Bittersweet visitors

[Jogeephus]

No
I know nothing about bees, but I did step on a yellow jacket nest when I was a kid and know a learning opportunity
when I see one. Send one of the kids to thump it to see how lively they are, great opportunity to teach them about nature! Plus it can be a learning experience for Sky too. Ask for a volunteer, then he'll know which one he'll have to keep an eye on as a prime candidate for nature weeding out the stupid. Then again he lives in Virginia, so perhaps the whole clan might volunteer.

I know little of honey bees but what I've observed is the time of day makes a big difference. Middle of the day they seem the feistiest. I've seen the guys who work the hives on my land handle them and late in the day the bees seem very docile but midday on a clear hot day they can be mean but they are nothing like yellow jackets. Yellow jackets need to be extinct.

Jo,

I'm looking back at some old discussions and ran across this one. I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with you about honeybee behavior. They're generally easier to work on warm bright days. They get meaner as the weather gets colder and / or cloudier. I don't know why the guys work the bees on your place late in the day. Maybe that's just when they have time.

It was cloudy this afternoon when the bee guys came by to give the bees some medicine and they said the bees ate them up and agreed with what you said about cloudy days. Thinking back, I think I got confused on this because a neighbor was trying to get me interested in beekeeping by showing me his hives on a clear day when we got attacked by the bees but the hive had been africanized. So far today, these two guys have been stung 14 times they said. I don't think I want to keep bees.

 

[Rafter S]

I know little of honey bees but what I've observed is the time of day makes a big difference. Middle of the day they seem the feistiest. I've seen the guys who work the hives on my land handle them and late in the day the bees seem very docile but midday on a clear hot day they can be mean but they are nothing like yellow jackets. Yellow jackets need to be extinct.

Jo,

I'm looking back at some old discussions and ran across this one. I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with you about honeybee behavior. They're generally easier to work on warm bright days. They get meaner as the weather gets colder and / or cloudier. I don't know why the guys work the bees on your place late in the day. Maybe that's just when they have time.

It was cloudy this afternoon when the bee guys came by to give the bees some medicine and they said the bees ate them up and agreed with what you said about cloudy days. Thinking back, I think I got confused on this because a neighbor was trying to get me interested in beekeeping by showing me his hives on a clear day when we got attacked by the bees but the hive had been africanized. So far today, these two guys have been stung 14 times they said. I don't think I want to keep bees.

I know it's difficult to believe, but after you build up an immunity to the venom it's not that bad. Back when I was working bees I'd rather have one of them sting me than a fire ant.
I kept a few hives of my own after I quit, but eventually sold them. My father was still alive at the time, and asked me why I was getting rid of them. I told him I didn't have time to take care of them and my cattle. After I told him how much I was getting he looked at me and said "Are you sure you're selling the right livestock?"

 

[Jogeephus]

These are two young guys just getting started in beekeeping and they've told me a little about their business plan and a tiny bit about the money and it sounds pretty good. I like both of them and like their drive and work ethic so I've given them several places to set out their hives and given unrestricted access. So far so good and apart from seeing a gate chained a little differently than I do I can't tell they even go on the properties. No drama, no trash, all good. Hopefully I'll get a little honey out of the deal but I'm not asking for anything other than zero impact and no drama or trash.