Nasty bees

[brecks]

Last year, I found an out-apiary and moved my bees there. I was 'lucky' with swarms from the area arriving at my bait hives but found the new arrivals were all very aggressive. Due to an exceptionally heavy workload, I did not have time to breed queen bees from selected stock as I had planned and missed a few inspections. This left me with nearly all nasty bees. I need to re-queen them all but it is getting a bit late now.

Two weeks ago, when taking off supers I got 35 stings from one hive. On Wednesday, I put feeder on the the same hive and got >70 stings. A lot ran straight down my boots (close-fitting Muck boot type) and up my trouser legs. I intend bumping off that lot at a later date, but I would like to re-queen the rest. What is the best way to do this, bearing in mind I do not want to go into anaphylactic shock while searching for the old queens.

What about giving them all a double dose of Maqs in the Spring to kill all the old queens before re-queening?

[Rosie]

I find that most nasty colonies are hybrids and are very difficulty to requeen with gentler stock. I use 2 approaches.

The first is variable in its success rate but is cheap and painless. I just put a protected queen cell in the hive and leave the old queen in place. The virgin almost always emerges because the bees are unable to tear down the cell and once emerged she is accepted as a supersedure queen. Either she or the workers then bump off the nasty old queen. It's not 100% reliable but worth a try as it costs very little in time or money and does not require you to find the old girl. It's best to use this method early in the season and before the colony starts thinking about swarming. You could treat the whole apiary like this and then use the next method on the failures.

The other is to move the brood box to another spot in the apiary. The fliers find their way into another hive or into supers that you can leave in the original place. You then make up a queenless nuc from the brood box and add a laying queen, a virgin or a queen cell. After the nuc has established itself you can move the brood box again and park it beside the nuc. You will lose the fliers again so that the hive, now much smaller and gentler than it started, can be made queenless and united to the nuc.

I find it takes me all season to get a whole apiary sorted so I wouldn't expect instant success although a new queen will usually transform the individual hives immediately.

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi Brecks

Spring is the time to fix this
Its like Rosie says move the hive at night leave something on the original site
when the field bees leave nectar or pollen gathering they go back to the original site
You can now look through the broodbox and find the queen without being stung to bits
You need a replacement for her though

Alternatively During winter make more Snelgrove boards (groan not that again)
In spring bravely get the old queen in the bottom box and let the bees raise a new queen in the top
Or knock the queen cells down in the top and put in one from your best hive which you will also have a Snelgrove board on
I owe you a queen anyway so I will sort that out in Spring as well
This year due to bit of bungling there was a queencell massacre at just the wrong moment
People warned me to use cages but I didn't listen Lol!

[brecks]

Hi Rosie,

Thanks for your reply. I had considered your second something like your second option to use now if I could find enough sweet-natured queens of suitable stock - but it would be: (a) expensive and (b) having had a severe reaction to the 70+ stings (never had a bad reaction before, or as many stings!), may not be a good idea at the moment. That is why I thought Spring would be a better time to do the deed.

I had not thought of the first option, partly because I have not been very successful in queen rearing so far. I have just tried using a couple of Apideas, but they mostly either get destroyed by slugs, wasps or abscond. I presume I would have to raise a lot of cells in a good-natured colony early in the season. I am left with only one hive at home which has a tolerable temperament.

[Rosie]

Brecks, you need to be able to raise or cadge artificially produced queen cells to protect them easily. Natural ones are usually an awkward shape. If you can only manage natural queen cells you can get them to emerge in cages in your warming cabinet or hen egg incubator. You can then run in virgins into queenright hives and they often end up superseding the old queen.

Around here the BIBBA queen rearers give away queen cells because it helps improve the local drone population.

[brecks]

Hi DR,
Thanks for your reply and the offer of a queen - You do not owe me anything though - it must be the other way round!
I have one Snelgrove board which has been gathering dust whilst I have been working. Work pressure will probably ease off now until Spring so I should have some time to make more. Sorry to hear of your massacre - what sort of cages do you use?

[brecks]

Brecks, you need to be able to raise or cadge artificially produced queen cells to protect them easily. Natural ones are usually an awkward shape. If you can only manage natural queen cells you can get them to emerge in cages in your warming cabinet or hen egg incubator. You can then run in virgins into queenright hives and they often end up superseding the old queen.

Around here the BIBBA queen rearers give away queen cells because it helps improve the local drone population.

Sounds like I would have to invest in a warming cabinet or hen egg incubator. I like the idea of just running virgins into queenright hives!
I am not aware of any BIBBA queen rearers in my area though - I will have to investigate.

[The Drone Ranger]

Brecks

Usual story didnt put any on at all just grafted and counted days :)

Have you seen this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y64cKn4rLNM

[brecks]

Brecks

Usual story didnt put any on at all just grafted and counted days :)

Have you seen this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y64cKn4rLNM

Yes, I had seen it thanks - looks worth a try for busy beeks. I had planned to try a variety of methods to see which suited me best, but was just too busy. We have had people retire / leave at work and not replaced, so their work load has had to be picked up by those remaining plus covering for holidays and illness. That's my excuse anyway.

[fatshark]

Work is the curse of the beekeeping classes, with apologies to Oscar Wilde.