I could put this one as a riddle but it is a real question.
Swarm season absolutely EXPLODED here. Every one of my beekeeper friends have been called daily. Some have had two or three in one day. Since last week, I took in 8. Today is my ninth call.
To the question: All the hives in my yard (9) are all from swarms since last Sunday...except one. This one was overwintered and had normal behavior. Seemed alright coming into spring too. In the last few days, one of these hives has turned unbearable. I?m suspecting that it is this one that has overwintered and is building nicely. The evidence points to this one because when I went into it today, there were bees all over me. And continued to follow me after I was done.
To help me with this process of elimination: Can a hived swarm, no more that a week old, exhibit this kind of behavior?? I have to get rid of this pissy hive fast. The houses here are close to each other and I don?t need anybody getting hurt. Aside from the fact that my wife can?t even go into the yard to enjoy her garden. Thanks for you input.
In general, defensive behavior increases when the colony is established and has something to defend. I believe your instincts are correct and the overwintered hive is to blame. :smile:
You put eight swarms in the same yard with an established hive, all within a week. I would get pissy to if I had eight neighbors move in that nothing to eat and didn't know where the store was. I'm sure your established hive is, at a minimum, getting harassed some by the swarms.
I would suspect new hives with unknown origins causing the problems.
2Sox Congratulations on the catching!
Wow. VERY interesting answers. Thanks for the congrats, Ben. Did some more investigating with that suspect hive. Went into them and they were all over me - even with an abundance of smoke before opening and during inspection. These are VERY bad girls.
Regarding the hived swarms: They are very gentle. Checking briefly on one or two a day and they are sweet as can be.
What I?m scratching my head about is why this bad hive is so bad. It was the same queen going into winter as came out in spring. (??)
Cao comment above. x2
- after a week they should all settle down.
2Sox, a mean hive needs to be dealt with immediately if your wife is threatened. That is crossing a line to me: bees threatening family members or neighbors. Not tolerated for any reason or justification such as WELL A COON WAS PESTERING AT NIGHT. Threaten my family, my wife, and oh boy, something, that is queen, is gonna give quickly.
I would split into small nucs and requeen. Small nucs are easier to handle than one huge hive to me.
Quote from: van from Arkansas on May 04, 2020, 05:00:34 PM
2Sox, a mean hive needs to be dealt with immediately if your wife is threatened. That is crossing a line to me: bees threatening family members or neighbors. Not tolerated for any reason or justification such as WELL A COON WAS PESTERING AT NIGHT. Threaten my family, my wife, and oh boy, something, that is queen, is gonna give quickly.
I would split into small nucs and requeen. Small nucs are easier to handle than one huge hive to me.
Thank you. The safety of others is foremost. And your suggestion is really good and very logical one. But it seems to me that even with smaller nucs, we?ll still be plagued by pissy bees until the genetics of the original hive is cleared with the new queen?s offspring. Thoughts?
Cao and Honeypump, thanks for your input on this. It?s food for thought. But from my own experience, this has never happened. ALL my bees come from swarms and cutouts and have all been put in the same yard over the years. There is always a first time, I guess, but what I describe has never happened - and that?s why this scenario you both describe is hard to compute. I look down at the bee yard from my window and the scene is as peaceful as can be.
The sad thing is that I?ve asked everyone I know and the timing is really bad - no one is able to take it off my hands.
It reminds me of Julie, a beautiful pit bull we rescued some years ago. She bit everyone who came into the house if we didn?t watch her. She didn?t bite to hurt but is was scary. I didn?t have the stomach to put her down. We kept her for three years. Another family took her for a year but she was returned to us for the same reason. Dogs have histories before they are adopted and it became clear that she couldn?t live in a world with people. The next day I brought her right to the vet and said goodbye. That dog taught me a hard lesson.
Maybe some hives need to be thought of the same way.
I just stay out of the hives for a week. There is no need to go into them. That itself may solve the problem as they settle down, find forage and get busy about their own business. They will begin ignoring you again.
Then if you find in another week or so, that they are still mean, requeen, split into nuts, or close it up one morning and give it to a seasoned beek. You have found so many free swarms, give it to someone who knows what to do with it.
I usually give my hives a warning with a mark of "pissy" in the tape I have on the back of the hive. If they still that way the next inspection they are given another box for room and to let the bees spread out some. Cause the next time if things haven't changed, that hive is going to be "divided and conquered". It will be split as much as it is necessary to "break their will". Because at some point they will decide that they don't have the extra guard bees to waste on kamikaze runs. I do recommend giving them some time but then do what you have to.
