HONEY SHOW

This year (and probably in the future) we have the opportunity to share the "Apple Day" event at Down Grange. This will allow us a nice compact venue with a fairly country-crafts feel. It's probably too late this year, but I definitely feel a Cyser class coming on.

The date is Sunday October 20th, so it's pretty close now. Do please participate and do please come along and visit the show. The quality of our produce is something about which we should care and about which we should shout.

BROTHER ADAM

Brian Gant

APIARY UPDATE

The two Association colonies at breach farm had spring rape on three sides. It should have been the bees' equivalent of a lottery jackpot. Instead, unseasonably cool weather prevented them from making much of it.

The sorry tale of the Association colony at St. John's Copse, which had a drone-laying queen about which I wrote in the last newsletter, continued. The colony failed to raise a queen from an introduced frame of eggs and young larvae, consequently I introduced a virgin queen. She was never seen again. It was almost as though the bees had a death wish. Thereafter they declined rapidly, eventually succumbing to wax moth -- in this case, varroa was not the cause of their demise. Although there was no brood from which I could identify possible disease, I had decided not to uniter the remaining bees with the other Association colony on the site, just in case foulbrood was present.

Ironically, soon afterwards, the other Association colony was found to have EFB! It was, and still is, a very strong colony. Because the foulbrood was detected at a very early stage, treatment was possible. John Cain had already extracted 46lb of honey, which I had strained and bottled. There are three further supers on the hive awaiting extraction following the 'all clear'. It is well and truly granulated -- definitely a job for the dark winter days! Incidently, the colony was one of a minority that made absolutely no attempt at swarming.

EFB has been a problem in the Oakley area for some five years. If it is still about next year, I shall have a blitz within a three mile radius. In the mean time, one possible source of infection is a feral nest in the chimney of a house less than 200 metres from St. John's. Assuming the present occupants succumb to varroa, I shall ask the owner to seal the entrance to prevent robbing and further occupations by swarms.

Just to prove that it is not all bad news, we had a special apiary meeting early in August for the benefit of our friends from Basingstoke Aquarists. It was a nice afternoon, the bees were on their best behaviour and a lot our visitors showed a lot of interest. We also set some kind of record as the youngest visitor was just four weeks old! Just think, younger than many of the bees!

I hope to see you at the Association's winter social meetings. at the honey show in October and at the Hampshire Beekeepers' Association Autumn Convention and Honey Show.

In the meantime, best wishes to you all for what remains of the 'active' season. Don't forget the Bayvarol.

Dave Purchase; Apiary Manager.

HONEY SHOW 1996

Schedule

Honey, Beeswax & Mead.

Class 1: 2 jars of light honey

Class 2: 2 Jars of medium honey

Class 3: 2 jars of soft-set (creamed) honey

Class 4: 2 jars of chuck honey (with approx. 50% comb)

Class 5: 2 containers of cut comb 6oz to 8oz

Class 6: Shallow frame of comb honey for extracting.

Class 7: 1 cake of beeswax (10 to 12oz).

Class 8: 3 blocks of beeswax.

Class 9: 1 pair of beeswax candles made by any method (one to be lit by the judge).

Class 10: 1 bottle of sweet or dry mead.

Class 11: 6 jars of honey, matching in all respects, labeled as for sale.

Confectionery

Class 12: Honey cake to any recipe and to be written out and placed with the cake. To be baked in a round tin of between 6½ and 8½ inches in diameter.

Class 13: Six honey biscuits, placed on a paper plate; recipe to be written out and placed with the biscuits.

Class 14: 1lb jar of honey preserve to be exhibited in a standard 1lb honey jar; recipe to be written out and placed with the jar.

Class 15: Nine small honey cakes, recipe to be written out and placed with the cakes (not in paper cases).

