Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The following points about aggressiveness, however, should also be noted:
There is no direct correlation between aggressiveness and honey collection.
Bad handling and the crushing of bees by the beekeeper will make colonies
aggressive. When I worked in a team of beekeepers in New Zealand, none of us
would work near to one team member who was rough with the hives. Despite
the heat, he would wear full protection and an undershirt, whereas the rest of us
- from cooler countries and unused to heat - wore as little as possible and thus got
pasted by his bees. I sent him on a charm course.
In some areas of the world, the most common cause of aggressive bees is animal
attention and predation, especially by bears and skunks.
Inspecting a colony of aggressive bees
It's all very well having a table showing you what to do about aggressive bees but, if
you are in the position of having to inspect one, how do you go about it? It's a daunting
prospect at times, so why not make it easy? Carry out the following moves, which
should be planned with military precision:
In the early evening of a good flying day, seal up the aggressive hive's entrance. Do
this quickly, using a sponge strip prepared for length and thickness in advance.
Move the hive 10-15 m (11-16 yds) to the side and open it.
Place a hive body, lid and floor on the original site. Place in this one or more combs
of honey and pollen and an empty comb to collect the returning foragers.
Leave for an hour or two or, preferably, overnight for things to settle down.
Inspect the colony (most of the stinging foragers will be in the dummy hive on the
original site).
During your inspection, kill the queen and, the next day, introduce a gentle, caged
queen or a queen cell from a gentle colony.
Because the bad lot in the dummy hive are now queenless, re-queen these with a
known, gentle queen or a queen cell from a gentle colony.