Stick with HPs plan. Give it a chance. If that don't work, requeen or just for fun, and may be a little off the wall. Put on a full vented suit, and pull up a chair closely to their entrance. Read a book and give them every opportunity to get it out of their system. Who knows? :wink:
If that don't work requeen them and pinch her: Kind of like squashing one of those mean red wasp! lol
Quote from: 2Sox on May 04, 2020, 06:50:41 PM
Cao and Honeypump, thanks for your input on this. It?s food for thought. But from my own experience, this has never happened. ALL my bees come from swarms and cutouts and have all been put in the same yard over the years. There is always a first time, I guess, but what I describe has never happened - and that?s why this scenario you both describe is hard to compute. I look down at the bee yard from my window and the scene is as peaceful as can be.
The sad thing is that I?ve asked everyone I know and the timing is really bad - no one is able to take it off my hands.
It reminds me of Julie, a beautiful pit bull we rescued some years ago. She bit everyone who came into the house if we didn?t watch her. She didn?t bite to hurt but is was scary. I didn?t have the stomach to put her down. We kept her for three years. Another family took her for a year but she was returned to us for the same reason. Dogs have histories before they are adopted and it became clear that she couldn?t live in a world with people. The next day I brought her right to the vet and said goodbye. That dog taught me a hard lesson.
Maybe some hives need to be thought of the same way.
Very kind of you to rescue a dog, especially a bull which most would reject. We have a rescue pup, name Gracie. She has turned out to be a doll, part of the family. Ok, back to bees.
The bees being placed in smaller nucs will settle down some. Be sure and move from the original location. Leave no hive at the original location except maybe for an empty box which make the bees think the hive moved on.
Thanks so much for you advice, guys. A lot to think about. We?ll see how it turns out.
Cao, Honeypump and Van, I?ve been thinking about your suggestion about splitting that hive into nucs. Why would doing that calm them down? I would think pissy is as pissy does. If they were bad girls as a big hive, would?t they behave the same way as smaller ones, once the guard bees were drafted?
I would have definitely tried this if 1) I had the room. I am completely full up. I?ve had to turn down calls. 2) If I had the luxury of time to see if it worked out. I?ve got neighbors kids playing ball and setting up a play tent 25-30 feet away in the yard in back of my house. Chain link fence is all that separates us.
Quote from: 2Sox on May 05, 2020, 11:23:45 AM
Cao, Honeypump and Van, I?ve been thinking about your suggestion about splitting that hive into nucs. Why would doing that calm them down? I would think pissy is as pissy does. If they were bad girls as a big hive, would?t they behave the same way as smaller ones, once the guard bees were drafted?
I would have definitely tried this if 1) I had the room. I am completely full up. I?ve had to turn down calls. 2) If I had the luxury of time to see if it worked out. I?ve got neighbors kids playing ball and setting up a play tent 25-30 feet away in the yard in back of my house. Chain link fence is all that separates us.
Larger colonies tend to be more pissy in general. That's not a 100% given. I theorize that the more bees in a colony, the stronger the alarm pheromone response. They also have more resources to protect, and do so with more aggression.
Larger colonies are not more pissy. The only thing that makes a hive pissy are:
1. Genetics.
2. Irritants
Deal with genetics by requeening from a known source.
Deal with irritants by;
- giving time to adjust to major changes or short term disruptions that have been done by the beekeeper or by the environment
- beeing observant of recurring pests and conditions around the hive that affects them, and take action to eliminate/minimize those irritants. Those pests/conditions may be IN the hive or the environment around the hive.
Changes were made to the environment of the existing hive and to the colonies that were brought in. In this case, the fix is time. 1 week should do it.. If you have neighbours and kids and wife garden so close that time is not possible, then I have to be blunt and up front to say that you should not have any hives in that location, not even one. Even the best calm hive may have a short flare periodically. If that cannot be tolerated then the solution is no bees at all.
PS: Young bees are much more gentle. It is the old tired worn out bees that can get pissy ... again only if genetically disposed or irritants are present. Keep this in mind for when a "new" calm hive becomes mean 2 weeks later. The reason splits and cut-downs can work is that is usually done with nurse bees and capped brood = young bees. The original hive location where the old bees return too may continue to be knarly until those die off. The cut-downs may also become just as pissy 2 weeks later as their bees age as well.