Photographic

Class 16: Subject: Bees and Apiculture, prints only, maximum size 8" x 4"

Rules & Regulations

1. Entries are open in all classes and must be made on the form provided. Posted entries should reach the show secretary by Saturday 12th October 1996 and include a S.A.E.
2. Entry Fee is 20p per exhibit in advance or 40p per exhibit on the day. All payments may be made on the day.
3. Prize Money. No prize money will be paid, but several cups and trophies will be awarded with the exception of classes 16 & 17 for which the winners will receive an award of £10 each.
4. Delivery, staging and collection of exhibits. All exhibits must be delivered to the show between 09:30 and 10:45 on the day of the show. All exhibitors should stage their own exhibits, however those unable to do so will have them staged by an appointed steward. All exhibitors must leave the room by 11:00. Exhibits may be collected after 16:00.
5. Labels. Exhibitors must label every exhibit with labels supplied by the show secretary. Labels, which must not be altered, must be affixed on jars and bottles to leave about ½ inch between the label and the bottom. On sections and frames, stick the label on the top right hand corner of the vertical, transparent face of the case and duplicate on the top of the frame or section. Labels for cut comb shall be affixed one on the lid and the duplicate on the side of the container. If a show case is used for wax, one label must be affixed on the glass and the duplicate on the surface of the wax to be shown uppermost. One label only, which shall be affixed to the base of the table, will be supplied for the display case. Except where otherwise specified, no exhibitor, card, trade mark, label, name or writing may be attached to any part of an exhibit.
6. All wax and honey exhibited must be the produce of the exhibitor's own bees, except in the candle class.
7. Wax may be exhibited polished or unpolished at the exhibitor's discretion.
8. Frames must be enclosed in a case and visible from each side, but removable by the judge.
9. Extracted honey must be exhibited in clear 1lb squat jars with standard lacquered commercial screw tops and of British Standard pattern, matching except where otherwise stated.
10. Honey Colour BS1656 filters (glasses) will be used.
11. Mead must be shown in clear glass punted wine bottles of approximately 26 fluid ounces capacity. ALL CORK flanged stoppers must be used (nothing else will be accepted). No alcohol may be added.
12. All exhibits in classes 12, 13, 14 & 15 shall be exhibited on a white paper plate and covered with a transparent bag.
13. Exhibitors may make two entries in a class, but no single exhibit may be shown in more than one class, and an exhibitor shall not be entitled to more than one award in any one class. Joint owners of colonies are not allowed to make separate entries.
14. Caution. No exhibit may be tasted or in any way interfered with by the exhibitor or any person during the show without the authority of the show secretary.
15. Ordinary care will be taken of exhibits but BDBKA will not be held responsible for any loss or damage, sustained by exhibitors, in any way whatsoever.
16. Objections. Any protest by an exhibitor must be made in writing by 14:00 on the day of the show.
17. Powers of the Show Secretary. The Show Secretary is empowered to:
    1. Withhold prizes in the case of insufficient entries of merit.
    2. Retain all or part of an exhibit concerning which a protest has been made until a decision upon such a protest has been taken.
    3. Decide any questions as to the interpretation of the above rules and regulation, which shall be final and conclusive.
18. Points awards. To be calculated on the following basis:- 1st = 4 points; 2nd = 3 points; 3rd = 2 points; 4th = 1 point.

FINDING BUMBLE BEE COLONIES

A recent discussion highlighted how difficult it can be to find bumblebee nests, even though there must be many around. People described trying to follow bees that seemed to, almost deliberately, 'bumble' around. I've been collecting bumblebee colonies this year and have a few experiences to share.

I have a nest in a box in the garden that is around five feet from some oregano that the bees (in this case, Bombus Lapidarius) find impossible to ignore. Even then I often fail to follow them between forage and box -- just a blink seems enough to lose them and you get so few chances with just a few tens or hundreds of individuals.

Late in July, I was standing in my garden, gently teasing some beekeeping friends that they were sitting only two feet from a bumble nest (Bombus Pratorum, collected from on someone's lawn!) and they hadn't noticed it, when I realised that I too was standing only a few feet from a wild Bombus Lapidarius nest that *I'd* never noticed before. And it *was* my garden.

I'm sure that there are very many nests and we just fail to see them. I think that looking for the right sites may be a more effective method than trying to follow the flying bees.

