TexasJerseyMilker
Well-known member
I don't know where to post this but it is about insects. A couple of years ago I bought a bee hive and a NUC, which is a small nuclear colony of 5 frames with a queen, brood, workers and honey to eat until they settle in. The queen and brood were Carnolian bees, a gentle race of bees from Europe. They had to be feed sugar water in the winter and spring because they did not have enough honey yet.
Well, that hive did well, overpopulated and swarmed. Thats when the queen and most of the bees fly off to find a new place to live. They hang from a tree branch or other object in a mass while scout bees fly out and look for a new place. The swarm landed on a nearby pear tree that could be cut off and lowered into a new empty hive and thats what I did. The swarm weighed about 6lbs and was estimated to be about 24,000 bees.
Before they do this, the hive makes special queen cells out of comb with eggs that hatch and the bees feed them royal jelly that turns them into a queen (all the workers are sterile females). The first queen that hatches goes around and stings the others to death in their cells. Then, the virgin queen flies out wearing a perfume that attracts local drones that swarm after her. My well bred queen went out and mated with the local rifraf. The swarming process is how honey bees spread and reproduce.
Anyway, that hive is hive #one and the new hive is hive #two in a nearby location. Hive 1 swarmed 5 or 6 times this year, every time the the queen mated with the local hooligans', diluting more and more the gentle bee genetics. They have become incredibly aggressive. Meanwhile hive 2 has not swarmed so that queen still produces gentle bees.
Bees have an invasive parasite called varroa mites. They suck bee blood and can build up and in the winter and kill the whole hive. You have to treat the hives several times a year. You have to put in these sort of No Pest Strips in the hive that kills the little SOBs as they hatch over time. Anyway, it was time for me to treat the 'bee fleas' so the hive would not die. I knew they would be bad to deal with because a couple of months ago I opened the hive to check on things and they attacked, bouncing off my bee suit and even following me back to the house.
Well, I opened hive1 an angry cloud of bees rose and enveloped me with a roar. They were all over me trying to sting. I took off the two honey boxes then pulled frames aside, poked two of these strips down between the frames. They were getting more and more pissed off and I moved it revealing the second brood box. Savage barbaric bees were bouncing off my hood like popcorn. What complicated things even more is they had glued the whole thing together with propolis, a kind of thick glue they make out of tree sap and that had to be pried apart. Some bee covered frames that were stuck fell to the ground complicating things even more. Finally I got the whole hive put back together. On the way out I took a couple of frames of honey for myself. I actually think it is OK that they mated with wild aggressive bees over two years. That is how they survive and they make a ton of of honey.
Then I went over to hive #2 under the apple tree. It is a small population. I could see workers coming in with pollen sacks on their legs and they paid no attention. I took off the honey boxes and put strips in the brood boxes and bees just flew around humming softly like Hey man, whats happening? By the time I finished the job they had all gone back inside.
My bee mentor says what I need to do is re queen that aggressive hive. You buy a gentle bred queen she comes in the mail in a little cage. Then you find and kill the aggressive queen (A job I would not look forward to. How do you find her among thousands of attackers?) Then you put in a little cage with the new queen that has a small marshmellow stuffed in the doorway. The hive bees get used to her smell and they feed her. Eventually the marshmellow is eaten and she comes out and starts laying eggs. Meanwhile, all the aggressive bees get old and in a few weeks they are all dead and replaced by gentle bees. It really is quick fix he says.
Well, that hive did well, overpopulated and swarmed. Thats when the queen and most of the bees fly off to find a new place to live. They hang from a tree branch or other object in a mass while scout bees fly out and look for a new place. The swarm landed on a nearby pear tree that could be cut off and lowered into a new empty hive and thats what I did. The swarm weighed about 6lbs and was estimated to be about 24,000 bees.
Before they do this, the hive makes special queen cells out of comb with eggs that hatch and the bees feed them royal jelly that turns them into a queen (all the workers are sterile females). The first queen that hatches goes around and stings the others to death in their cells. Then, the virgin queen flies out wearing a perfume that attracts local drones that swarm after her. My well bred queen went out and mated with the local rifraf. The swarming process is how honey bees spread and reproduce.
Anyway, that hive is hive #one and the new hive is hive #two in a nearby location. Hive 1 swarmed 5 or 6 times this year, every time the the queen mated with the local hooligans', diluting more and more the gentle bee genetics. They have become incredibly aggressive. Meanwhile hive 2 has not swarmed so that queen still produces gentle bees.
Bees have an invasive parasite called varroa mites. They suck bee blood and can build up and in the winter and kill the whole hive. You have to treat the hives several times a year. You have to put in these sort of No Pest Strips in the hive that kills the little SOBs as they hatch over time. Anyway, it was time for me to treat the 'bee fleas' so the hive would not die. I knew they would be bad to deal with because a couple of months ago I opened the hive to check on things and they attacked, bouncing off my bee suit and even following me back to the house.
Well, I opened hive1 an angry cloud of bees rose and enveloped me with a roar. They were all over me trying to sting. I took off the two honey boxes then pulled frames aside, poked two of these strips down between the frames. They were getting more and more pissed off and I moved it revealing the second brood box. Savage barbaric bees were bouncing off my hood like popcorn. What complicated things even more is they had glued the whole thing together with propolis, a kind of thick glue they make out of tree sap and that had to be pried apart. Some bee covered frames that were stuck fell to the ground complicating things even more. Finally I got the whole hive put back together. On the way out I took a couple of frames of honey for myself. I actually think it is OK that they mated with wild aggressive bees over two years. That is how they survive and they make a ton of of honey.
Then I went over to hive #2 under the apple tree. It is a small population. I could see workers coming in with pollen sacks on their legs and they paid no attention. I took off the honey boxes and put strips in the brood boxes and bees just flew around humming softly like Hey man, whats happening? By the time I finished the job they had all gone back inside.
My bee mentor says what I need to do is re queen that aggressive hive. You buy a gentle bred queen she comes in the mail in a little cage. Then you find and kill the aggressive queen (A job I would not look forward to. How do you find her among thousands of attackers?) Then you put in a little cage with the new queen that has a small marshmellow stuffed in the doorway. The hive bees get used to her smell and they feed her. Eventually the marshmellow is eaten and she comes out and starts laying eggs. Meanwhile, all the aggressive bees get old and in a few weeks they are all dead and replaced by gentle bees. It really is quick fix he says.
