I have a hive that is just too nasty to exist. In an attempt to save the woodenware and honey, I wrapped the entire hive in black plastic hoping to kill the colony with heat; this is not working. If I use wax moth crystals to kill the colony will it taint the honey enough to prevent me from giving it to another colony?
There is no need to kill the entire colony. Requeen the colony.
always requeen before doing away with colony...in a cpl of months all the nasssty ones will be gone anyway
Definitely try requeening but they're probably even crankier now that they've been wrapped in plastic. However, if you must kill off the hive, wrap them up completely and put dry ice on the top. As the dry ice "melts" the carbon dioxide gas pools low eventually filling the cavity (no leaks) all the way to the top assuming you put in enough ice. They all suffocate and the honey is not tanted.
If you can't find the queen, try splitting the hive, and then try splitting again (4 5-frame nucs). You'll figure out where she is pretty quick. At that point you can requeen the nucs and overwinter them or requeen the one nuc and then do some combines. I hate to see a hive killed off. Simply too many ways to make lemonaide out of a lemon here.
Confed you would be surprised at the defference after requeening. I had a hive that somedays would get after you 25 ft away from hive. Now they are gentle. Try it if you can. Good luck with your bees.
Joe
Hi Confed,
Are you a member of the Lynchburg bee club? Someone in the club should have queens for sale. I'm over here in concord but don't have any ready to go right now. If you're not a member i can get you in touch with the right people. DM me.
Silver lining - Once you get accustom to mean bees hornets won't bother you any more. This i say from experience...
With the dry weather this Spring they could be suffering from ALOS a.k.a. A lack of stores. What is the state or nature of the flows in your neck of the woods?
There are midrid way to snuff a hive without harming your investment in woodenware, or even hurting the hive's honey stores.
Wait before you find out more.
The simple fact you were able to wrap them in black plastic is (imho) evidence the hive maybe redeemable.
I understand the benefit and possible result of re-queening but let me define "nasty": I re-adjusted the telescoping cover and was planning to move the hive 6". 18 stings on my right leg, 10 on my left and 9 on my arms and neck (3 got inside my veil, somehow) later it took me nearly 30 minutes to get all of the bees off of my clothes. In 8 years of beekeeping I have never been concerned...until then. I live in a residential area and cannot risk the liability that this hive represents. So, they are not suitable candidates for re-queening. Thanks for everyone's ideas/input.
if the hive is really nasty, no reason to keep them if you don't have time to requeen...but...at this time of the year many hives are nastier because they are protecting stores, are being bothered by yellowjackets, wasps, etc, or they need feed.
when is the last time you were in there? do you know they don't need to be fed?
did you use smoke when you messed with them?
have you observed for robbing and even if you didn't see any, have you reduced your entrance?
three easy things to check/try before you kill them. won't take you more than a day or two to see if these things help.
Find the resin for the hot hive. If it is a hot queen take her out. I had a hot hive once that ate us up anytime we were with in 300 yards of the hive. Took my blow torch and went looking for the queen (and a whole lot of mean worker bees). Hive stank for weeks. Cooked 100 SHB at the same time. They requeened themselves and are as sweet as can be for about 5 years until they died out one winter. Never torch a whole hive, just enough for well done.
Confed,
I understand nasty. Had a hive that hit me once like a Chinese sweatshop with a hundred plus sewing machines...on each shoulder. Not including the special ops bees that made it under my veil. It was like the fighting retreat from the Chosin Reservoir. I live in a neighborhood too yet those bees were my best producers. I requeened and they relaxed quickly. It works!
What kathy said is VERY relevant. Don't burn them down when you can sugar then up instead. If you want i can come over and help in anyway you want. defensive genetics like that seem to have the least amount of internal problems. They are good bees and can be made into better bees.
P.S - I said 'Sewing machines' cause the shirt i was wearing was just thick enough to keep the barbs from sticking in my flesh. So the bees kept on hitting me like little sewing machines. A benadryl, a shot of bourbon, and a two day nap fixed me up just fine.
Quote from: ConfedMarine on August 06, 2012, 06:05:43 PMI understand the benefit and possible result of re-queening but let me define "nasty": I re-adjusted the telescoping cover and was planning to move the hive 6". 18 stings on my right leg, 10 on my left and 9 on my arms and neck (3 got inside my veil, somehow) later it took me nearly 30 minutes to get all of the bees off of my clothes. In 8 years of beekeeping I have never been concerned...until then.
Holy brutality batman. While I'm normally of the "never kill a healthy hive" mentality, every now and then, there's one that's JUST GOT TO GO. This hive just sounds dangerous. Are you in AHB territory?
I've been super lucky (in N. VA) with the Purvis queens I've gotten, but they're a little pricey. Still, sounds like you're well beyond the requeening possibility. I'd have to go with the seal/dry ice maneuver. Do it at night and you're golden. (But set a bright spotlight or flashlight about 20 feet from the hive to distract those that wake up.)
I cringe at the thought of killing bees, but I also understand in a residential environment the issues with liability. If I had to the dry ice sounds like the only way to murder.
Best to you