Only about one in three of my collected colonies have survived. Probably I could improve on this by feeding them sugar syrup and/or pollen. I presume that most wild colonies succumb or there would be a bumblebee population explosion.

As many of you will know, I've been the 'official' bumblebee collector this year. Most of the colonies I've 'rescued' I've persuaded the people not to have them removed. Thank goodness, because I've been dealing with several a day at peak, in my 'spare time' (good joke, that -- sheesh!). Generally, I 'sell' bumbles on their interest, their benefits and their good behaviour (UK bumbles, and I think most, really *don't* sting unless severely dissabused). "Why don't you try living with them a while and watch how they collect their nectar and pollen -- keep my 'phone number just in case". Very few call me! Of course, standing with them watching helps a lot.

One of the colonies I collected really was very strong. Even in June it comprised several hundred individuals and many new queens. Unfortunately it had set up home under someone's workbench in their shed and didn't take kindly to the hammering. Most I collected and moved away, a few I had to destroy -- such a shame, but at least I gave many a chance.

A further colony in a porch roof was "impossible to live with" and "must" be removed. I asked them to show me where they were, and the bees made their usual audible protest at our intrusion. I collected my 'gear' and set up ready to remove them, but mentioned out how quiet the bees were since we'd not actually touched them. Then I gave the householder the blue form, mentioned the fee and suggested that they may try a little longer. They did. (I hope they didn't just buy an insecticide spray). Fortunately, the assurance that they will go away in the autumn, that they won't swarm and that they rarely sting is good enough most of the time.

Gordon.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Committee has considered the increase in capitation payments to BBKA (increased from £5.00 to £6.00) and to HBA (increased from £2.40 to £4.50) and proposes the following changes to the membership subscription for the Association.

Ordinary Membership £17.60 Senior Citizens £13.10 Associate Membership £7.00 Family supplement £1.50

Partly to help mitigate the increase in subscription but mainly to remove an anomaly and bring BDBKA into line with other local associations, it if further proposed to include in both ordinary and senior citizen membership subscription the cost of insuring the first two colonies for BDI purposes.

The committee proposes to widen the definition of Associate Membership, rewording the relevant section of the constitution as follows:

FROM: Associate Membership is available to full or ordinary members of another Beekeeping Association or to the family of members of the BDBKA.

TO: Associate Membership is available to full or ordinary members of another Beekeeping Association or to the family of ordinary members of the BDBKA or to non-beekeepers on the understanding that if and when they acquire any stock of honeybees they immediately apply for ordinary membership.

Notes:

Associate Members may attend and speak at any General Meeting of the Association but are not entitled to vote at any such meeting.

Associate members receive a copy of our quarterly newsletter "The Basingstoke Beekeeper", but will not be entitled to receive copies of either Bee Talk or BBKA News.

A condition of BDI is that if a premium is paid after the end of April then the insurance will not come into effect until a further 40 days have elapsed from the date of paying the subscription.

GRANTS

The main thrust of our application was the educational and ecological side of beekeeping, so our purchases will lean strongly that way. What we have bought, or are buying, is the following:

A portable combination video-player and monitor that will allow us to show videos at meetings, at talks to schools, on our fete stand (when electricity is available) and so on.

A lightweight display board that folds into a large bag and can be carried by one person. We shall keep our existing large display for many events, but the lightweight one will help at some fete-type venues and, again, with talks.

A copy of the 'story' poster (the posters we use at present actually belong to me). 'Story' is the cartoon style poster that seems to illustrate just about every aspect of a bees life in its own lighthearted way.

A set of the beekeeping study prints like those (again mine) that we have on the present display stand.

Two videos, "Getting Started" and "The Mysterious Bee". Again, these are aimed squarely at education about bees and beekeeping.

After also getting an extension lead for the tele-video and some Velcro pads for the display board, we are left with around £50 from that £600.

ASSOCIATION EXTRACTOR

Our plan is to offer the use of the extractor as a 'perk' of membership. However we're also very aware that the Association's previous extractor was passed around rather too liberally and eventually was lost.