PS2: Also know the difference between bees flying around as being defensive/aggressive vs bees being disoriented and seeking out their new environment. When I move a beeyard of multiple hives to a new location, it is utter chaos for about 4 days. Bees everywhere zipping in every direction as they get oriented, searching, and finding where the new forage is. During this time it can be un-nerving standing in the middle of the yard. Bees that run into you full speed may instinctively sting. I will not enter the yard without a suit. Go back 7-10 days later and the yard of millions of bees is hard at work, flight is orderly, and they could care less that I am there. I will walk in shorts and t-shirt and pop a few lids with no concerns.
So, give them some time and see what happens. After giving them a reasonable amount of time (7-10), then take whatever action is necessary if it is still a problem.
Hope that helps!
Quote from: TheHoneyPump on May 06, 2020, 02:09:50 PM
Larger colonies are not more pissy. The only thing that makes a hive pissy are:
1. Genetics.
2. Irritants
Deal with genetics by requeening from a known source.
Deal with irritants by;
- giving time to adjust to major changes or short term disruptions that have been done by the beekeeper or by the environment
- beeing observant of pests and conditions around the hive that affects them, and take action to eliminate/minimize those irritants.
Changes were made to the environment of the existing hive and to the colonies that were brought in. In this case, the fix is time. 1 week should do it.. If you have neighbours and kids and wife garden so close that time is not possible, then I have to be blunt and up front to say that you should not have any hives in that location, not even one. Even the best calm hive may have a short flare periodically. If that cannot be tolerated then the solution is no bees at all.
PS: Young bees are much more gentle. It is the old tired worn out bees that can get pissy ... again only if genetically disposed or irritants are present. Keep this in mind for when a "new" calm hive becomes mean 2 weeks later. The reason splits and cut-downs can work is that is usually done with nurse bees and capped brood = young bees. The original hive location where the old bees return too may continue to be knarly until those die off. The cut-downs may also become just as pissy 2 weeks later as their bees age as well.
Hope that helps!
Your reply is MUCH appreciated and makes a good deal of sense. And your viewpoint about having no bees in my home environment is understandable - especially without seeing pictures. Have had bees here for 14 years. Top number at any one time has been about 10. No issues. When I had a pissy hive from a cutout, it never came home to my yard; always was able to place it. Had a Sas queen that was BAD; awful offspring. (You might recall my post on that) Gave that hive away immediately. This situation now is unique - especially with COVID. The 4 kids from the family next door are using the 10 car lot behind my house as their playground. That would NOT happen except for the lockdown. (Here in New York things are very strict and we here are very grateful to Cuomo for his leadership on this.) So I?m particularly vigilant.
I guess I?ll wait and see how it goes with time. Or if a friend turns up with space.
OK sounds in good hands. It will all work out.
--- I have made a couple revisions, clarifications and expansion, to the comments above.
Depending on what your relations are with your neighbours, it may be a good idea to advise them that you are observant and that you are aware of a potential problem and tell them what your plan is. That could go a long way towards preventing people problems.
HP, your an honest fella, that is to warn neighbors. That might work in Canada but not in USA. If 2Sox warns his neighbor, that if providing info. Information can be a liability in the USA. If his neighbor get stung and goes to the hospital, 2Sox is negligent by admitting and neglecting mean bees and not destroying the bees. Otherwise 2Sox has liability but not negligent.
Example, in the US, Mc Donald?s got sued for 14 million over a hot cup of coffee. The issue was negligent because Mc Donald?s knew the coffee was scolding. Otherwise if McDonald?s did not realize the coffee was scolding, the liability would have been only $100 of dollars. Add the word negligent and liability goes from hundreds to millions. Every one is the US can occur liabilities, but not negligent liability. Admitting and doing nothing to protect concurs negligence. In Canada I do not think a company can get sued over a cup of hot coffee? Is this correct? In the USA, 14 million$ for a cup of hot coffee is the coffee is to hot.
Slip on a unknown banana peel and no big deal. If you know the banana peel is on your floor and do nothing as a person slips, you are screwed.
Interesting. Here there is nothing negligent about having a plan (one that will be found reasonable by experts), comminicating the plan to persons affected, and following the plan.
I suppose south of the 49th, the plan has to be ......
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200507/aaf5efff30296794c908d1eef5af1385.jpg)
Quote from: TheHoneyPump on May 06, 2020, 02:09:50 PM
Larger colonies are not more pissy.
