get me.  They seem to be better and quicker at it then all the other hives.  But I only get one to two stings and not everytime I go in.  12+ that's to hot for me but as stated I"m a wimp.   :-P

Offline Edgy

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2014, 06:28:02 pm »

They do make a ton of honey, but I hate working those f@#$ers.  :hissyfit:
Thought about leaving the cover off them this fall!  :-D
Hey tefer2;  Ship them to me, I'll take them, stings and all

Offline hjon71

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #5 on: March 09, 2014, 06:57:55 pm »
I haven't run into a hot hive yet but if I do I wouldn't hesitate to requeen. Any more than 3 or 4 stings would be enough for me. I like honey but not that much :-D
Quite difficult matters can be explained even to a slow-witted man, if only he has not already adopted a wrong opinion about them; but the simplest things cannot be made clear even to a very intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he already knows, and knows indubitably, the truth of the matter under consideration. -Leo Tolstoy

Offline AliciaH

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2014, 07:06:35 pm »
Too hot for me is when I remove the lid and all I see is a black tunnel of bees heading straight for my veil!  I've only had one hive like that and I hated it!  There was a queen issue that got resolved just shy of my dismantling the hive and dispersing the boxes among other hives....whew!

Offline RHBee

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #7 on: March 09, 2014, 07:54:35 pm »
When I can't approach the hive without getting stung. Entering the hive I expect stings.
Later,
Ray

Offline 10framer

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #8 on: March 09, 2014, 09:39:21 pm »
tefer, i suspect they have russian genetics because the hive kept a viable queen cell all the time last year.  they were sold to me as open bred glenn apiaries vsh, blah, blah, blah.
hjohn, they don't really meet my standards for hot.  hot to me is so many stings that you can't work them because you can't scrape stingers out fast enough.  more like what alicia described.
homestead, that's why i shared what i wear.  long sleeves would eliminate about 2/3 of the stings.  for some reason they target my arms more than my hands.
ray, that's how i see it.  someone leaning more toward commercial or sideliner would probably buy queens that put out bees that are a bit more defensive.  i'm going to graft off of her but i'm going to be careful about what yards her daughters go to.

Offline Michael Bush

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #9 on: March 09, 2014, 09:40:54 pm »
I do "three strikes and your out".  If I think they are hotter than they should be I put in a red pin.  If they are nice the next time, I take the pin back out.  If they ever get to three they get requeened.  If I think the queen has particularly good traits, I my just dequeen them and let them raise another queen.  This often calms them down as well and I don't lose that line of genetics.
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Offline GSF

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #10 on: March 09, 2014, 09:54:04 pm »
I know some of my bees have got pretty hot since I done that split last Sunday. I got hit twice today. I'm a whimp also, I just don't like stings. I realize it comes with the territory. I can promise everyone, if I go in my hives at any length I'll be fully suited.
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Offline 10framer

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #11 on: March 09, 2014, 11:12:42 pm »
michael, i'm going to move her into a nuc as soon as i start seeing a lot of drones and let that hive make honey this year and graft my second round off of her and use her nuc as a comb builder.  after i see how her daughters do i'll figure out where to integrate them.  

Offline hjon71

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #12 on: March 10, 2014, 02:27:13 am »
Me too GSF. I suit up everytime. This is my hobby, it should be enjoyable. A dozen stings is NOT my idea of fun.
Quite difficult matters can be explained even to a slow-witted man, if only he has not already adopted a wrong opinion about them; but the simplest things cannot be made clear even to a very intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he already knows, and knows indubitably, the truth of the matter under consideration. -Leo Tolstoy

Offline JackM

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #13 on: March 10, 2014, 08:45:13 am »
That is a good question.  I think Michael's idea is probably the best, especially if you have a lot of hives.  I need to be able to walk by my hives without them feeling threatened.  I have back yard hives.  My hottest hive got requeened last year by the split method, and it was a much calmer hive after that, same genetics, different queen. 
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Offline 10framer

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #14 on: March 10, 2014, 09:27:00 am »
jack, i can walk all around them without a bunch coming out after me.  maybe one will buzz me now and then but that's it.  for now i'm going to keep her and her daughters on my property and watch them for see how they act this year and next then decide if they go directly into the breeding stock.  i don't want to raise queens that local beekeepers don't want and i don't want bees that farmers don't want on their property.

Offline capt44

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #15 on: March 10, 2014, 10:33:31 am »
I have 2 hives I had tested last year for Africanized bees.
The test came back negative but at times those gals are hott'ern a two dollar pistol.
I think sometimes they get agitated at nite by critters.
I have Italians.
Richard Vardaman (capt44)

Offline 10framer

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #16 on: March 10, 2014, 11:14:05 am »
my bees appear to be italian with some carnis in the mix except for one hive that i'd give you a dollar for every yellow band you find (just a fluke that they turned out so close to pure carni).  the hive in question looks like close to pure italians every now and then you'll see a black worker.  
after watching the carni hive winter and basically ignore hive beetles i'm thinking about eliminating them from the gene pool.  i hived a swarm a couple of miles from my place last year and they were mutts and they didn't bother with beetles much either.  i don't like seeing 20 beetles and no workers chasing them when i pull the top off.
i'm willing to take a few stings if i never see more than one or two beetles in a hive.

Moots

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #17 on: March 10, 2014, 01:00:41 pm »
i work in a veil, jeans and a tee shirt.  i have one hive that is by far my best producer and the queen is a laying machine.  unfortunately they are my hottest hive.  it's rare to get through them with less than a dozen stings and more is what i usually get.


Wouldn't the easier answer be to simply suit up a little more when working that hive.  Then you get the best of both worlds, big time honey production, without big time sting counts!  :-D

Sort of like dealing with a dog that always wants to bite you.  That's a manageable problem, at least you know what you are dealing with...What's tough is when you have a dog that wants to bite you half the time and lick you the other half!  :?

Offline 10framer

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #18 on: March 10, 2014, 01:42:49 pm »
moots, i've considered wearing a long sleeved shirt.  i'm really more interested in how many people are willing to trade a few stings for high production.  this is going to be one of my breeder queens this year, i'm just wondering if i decided to sell queens at some point if people would buy bees from this line.

Offline Royall

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Re: how hot is too hot for everyone?
« Reply #19 on: March 10, 2014, 02:04:18 pm »
 
after watching the carni hive winter and basically ignore hive beetles i'm thinking about eliminating them from the gene pool.  i hived a swarm a couple of miles from my place last year and they were mutts and they didn't bother with beetles much either.  i don't like seeing 20 beetles and no workers chasing them when i pull the top off.
i'm willing to take a few stings if i never see more than one or two beetles in a hive.

10framer, what you said about the carni ignoring the SHB. Is this a trait of the carni, or just a trait of the genetics of that particular hive? I don't know what kind of bees I have. I guess I'd better get some "flash" cards made up and go look at the girls!


 

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