The solution that the Committee have agreed is that we require a substantial deposit by cheque, which will be returned, unbanked, upon timely return of the extractor. To ensure that we get the extractor back promptly, we lend you it free for the first 48 hours, but after that we start charging. We believe this arrangement is fair to the borrower, to the Association and to the next borrower when there's a queue.

The extractor will be in the care of Norman and June Hughes and is available now.

FOR SALE

CHEAP AND DIRTY SOLAR WAX MELTER

Believe it or not, this contraption works (at least in a MD summer).

You will need:

An old picnic cooler w/o the lid

A piece of Plexiglass big enough to cover the cooler

A black plastic trash bag

An embroidery hoop large enough to be held up by friction in the cooler

Nylon bridal veil cloth (enough to put in the embroidery hoop)

Two bricks

A clean aluminum pan that once held a frozen dinner

Line the old picnic cooler with the trash bag, and then put in the aluminum pan. Put your bridal veil cloth in the embroidery hoop, then wedge the hoop and cloth in the cooler. Put your cappings on the cloth, then put the whole thing out in the sun before noon. Put on the Plexiglass, and weight it in place with the bricks. The melted wax will solidify by dusk; remove it then.

This melter will do about 1 1/2 pounds of cappings a day.

W. G. Miller Gaithersburg, MD

THE WAY THINGS ARE

One year the caterpillars eat every tree to the bare branches, the next year nary a worm is seen.

In 1917, the flu, of all things, killed tens of thousands of people and the next, nada.

The Black Death killed a third of Europe's population by some estimates, not too many centuries ago, but the same bacteria and the same carriers are still around today, and guess what? A few people are stricken annually, but no decimation occurs.

For tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands?) of years modern humans have been living in balance on the Earth, according to the latest studies, but the numbers have never before threatened the planetary balance or run into the billions.

Even the parasites have parasites. From time to time things get out of balance; we see large numbers of some one species for a brief period.

But then nature seems to find a way of keeping things in check, and populations return to manageable (sustainable) numbers.

This last winter was an example of how bad things can get for bees. (Didn't seem to bother the bumbles, tho'.) My guess is that next will not be nearly as bad. Many will attribute that to how much better they prepared, but in my opinion it is just the way things are.

W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper. RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0

ESSENTIAL OILS & WAX

David Trickett asks:

I have been trying to get someone at EPA, USDA, or FDA to confirm or deny that application of these treatments would render honey illegal for sale. No luck so far, but I'll keep calling.

I can assure you that if natural chemicals end up in the honey in detectable amounts not normally found it will be a problem and you need not wait for any official answer.<Grin>

Assuming application of mint oils is effective against mites, it would behoove us to obtain some sort of official sanction for its implementation. I assert this because these treatments appear to be cheaper than Apistan, and because use of Apistan is (or will be) reducing honey's standing as a "safe," "natural," semi-organic food. (I don't care what the label says about no detectable residues resulting when used properly.

Now if the same ingredients are to be used to treat a pest or disease then thats a whole different ball game and you may need registration with the supporting research to sell and use it.

And what about the big guys out there using "home remedy?"

Then we should also know that there is a difference between "home remedy" and "home brew". I tried for years to find a way to feed bees proteins in a liquid diet using pure pollen as the source of protein. I knew that all foods consumed by honeybees are consumed as a liquid as they are not provided with the tools to hunk off a chunk like we are. I never succeeded in doing much for the bees but did find the outer limits that when the bees consumed my liquid diet they would just flat quit feeding brood but never found a value in that. I also learned a lot about "home brew" as there is a big difference between the pollen bees bring into the hive and the pollen that they consume as food. Bee collected pollen that has naturally fermented may be a better ingredient for adding to bee diet supplements then pollen that has not fermented as the bees maybe going to ferment any pollen they bring in the hive into "bee bread" before using it anyway.

In fact if there is real danger in all of the things we beekeepers do to our bees it is first to the bees themselves, 2nd the beekeeper and his own family, and then to whomever he gives or sells his honey locally and this includes all beekeepers big or small. When I was a big beekeeper I did not give or sell my own honey to anyone but the honey buyers and always purchased bottled honey, sometimes my own to give away as gifts and know many other beekeepers who do the same including the biggest of the big in California where we pay big cash rents for most bee locations and don't get much for a can of honey any more when it comes to public relations or bee locations.

