Bees ticked off

I put a nuc box with a drop of lemon grass right by my neighbors bees that had made a home under a wooden landing. Now, 3 wks ago we removed that hive (we thought we did) but now the bees are back. 3 wks ago bees were very well behaved even tho they were having their home taken away. NOW, last night when I put the nuc box down, 100s of bees came out from underneath the board and were mad as hornets. OMG, I was stung twice (no bee gear, my fault) Was it the lemon grass that up set them or the smell of the nuc box? (it was not the box that I thought had wax moths. I took your advise and did away with that one) Thank you. I was just wondering. I have not seen bees that mad before.

They were likely mad because they had a home to defend. What you took away in your nuc was a swarm? The colony is still there?

Bees came out at night to sting you? They usually won’t fly at night unless you shine a light on them, then you’re going to get lit up.

:)), is was still light out. Probably around 7pm. 3wks ago I was around the bees when others were moving the hive. My neighbor did not want it under their floorboard in the water pump house. Bees were very very gentle then. But yesterday they were very aggressive. Maybe the bees thought, your not taking my house again.

I am not quite sure what you did here. Just a nuc box with the oil and some frames, or did you cut out the comb below the wooden landing too? Did you ever see a queen in the nucleus box? Queenless hives can get pretty feisty. :astonished: Do your neighbors still have bees under the wooden landing?

Just a box with empty frames and a small dab of lemon grass. Did not mess with their comb at all. Totally my fault going without any gear on. Living and learning. :slight_smile:

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OK, so basically you did not remove the colony from your neighbor. If you leave brood comb behind, the bees will stay with it under the wooden landing, unless you do a “trap out”. What you did was give them an annex. Did you see worker larvae in your nucleus box? If not, you don’t have the queen, and that is why they are cranky after you moved them.

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