Guilfordbeekeepers.org

My first hive that I started last year has become too hot. When I go in the hive I wear a inspectors coat and gloves, and cover each box as I take the hive apart. every time I check they are meaner and meaner. They have a queen, she is marked I saw her. Everyone that looks at the hive has been very impressed with how fast they build up and the number of bees. Im looking for advice on what to do. I was thinking maybe requeen the big hive and move her to a nuc. Any Ideas?

You might want to talk to Braswell. He had some really hot bees a couple of years ago. They had not been worked in a long time when he got them and came to him with 1 medium upside down. The hive was crowded with bees. They showed me that I needed better protection to try and work them. I know he had Don Hopkins come out and look at them and I believe Don had him treat for mites because of a very heavy load. I don't know if that had anything to do with the attitude or whether just working the hive and giving them room did the trick, but I seem to remember Braswell saying that the bees calmed down. If you do talk to him, let us know what calmed the bees.

You didn't say you smoked them. If you didn't, they will be mean.

I talked with randy and he said his mean bees were queenless and he was able to help them by adding frames of eggs or a queen. He said this year they came out of winter nice. My bees have a laying queen. They chased me from end to end of the 4 acre field they sit next to when I planted the field in corn.
I looked in on them yesterday and my only concern was they seem to be full of honey from top to bottom. I added another supper abve the brood boxes and under the full ones that were not capped.
My Jacobs bees dont bother anything they just work. They have filled one deep and are working on the second, They dont really fly or attack. So what is they difference?

I did not recall Randy ever saying that the hive was queenless, but I don't have a specific memory of seeing eggs and larvae when we attempted our inspection. I was busy trying to figure out how the bees were getting in my veil and how many stingers were going to wind up in my blue jeans legs.

Wally had some really hot bees about a year ago and I think he wound up requeening them and they calmed down. Some bees are just more defensive than others. If giving them more room does not calm them down, you may want to consider that course.

""My bees have a laying queen.""

If they were my bees, they would have a new laying queen in short order..........

Its about time someone else got a hot box. Wally and Jacobs are speaking of two different hives. I was the lucky beginner that got 2 hot boxes in a row. Jacobs saw the first and those bees had not been worked in a couple years and a mess inside. They did not make it because of mite infestation. The second box Wally advised me to let it ride and they did requeen themselves and now gently with no stings this year so far. I finally had it with those little devils last year and left them alone and harvested a five gallon bucket of honey from them in the fall.
What I can't remember is where I got the frame I started his hive. Remember, last years trapout that went on all summer prouduced 4 hives which firebee got one of those. I would like to have a frame of eggs from that hive to start another. Hot bees are productive.

I had a hot hive. Finally those killers died. I requeened two times never helped. If they didn't die I was going to dump them and requeen I never could figure out why they were so mean.