Also, is anyone else out there worried about the wax pool becoming contaminated? ("Wax Pool..." what a thing to be worried about!

At times wax adulated with other non beeswax waxes is also detected but since the advent of all plastic frames this has leveled out. Beeswax is a renewable resource that is because much of it went back into the bee comb foundation and changes in the environment were somewhat trapped or magnified in the beeswax harvested from year to year. The vast majority of things that you and I would worry about are removed in the normal processing of beeswax on the farm or at the wax refinery. Beeswax can be treated with chemicals and filtering agents that remove most all of the contaminates if they are known. And pure beeswax is really refined beeswax at the industrial consumer level. Beeswax is so individual and reflects how the individual beekeeper handles his own beeswax that buyers on the third tier of handling have been able to trace it back to individual producers and areas of actual production because of identifiable differences. Very similar to raw gold which also can be traced back to the area it was first dug up and sometimes to the mine itself and it is a normal analytical assay practice to avoid "salting" which would be common if not held down by assay chemists..

Minimally, this has some serious implications for queen breeding since the "cups" grafted into and used for starting queen cells need to be free of anything that would harm the larvae - and my understanding is that many of the big queen producers buy the cups rather than produce them.

I wonder if anyone in the production end is watching this. I would think that this would be one of the first place that miticide residues would begin to be a problem, next perhaps in foundation used for brood frames, and last for foundation used for honey frames.

If there's any legitimacy to this concern, we may end up experiencing the problem in the next year or two in the form of commercial queen producers experiencing difficulty in producing queens - even after/if we find a replacement for Apistan.

ttul Andy

EASY COMB HONEY

For a couple of years I tried to be frugal by fitting honey super frames with only a strip of foundation as a starter. It would be maybe an inch and a half or less wide, and several could be cut from one sheet of foundation. To secure each strip in the top bar groove, I cut some squares of cardboard/corrugated paper about 3/4" square. I would fold these in half and shove them into the groove (3 per frame) adjacent to the foundation with the flat end of my hive tool. The pressure was enough to hold the strip until the bees fastened it. I found this to be very quick and easy.

Several of my medium honey supers are now full of "natural" combs constructed in this fashion, and it is virtually all nice drone comb. Although my original intention was to use these for cut-comb, after a couple of seasons now the combs are strong and well fit for the extractor. BTW many frames outfitted this way have been cut for comb honey, and by leaving a bit (1/4 - 1/2") of comb along the top bar the bees will usually build another set of straight combs the next season. (9 or 10 frames/super)

Why not just let the bees construct natural comb if you want drone comb (for mite trapping or whatever)? They seem to welcome the opportunity.

DRONES REARED IN SUPERS

I was chatting with Norman about this very subject, when I see the following. We reserve judgment about whether this could be laying workers, or whether workers just move drone eggs or larvae up. Any thoughts?

Somewhere a while back I remember reading somewhere about laying workers in *queenright* colonies. This topic has interested me once again, as I have been seeing some substantial patches of drone brood here and there in some honey supers as I have been harvesting honey. Now granted, I'm not using queen excluders, BUT these patches of drone brood are in supers near the top of the stack, with full honey supers below them. Which means her highness would have to cross a great deal of honey to find the drone comb to lay in. I wonder if the workers are up to this mischief.

I recall seeing drone brood like this (always late summer/early fall) in past seasons, when excluders were used, as well. I would become alarmed that the queen had been trapped *above* the excluder due to some mistake on my part. Yet, I would find her below with a normal happy brood nest. The question here is, do others see this late in the season, and does anyone have info about laying workers existing and rearing drone brood in a normal queenright hive?

Thanks for any comments -J

From: Trevor Weatherhead email@omitted.anti.spam

The answer is yes.

Dr. Ben Oldroyd from the University of Sydney carried out some genetic work on some drones I supplied a couple of years ago. Ben requested samples if beekeepers saw drone brood above the queen excluder. This was brood that had not been brought up by the beekeeper from the brood box.