Maybe not but they are more defensive. They have a lot more older bees that are expendable.
Hey! That's me, Larry, my brother Daryl, and my other brother, Daryl.
Quote from: TheHoneyPump on May 06, 2020, 02:39:39 PM
OK sounds in good hands. It will all work out.
--- I have made a couple revisions, clarifications and expansion, to the comments above.
Depending on what your relations are with your neighbours, it may be a good idea to advise them that you are observant and that you are aware of a potential problem and tell them what your plan is. That could go a long way towards preventing people problems.
Thank you for that revision. Very useful.
My neighbors have already gotten stung so things are a little dodgy. The circumstances were not unusual: A kid picked up a ball with a bee on it. Back door light was on at night and a few bees were hovering around. This happened the week of Formic Pro treatment. I haven?t heard of it, or personally experienced it, but maybe the treatment made the bees a little pissy. I don?t know how they reacted but somehow the bees got into the house and the husband and wife got stung. The only two times in all these years. They are basically pretty accepting and decent people but they don?t speak English (although family members do) so I just try to keep out of their way.
Formic acid does tend to make the bees aggressive. Try switching to oxalic acid. They never seem to mind except for the bees returning when the smoke is coming out of the entrance. They stop because it does not smell like their hive.
Jim Altmiller
2Sox, how did this work out? Did the hive calm or did you have to take action?
Quote from: TheHoneyPump on May 06, 2020, 02:39:39 PM
OK sounds in good hands. It will all work out.
--- I have made a couple revisions, clarifications and expansion, to the comments above.
Depending on what your relations are with your neighbours, it may be a good idea to advise them that you are observant and that you are aware of a potential problem and tell them what your plan is. That could go a long way towards preventing people problems.
Went back and re-read the thread. Thanks again, for all your help.
2Sox, how did this work out? Did the hive calm or did you have to take action?
I am not a good enough bee keeper to deal with a pissy hive. It makes it tough when you have to tend to other hives in the same area. Having other hives I would be inclined to get rid of it in some fashion.
Quote from: Acebird on May 23, 2021, 12:58:54 PM
I am not a good enough bee keeper to deal with a pissy hive. It makes it tough when you have to tend to other hives in the same area. Having other hives I would be inclined to get rid of it in some fashion.
I agree Brian. I would not enjoy a mean hive either. That is part of the reason I ask 2Sox how his situation worked out. Several of us put a lot of thought with hope of helping him solve this problem he faced last year. HP told him to give it a few days and some agreed. It is still a mystery as to the results of the Avenue 2Sox finally had to take. A good learning experience for each of us. (If we knew) lol 😊
This hive never did work out. I was not able to relocate it and time was a factor. I was extremely reluctant to say this to you all; it goes so much against what I believe. But I treated it like that dog, Julie, I previously wrote about. I euthanized the colony. I vacuumed all the bees and froze them along with the comb.
Quote from: 2Sox on May 23, 2021, 04:34:39 PM
This hive never did work out. I was not able to relocate it and time was a factor. I was extremely reluctant to say this to you all; it goes so much against what I believe. But I treated it like that dog, Julie, I previously wrote about. I euthanized the colony. I vacuumed all the bees and froze them along with the comb.
I?m sure you can imagine how much I wrestled with this decision. I?m very grateful for all the time and thought you all put into trying to help me figure this out - and I considered your suggestions seriously - but because of the position I was in, none of those solutions was possible. I felt ashamed and that?s why I never followed up with what I?m writing here. But I see now that you all deserve to know.
I looked up euthanizing honeybees on the Internet and I found a beek who used a soap solution. It is on YouTube. It was very fast but that would make it impossible to reuse the resources of the hive. That?s why I chose the method I did.
That?s just the way it goes sometimes 2Sox. You did what had to be done... ✔️
Honestly I hate to admit it but I use to be reluctant to pinch a failing queen. As you we have to do what we need to do though reluctantly.
Thanks for the update!
Quote from: van from Arkansas on May 06, 2020, 03:16:15 PM
HP, your an honest fella, that is to warn neighbors. That might work in Canada but not in USA. If 2Sox warns his neighbor, that if providing info. Information can be a liability in the USA. If his neighbor get stung and goes to the hospital, 2Sox is negligent by admitting and neglecting mean bees and not destroying the bees. Otherwise 2Sox has liability but not negligent.
