Inspected my main hive today. It is getting full, yet they still have 50-60% of the super to fill. Queen is laying fine. Minimal drones. The brood box is pretty full though, bees spill out over the sides when I smoke them. Currently don’t have another hive to split into, but I can buy one if it is an emergency.
I have been on ‘swarm watch’ though lately and found no QC or anything of the sort, just a heap of bees.
They were around 5-8 or so bees attacking my face at all times, usually there are none. They are still pulling in plenty of honey.
When I checked the hive last week they were calmer. I’m wondering if it may be an issue.
might be the queen has mated with a nasty drone, which is quite often the case why bees can be aggressive
its normal; for most of my hives to have a level of aggression, doesn’t bother me or worry me
aggressive bees are another sign of a strong producing colony
my worst ever hive, the most aggressive one, was the best producer of honey i ever hard, those girls where pumping kilos of honey out faster than any of my other 3 hives
Below is what seems to peeve my bees off that I’d recommend considering for your bees change in behaviour:
windy and cold weather
imminent storm or dark clouds with heavy rain
strong smells such as perfume or animal smells on clothes
bad mood e.g. if I’m not present or mindful of my movements and instead clumsy and knocking things about, bees are really receptive to this and hate bad vibes so let me know