Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenson71
Is the queen bee hot?
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I assume you’re talking about the angry hive I obtained Sunday.
I think there are 3 likely causes.
1. The queen is a bitch.
2. Varroa mite infestation has them bitchy, but the hive was strong enough I don’t think that’s it this time.
3. Something was irritating them. Likely a skunk was scratching at the entrance, annoying the bees and then eating them when they came out. This will make a hive mean and that’s my best guess.
I worked through some of my hives today and didn’t have time to get to those….tomorrow.
Lesson of the day. Today I checked the hives I added queens and cells to last week. I found 2 of the cordovan queens weren’t released yet…bees hadn’t chewed through the sugar cork to let them out. I used a small stick to push the plug into the cage…I saw worker bees get in, so that one will be out.
I was afraid I was going to smash or stab or injure the queen on that one, so on the last one I decided to pull a staple and open the screen to let that one out. As soon as I pulled it back, she jetted into the sky and flew away before I could do anything. A $35 queen just flew off and is probably gone. It’s possible she comes back but doubtful. I’ll check tomorrow. So dump. Should have known better.
I’m picking up 6~7 nuc boxes of bees Wednesday and will set those hives up.
Today I have a handful that are close to needing honey supers. By next week, we will be making honey to sell.