under seige from angry bees advice please

[Little John]

Sorry Stoneleighhouse I didn't mean to hijack your thread.

Yes indeed, same goes for me ...


Hachi: CO2 ? - as Derekm says: fire extinguishers and pub gas cylinders.

The problem with fire extinguishers is that the internal delivery tube runs from near the bottom of the cylinder to the exit valve - this is so that liquid CO2 exits through the cylinder valve rather than gas - thus providing the maximum amount of CO2 delivery in the minimum amount of time - which in practice is so fierce that the valve itself (plus any tubing nearby) will instantly be covered in ice as the CO2 turns from liquid to gas. Hence the 'do not hold here' warning labels which should be attached to the delivery horn.

You could use a fire extinguisher by using it in the inverted position, but you'd still need to find some way of controlling the flow - as their valves are on/off types, designed to supply 'all or nothing'.

I use pub gas CO2 for MIG welding, and control the flow using one of those floating-ball regulators normally used for oxygen delivery in hospitals - but even so, I haven't a clue how much CO2 to use. One idea I have is to put some perspex over one of the crown board holes and watch how the bees respond.

So - think I'll do a 2-stage operation: remove the foragers by re-locating the hive, and then dose the remaining bees with a few minutes of CO2, followed by a quick box dismantle - strip the frames away and dump all the bees into a Marburg box funnel to let any remaining foragers fly off, leaving the nurses to enter the box, with the queen remaining outside the Marburg Q/E ready to be squished.

At least that's 'Plan A', as at this morning ...


Stoneleighhouse - good to hear your situation is looking like being under some control again.

LJ

 

[pargyle]

Can you slide a clearer board under the supers to get the bees out of them ... even one super at a time if necessary. Get the supers out of the way, Then, move the brood box more than three feet away from its existing position (preferably a lot further away) and put another, empty,(temporary) hive in it's original position. This will draw off the flying bees to the temporary hive in the original position of your hive from hell - leave them to settle down for the night then seal them in when they have stopped flying (block the entrance or tape it over).

Then, the following morning you can get into your original brood box, hopefully with a lot less bees attacking you, find the queen, squish her (No ... take her away and squish her at home or freeze her for future use). Remove any frames with new eggs on them in the brood box and put a frame of eggs from one of your gentle hives in there. Put the brood box back in its original position and move your temporary hive a few feet to the side. Open the entrance up and run like hell.

The flying bees you have had captive will return to the original brood box, the frame of eggs you have put in there wiil, hopefully, give them something to raise a new queen from with genes from your gentler stock. In a few weeks your problem should be over ... but, having said that, they are bees - they do what they want ! Good luck.

Thinking about this overnight - the weather is so good at present that I tend to forget how late in the season it actually is ... it may be a bit late for rearing a new queen ... you will get one reared but by the time she's ready to mate it could be a bit hit and miss. I wonder whether you would be better off not trying to raise your own queen but buying in a mated queen from gentler stock (Buckfast etc.). This would mean that you can have her laying eggs within a week or two at the most and you have time this year to replace the agressive bees you have (well most of them with any luck) from her progeny.

So procedure would still be the same but instead of giving them a frame of eggs and removing any frames with fresh eggs on them give them a new queen.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Remove any frames with new eggs on them in the brood box and put a frame of eggs from one of your gentle hives in there

Or put a frame of eggs from a gentler hive into a nuc now, and then combine the nuc? But would the evil bees attack her?

Would there be any mileage in removing the queen from the nasty colony and combining it with a nicer one?

Thinking about this overnight - the weather is so good at present that I tend to forget how late in the season it actually is ... it may be a bit late for rearing a new queen ... you will get one reared but by the time she's ready to mate it could be a bit hit and miss.

Not really, it'll only be August.

 

[Hachi]

Or put a frame of eggs from a gentler hive into a nuc now, and then combine the nuc? But would the evil bees attack her?

Would there be any mileage in removing the queen from the nasty colony and combining it with a nicer one?



Not really, it'll only be August.

BJF you cant get to the broad box that's the problem, you crack the crown board off and they absolutely schitzo and it gets worse the further down you go.

I re-queened the nuc yesterday and have put them into a std hive which should give me a hive.

I will now get to work on the nasty evil bunch by getting the supers off one by one and follow Pargyle's advice.

 

[pargyle]

BJF you cant get to the broad box that's the problem, you crack the crown board off and they absolutely schitzo and it gets worse the further down you go.

I re-queened the nuc yesterday and have put them into a std hive which should give me a hive.

I will now get to work on the nasty evil bunch by getting the supers off one by one and follow Pargyle's advice.

Good luck, little and often and try and creep up on them. Once you just have the brood box to contend with it will get a bit easier. A bit of cloth pinned on the front of the hive and draped over the entrance might be a help to stop bees coming out of the hive when you are getting a crown board in or lifting supers off. It's a bit easier to install than trying to turn an entrance block round when the little beggars don't want you near them. It won't stop the bees that are coming back to the hive flying about but as they are going to be laden (hopefully) with honey/pollen then they shouldn't be quite so keen to start a fight with you.

 

[Cazza]

A quicker way to get to the BB, rather than clearing one at a time, would be:

Smoke the entrance to drive the bees up. Don't crack the crown board but go under the first super gently,lift a mm and smoke a little. Quickly (and I mean quickly) lift off and place onto the roof top so no bees can escape. Stick a towel or crown board over the next super and repeat the process until the supers are stacked on top of each other and no bees can escape.

Whack the QE off and bung a cover on. Go away and make a cup of tea. Return in 20 minutes. Now you have fewer bees to deal with.

Best done when it is not too hot. Has worked well for me over the years. If really desperate, move the BB and leave an empty super in it's place, then the flying bees are also bled off.

Cazza

 

[jp19sqn]

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

How true!

 

[jp19sqn]

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

How true!

 

[pargyle]

How true!

Where did that come from ?

There's an echo in here !