Example, in the US, Mc Donald?s got sued for 14 million over a hot cup of coffee. The issue was negligent because Mc Donald?s knew the coffee was scolding. Otherwise if McDonald?s did not realize the coffee was scolding, the liability would have been only $100 of dollars. Add the word negligent and liability goes from hundreds to millions. Every one is the US can occur liabilities, but not negligent liability. Admitting and doing nothing to protect concurs negligence. In Canada I do not think a company can get sued over a cup of hot coffee? Is this correct? In the USA, 14 million$ for a cup of hot coffee is the coffee is to hot.
Slip on a unknown banana peel and no big deal. If you know the banana peel is on your floor and do nothing as a person slips, you are screwed.
The franchise had been cited on several occasions by the local health department for having coffee at the boiling point & not doing anything about it. The lady who was injured had 10 surgeries on her groin to repair the damage caused by the burns. In the end, the case was settled for less than $500k with most going to reimburse her insurance company for medical/surgery expenses. Having been an attorney for over 40 years, I've seen the law drastically change to limit injured person's financial recovery over the last 20 years, making it nearly impossible for any frivolous cases to stay in court, much less succeed.
Quote from: Acebird on May 07, 2020, 08:32:41 AM
Quote from: TheHoneyPump on May 06, 2020, 02:09:50 PM
Larger colonies are not more pissy.
Maybe not but they are more defensive. They have a lot more older bees that are expendable.
Defensive vs. Pissy is just playing semantics. We all should be aware that honey bees are never aggressive, just sometimes more prominently defensive.
With that in mind, my experiences have shown large colonies to be more defensive/pissy. Not just more airborne bees, but actually stinging my suit or me if I get to close. Splits have calmed pissy hives right down to the point that I can work them without gear again. In no way do I intend to discredit HP's commentary, but it certainly is not reflective of my own experiences.
An Africanized hive is aggressive. It can kill an animal without provocation.
Quote from: Acebird on May 26, 2021, 04:10:26 PM
An Africanized hive is aggressive. It can kill an animal without provocation.
I agree Brian in this case. A bit overly defensive can be called aggressive. I don?t think guitarstitch had that consideration in mind? But maybe so?
Quote from: 2Sox on May 05, 2020, 11:23:45 AM
Cao, Honeypump and Van, I?ve been thinking about your suggestion about splitting that hive into nucs. Why would doing that calm them down? I would think pissy is as pissy does. If they were bad girls as a big hive, would?t they behave the same way as smaller ones, once the guard bees were drafted?
I would have definitely tried this if 1) I had the room. I am completely full up. I?ve had to turn down calls. 2) If I had the luxury of time to see if it worked out. I?ve got neighbors kids playing ball and setting up a play tent 25-30 feet away in the yard in back of my house. Chain link fence is all that separates us.
2Sox I have been interested in the idea of raising more queens. After some studying, the consensus seems to be the genetics of drones may determine the 'attitude' of the bees. Buying proven gentle stock queens for your new nucs would have been a plus to a gentler bee. Or if you would have made splits, allowing each to make their own queens, most likely your virgins would have mated with a gentler temperamental strain of drones? Eventually allowing these new splits with new queens to produce a gentler strain of bee. I would not want any drones from a mean hive reproducing. There may have been other reasons as well that the three above recommended making splits.
Imho, it is as you figure it
- pissy is as pissy does
Nucing mean genetics makes more mean genetics. The only difference is there are 5-50 bees bouncing off the veil when inspecting each nuc rather than 500-5000 bouncing off the veil when inspecting a full size hive of pissy misfits. The only good of nucing it is that doing so can make it possible to use the bees and resources in smaller annoying units. They are still pissy bees, just fewer to be pestered by at a time. Of course if all the nucs are in the same location, next to each other, then nothing has been accomplished - all the bees are still there to get you.
It is best to try to notice such behaviours while the colony is still small and unceremoniously hivetool mash that queen along with any drone brood she had on the go. Ie requeen when you experience persistent veil bombers or being chased around without provocation; (assuming there is nothing disturbing the hive).
After intro of a new queen, it will take a month or more for the hive transformation to be complete. That being the time it takes until all of the brood and bees with with the mean genetics to mature and die off. The change in pheromone of a new gentler queen does have some immediate effect, but the actual problem, the genetics, is not gone until those bees carrying it are gone.
In an urban setting, time is not on the beekeepers side. The problem hive must be moved or euthanized. Just like the problem dog.