I haven't found his published work yet but as I recall it turned out that worker bees were turning into laying workers and putting this drone brood above the queen excluder. As part of his experiment, he found out by DNA testing that the queen, from which the laying workers came, had mated with about 10 (cannot recall the exact number) drones.

I haven't seen this drone brood above the queen excluder since but I have a mate who has seen this also.

I will keep looking for the reference and will post it on Bee-L when I find it.

Trevor Weatherhead, Peak Crossing 4306, Queensland, AUSTRALIA

MORE ON REQUEENING

Ernest Caldwell wrote:

Has anyone out there had any experience or do you have information on requeening colonies using queen cells? We have recently begun trying this method and would like input from anyone who has tried this method. What have been your success rates?

Also, in the case where the queen cell is introduced into the colony, without killing the existing queen, what percentage of the time will the new, virgin queen kill the existing queen.

I have been requeening with ripe cells for some years. There are two different ways that I have been trying. First to put a cell in the top box of a hive without excluder, and without removing the old queen. In around 60% of the hives I had the new queen laying. In 20% there was the old lady still wandering around, and in 20% there was an F2 queen.

When first removing the old queen I had success rate of around 80% ending up with the "right" queen. 20% F2 queens.

There will be differences between years, weather and so on, but generally I'm satisfied with the result. I do the requeening when the main honey flow starts. Then the bees have been produced that's going to give me the crop. Three weeks without a laying queen during the flow increase that crop when there is no grubs to feed.

This works on lat 60, with a short and intense summer. And it is average results. There can be big differences between years. I'm going to put more text about this on my home-page when I get time.

P-O Gustafsson, Sweden

From: Steve Pearce email@omitted.anti.spam

Hi everyone,

I have a naturally aggressive hive, which someone has given me (lucky me). They seem healthy etc, but even on good days, during a flow and will fly off the combs and attack. It is virtually impossible to get through the brood box of these bees without a lot of trouble. They are in sharp contrast to my other bees which are very easy to handle.

The books I have read say if a colony becomes aggressive for no obvious reason the then requeen it.

The problem is I find I can't find the queen during my hurried and distracted inspections.

Is there an easy way to get the old queen out, which doesn't involve a lot of disruption.

Steve, Scotland

From: "Dave Green, Eastern Pollinator Newsletter" email@omitted.anti.spam

You didn't say if you have multiple hives. This technique, of course, will only work, if you have more hives.

1. Make a nuc from one of your good hives. Two or three frames of brood with adhering bees should do it. Make sure they have eggs, as they will have to raise a queen. If you give them a queen, they may come on faster, but there is a risk of her being killed, by the nasties, you want to be eliminating. Set it right beside your nasty hive.

2. When your nasty hive gets to flying good, move it a hundred feet or so. Then move the nuc to the former nasty site. The bees that are out foraging will return and go into your nuc, which will begin raising a queen from your good stock. Don't disturb them again unless you see a sign of problem. As long as flight is good and they are carrying pollen, they are raising brood, so should be okay. In six weeks all nasty bees will be dead and the nuc should be nice, assuming the queen got mated.

Bees will continue to forage from the nasty hive, and a large proportion of these will not notice the change in location; they will return to the nuc. By afternoon, your nasty hive will be much reduced in number. And lo and behold, the bees most apt to sting will be the ones that are gone.

2. Find your queen and kill her. Replace with a good queen, and chances of acceptance will be much better, as the bees will be mostly young ones.

Don't do this during a cold spell, as you can get chilled brood in either one, until enough adults hatch to cover the brood.

Dave Green, PO Box 1200, Hemingway, SC 29554

From: Steven Albritton email@omitted.anti.spam

A beekeeper told this method to my father. He says he takes the hive and sets a new box underneath with a Queen excluder between the old and the new. He then puts some bee-go or whatever to run the bees down. The queen can't get down and is isolated. Go in the top and she and maybe the drones should be all that is left. Take her away and put the new queen in.

