under seige from angry bees advice please

Moors for the Heather in a couple of days
So decide to take the summer honey off
One hive one brood box 5 supers all supers full of bees and
honey
Ive never seen so many bees in a hive theyre everywhere and of course as I ve
taken their honey extremely p**s*d off
My question is this
How long do you reckon itll take for them to settle down?
Laying seige to the house at present
Do I smoke them back into the hive massed at entrance
Ive put 2 supers with drawn out comb and a couple of frames of honey back on top to give them space
Advice appreciated

James

The last time I p**sed off my bees while doing a split they were waiting for me for the next two days. My hives are a distance from the house but they had guards stationed about 30 yards from the hive so walking (running fast) past the hive became difficult.

I read in a recent post that a beek went armed with a water washing up liquid mix and as the bees attacked he was able to "reduce to taste" it seemed a bit radical but if you or your family can't leave the house...

stoneleighhouse said:

Moors for the Heather in a couple of days
So decide to take the summer honey off
One hive one brood box 5 supers all supers full of bees and
honey
Ive never seen so many bees in a hive theyre everywhere and of course as I ve
taken their honey extremely p**s*d off
My question is this
How long do you reckon itll take for them to settle down?
Laying seige to the house at present
Do I smoke them back into the hive massed at entrance
Ive put 2 supers with drawn out comb and a couple of frames of honey back on top to give them space
Advice appreciated

James

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4 to 7 days... if left completely alone and if they were docile to begin with.

Doing less of the things that pixs the bees off might be another solution. Shame on whoever suggested the washing-up liquid treatment!

heidiherrmann said:

Doing less of the things that pixs the bees off might be another solution. Shame on whoever suggested the washing-up liquid treatment!

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heidiherrmann said:

Doing less of the things that pixs the bees off might be another solution. Shame on whoever suggested the washing-up liquid treatment!

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Can't argue with that ... the bees usually know what they want ... I'm pretty sure they would hate washing up liquid and it would piss them off even more !

(Altered as didn't read properly)

They will be unhappy for quite a while unless you have a flow on

Pargyle

Washing up liquid will kill bees

TOBY-3652 said:

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But he is right is he not? how would you like it if someone took the roof off your house and emptied the larder the freezer and the fridge all at once. most likely you would panic and run outside to see what is going on too, then call out the police and the army.
I intend to take a little more this weekend after using a cover board with escapes to reduce the havoc and trauma while providing another super lower down for them to work on. And there does seem to be plenty of forage here at the moment. I have also decided to keep smoke for emergency use only and use icing sugar or water to distract them when working on the hive. all that smoke cannot be good for them or me.

VEG said:

Pargyle

Washing up liquid will kill bees

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Wonder who the idiot was who suggested it ? I'll not even squirt water on my bees !!

Ok what would YOU do with 5 supers then --sprinkle them with icing sugar I suppose

stoneleighhouse said:

Ok what would YOU do with 5 supers then --sprinkle them with icing sugar I suppose

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Perhaps with five full supers left in place and trying to take them all at once you my have been better advised to start earlier removing them one at a time over a period of a week or two using a clearer board to get the bees out of one or two at a time.

If your bees are normally calm and have reacted badly to circumstances then I would have left them to it and thought again.

Strikes me you were in too much of a hurry to get them to the heather and didn't plan ahead enough. As for icing sugar ,... well, I seem to have more idea than you ! I can pick frames out of my very full (at present) hive in the evening when they are all in there ... without being chased off.

Oh take em off a week at a time eh
Dont wait for capping then

stoneleighhouse said:

Oh take em off a week at a time eh
Dont wait for capping then

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I didn't say a week at a time ... however, if you have five uncapped supers then perhaps it may just be a little too greedy to take them all off so that you can move them to the heather to get another five supers. I'd forget the heather and give them time to cap what they have made, take what they can stand when the season finishes or buy a refractometer and see what state the uncapped honey is in then make a measured decision about what to do next. If it's not ripe there's not a lot of point in taking it off.

If I was one of your bees I think I would be a bit pissed off at treatment like you intend handling out.

Precisely old cock I was waiting for it to be capped
by the way no winter losses no swarming no gloves and give the honey away but made a mistake today ,,never had 5 supers on a hive before ,, hence I ask for advice
Sometimes on this forum you get useful advice sometimes people just want to tell you how clever they are

stoneleighhouse said:

Precisely old cock I was waiting for it to be capped
by the way no winter losses no swarming no gloves and give the honey away but made a mistake today ,,never had 5 supers on a hive before ,, hence I ask for advice
Sometimes on this forum you get useful advice sometimes people just want to tell you how clever they are

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Not me, I'm rarely judgemental ... well done, you're obviously doing some things right. If your bees can normally be handled without gloves then they are telling you something when they chase you off.

Still think you should leave them to cap it off in the existing supers. Forget the heather and use a clearer board to get them out of the supers.

Perhaps if you had said that more clearly in the first place we would all have been able to be more helpful. My entry to the thread was only to comment on the potential for spraying bees with fairy liquid. We all get it wrong sometimes and I'm no exception ... but I'm learning to be very patient when it comes to bees.

Oh ...and so far there's not been any better advice ?

Well chose to ignore the fairy with the liquid
I guess the truth is I've learned a lesson not to be in such a rush to meet self imposed deadlines
It wouldnt have really mattered if Id taken 3 hives to the Heather instead of 4
Heck of a diet though lost 5 pounds in the process sweatng in a bee suit
Bit sorry for my bees though very good natured, love em to bits

stoneleighhouse said:

Well chose to ignore the fairy with the liquid
I guess the truth is I've learned a lesson not to be in such a rush to meet self imposed deadlines
It wouldnt have really mattered if Id taken 3 hives to the Heather instead of 4
Heck of a diet though lost 5 pounds in the process sweatng in a bee suit
Bit sorry for my bees though very good natured, love em to bits

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Well - you have my sympathy - and patience is a lesson I'm still learning. I could do with losing a few pounds but there's got to be easier ways that sweating your nuts off in a bee suit !

Whereabouts in Derbyshire are you ? Spent a lot of time there in my youth, train from Swinton to Sheffield and then Hathersage for walking. Edale, Kinder etc. Lovely part of the world. South Debyshire is where my family originate from - we owned Heage Hall in the 1700's having come down with Bonnie Prince Charlie in the '45 rebellion. Stayed and settled to farm 100 acres in Heage (well, they spent most of the time robbing people on the Ripley - Belper turnpike actually !).

Just a few miles north of Derby
The Heather honey's just an excuse to spend time on the moors in the early morning and at dusk, the silence and traquility are good for the soul