Imho, hope that helps!
I agree most smaller colonies are more docile. The nucs hardly need smoke. The 10-20 [medium] frame colonies are good girls.
And the 50-60 frame hives are slightly annoyed at best, and defensive at worst.
Down side of big colonies: it's hard to pull a frame of brood from a big colony that won't miss it, because brood is under 3 heavy boxes full of honey / nectar / half-drawn frames. And it takes more box-open time when inspecting.
The up side of big colonies: they crank out the honey, for sure. They use less equipment: fewer bottom boards, inner lids, and telescoping lids. There are fewer pests threatening the hive.
But next year I'm aiming for a happy medium of 4 medium boxes.
In really pissy hives they tend to be hard to requeen, in my experience they tend to kill the new queen and draw their own.
If you split the hive and kill the bad queen, only give the splits capped brood then the bees will be queenlees and in a few days check that you have not missed an egg that is drawn into a QC, then add your new queen.
If you cannot find the queen or don't want to take a heap of stings doing so then split the hive into nucs and leave for a few days, Each nuc must have eggs in the brood.
After a few days all the nucs bar one will have cells, no cells has the queen, less bees to search through to find her.
You have the option to requeen the queen nuc or knock off the cells and requeen all of them.
We tend to use mated queens as being migratory BK's we don't know where we picked up the pissy genetics.
Good information Oldbeavo. Have you and Karen tried push in cages when re-queening a hive such as this?
Quote from: Oldbeavo on July 01, 2021, 06:39:32 PM
If you cannot find the queen or don't want to take a heap of stings doing so then split the hive into nucs and leave for a few days, Each nuc must have eggs in the brood.
After a few days all the nucs bar one will have cells, no cells has the queen, less bees to search through to find her.
Smart smart smart.
Hi Ben
Being migratory BK"s, our bees can be 100 miles from home so going back in a few days to release a queen is not practical.
Our options for a pissy hives depends on how savage.
Really savage, kill queen, remove all open brood, add open brood from very quiet hive and let them rear a new queen.
Bit savage then add a caged queen with a candy plug but put her between the first and second frame out of the main traffic. Give the hive a good shake of icing sugar to get rid of old queen smell and create a distraction. Not always successful but is an option.
Quote from: Oldbeavo on July 02, 2021, 07:54:07 AM
Hi Ben
Being migratory BK"s, our bees can be 100 miles from home so going back in a few days to release a queen is not practical.
Our options for a pissy hives depends on how savage.
Really savage, kill queen, remove all open brood, add open brood from very quiet hive and let them rear a new queen.
Bit savage then add a caged queen with a candy plug but put her between the first and second frame out of the main traffic. Give the hive a good shake of icing sugar to get rid of old queen smell and create a distraction. Not always successful but is an option.
Regarding ?bit savage?: Do you kill the queen or just put in a candy plugged queen, after sugar powder, with the old queen still inside?
Hi 2SOX
in both cases we kill the queen.
Another hint for pissy hives is that after using the Sawdustmaker smoking technique, when removing the supers put the first one on a solid base, then second one if there is one on top and put the lid on it. This is so you have all the bees not in the brood box locked away so you don't have to deal with them getting agro and wanting to sting you.
Quote from: Oldbeavo on July 02, 2021, 07:11:14 PM
Hi 2SOX
in both cases we kill the queen.
Another hint for pissy hives is that after using the Sawdustmaker smoking technique, when removing the supers put the first one on a solid base, then second one if there is one on top and put the lid on it. This is so you have all the bees not in the brood box locked away so you don't have to deal with them getting agro and wanting to sting you.
Thanks.
What is the Sawdustmaker smoking technique?
2Sox,
Here is a copy of the article I wrote about smoking a hive.
Calming down a hive.
I can make the calmest hive mean and I can make the meanest hive calm. It is all about you handle them and how you smoke them.
I teach the 10 minute and 30 second smoking procedure. Get your smoker puffing thick smoke. Puff 3-4 puffs into the bottom of the hive. Wait full 10 minutes, puff 3-4 puffs into the bottom of the hive and wait 30 seconds. While waiting, slowly slide your hive tool between boxes to break the propolis. Do not bang on the hive tool to do this.
One thing you do not want to do is bang anything against your hives.
Move slowly and gently slide frames in and out of the hive.
Jim Altmiller
Run your hand over the top of the hive directly over the bees. A hot hive will hit your hand.