From: Michael Moroney email@omitted.anti.spam

You can get a new young caged queen, take her, ~3 frames of brood+adhering bees, some frames of pollen/honey+additional bees from the old hive, place a double screen board on top of the old hive, the new nuc on top of this, and give the nuc its own entrance. After several weeks you can either try to find the old queen and kill her, or failing that, replace the double screen board with a sheet of newspaper and hope the new young queen wins the battle of the queens (she usually will) when the bees eat the newspaper away, slowly reuniting the two colonies.

-Mike

From: WILLIAM G LORD email@omitted.anti.spam

Steve;

One simple choice is to run the occupants of the hive through a queen excluder. It is very disruptive but effective. Set up a bottom board, and empty super (you can put a frame of brood in it), and excluder, and an empty super on top. Open the hive and shake the bees into the top box, applying steady smoke. If the bees are really aggressive you can give them a dose of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) by placing a teaspoon of sodium nitrate fertilizer into a hot smoker and giving then give a few seconds of the resulting gray smoke into the entrance. They will just look at you when you open the hive then. Be careful with the fertilizer in the smoker as the smoke has other, less pleasant components, and neither you nor the bees need a big dose of it.

Bill

From: Bill Miller email@omitted.anti.spam>

Dealing with a hot colony:

First off, bees aren't aggressive, they're defensive (although I admit the distinction is moot when you are getting multiple stings).

Possible solutions:

1) Take a "You girls think you're tough? I'm tougher!" attitude and get the job done come what may. Very painful and not normally recommended. If you try it, get a good bee suit and tape all the openings.

2) Split the colony in two, moving the boxes at least 50 feet from each other. Leave a box at the original hive location. What you have done is change the one large, hot colony into two smaller colonies. In about a week, check both. The one with new eggs in it will have the old queen. Knock out any queen cells you may find in the other box. If you don't find the queen (but know which box she is in), put your new queen in the queenless box, and treat that like a regular requeening. Go through the box with the old queen in it every few days, and when you find her, kill her. You then recombine the boxes (the new queen should be established in the other box) to make one colony again.

Should you find the old queen on the first day, kill her, knock out any queen cells you find in the other box, combine the boxes and introduce your new queen. Either way your colony should show your new queen's traits after about 6 weeks.

3) Let nature take it's course. If the queen in the hot colony is old, you can wait until the colony supercedes her or swarms, and see what Nature brings you for the next queen. Least stings to you, but it takes the longest time to get results.

Personally, I pick Alternative 2.

W. G. Miller. Gaithersburg, MD, USA

From: Allen Dick email@omitted.anti.spam

Well, you can exchange the hive with another at a time when they are flying a lot -- during a flow.

Much of the flying force of the mad bees will then be in the other hive and milder bees in the one in question.

Do this with a several hives (if you have them available) several days apart, and you should be able to work them.

Also consider working them at mid-day during a good flow when most of the flying bees are out and the population is lower. Regards

Allen, Alberta, Canada. VE6CFK

From: Sid Pullinger email@omitted.anti.spam

"Usually all aggression disappears within a day of the death of the queen."

I'm uncomfortable about that statement Sid. Do you mean from the death of the queen (which seems to make my bees *less* friendly), or do you mean from introduction of the new queen?

Three queens from aggressive stocks were removed and replaced by three from a docile strain. Within twenty four hours all aggression had disappeared. A queen was removed from an aggressive stock and a queen cell introduced. The virgin hatched three days later and all aggression ceased. Two queens from docile stocks were removed and replaced with queens from aggressive stocks. Within two days these stocks changed from docile to aggressive.

An aggressive stock was de-queened and united to a docile one. Within two days all the bees were docile.

A queen from an aggressive stock was caged and placed over a docile one. The following day the stock became bad tempered and remained so until the queen was removed.

All beekeepers of experience know that an aggressive stock can turn up from time to time in a docile apiary for no apparent reason and the only conclusion is that a cross-mating was responsible.

From the experiments above and others, Cooper concluded that much aggression was not genetic to the worker and was due to the make-up of the queen and therefore her pheromones.

Sid P.