Hi All looking for some advice. I requeened my hive back in May and she was doing great, but the last few inspections I’ve made have been not exactly enjoyable. My bees are a bit on the aggressive side. I usually end up with at least two stings. It’s a large strong hive and I know the queen is in there cause I’ve seen eggs. But I’m just getting kind of tired of being attacked! Any advice on requeening? I think the hardest part will be finding the original queen before introducing a new one, only because they don’t want me in there. I think I’ll have to duct tape myself into that suit! Any help or advice appreciated. I used to enjoy inspections but not so much lately.
Hi Amy, definitely requeen an aggressive hive. The best way that I found to requeen an aggressive hive is to take the brood box away from it’s location & replace it with another empty box. Then after a little while, start to gently remove frames to look for the queen. The angry bees will return to the original site, leaving you alone. I would suggest to leave each frame out of the brood box until you find the queen.
After you have requeened, return the brood box after removing the temporary box.
Ok that sounds doable. It’s a double deep with the flow super on top. So I’d remove the lowest box correct? The brood seems to be in both but I can start there.
I guess with double brood boxes, you’d remove both at the same time. The main thing is to be looking to find the queen away from the original location, so that the angry bees continue to leave you alone as you pull frames out.
Welp-I made an executive decision to hold off on requeening. I read up on aggressive hives and mine isn’t nearly as bad as others. I can easily go around the hive and in the yard without being bothered. It’s really only when I open them up that they get testy and a handful come after me. It might be the heat and humidity or a lack of nectar. I’m going to hold off doing anything and see how they are in a couple weeks. If we were getting chased or stung randomly it would be a different issue. I’ll let you know how it goes
That sounds like a great decision, for all the right reasons. Well done!
I agree with Dawn. I’m wondering now if your bees might just need a little extra smoke while working them, especially seeing as you’re not getting chased around the yard.