month old Russian package - stinging machines

asciibaron · May 10, 2011, 08:51:35 PM

i've gotten stung 3 times in four days simply by walking around my backyard, within 25 feet of a month old Russian package. my oldest son (9) was stung once and i'm afraid that the 4 year old is gonna get it. i really am concerned because our neighbors have a small kid who likes to come over and play on our swings (20 feet from hives). the latest sting was odd, i heard the bee flying around me as i stood still looking at my patio. i wasn't in the flight path. this must have been a guard that came out to get me.

i haven't been in the hive in 10 days - the queen was going like gang busters when i last checked. my son got stung 11 days ago.

i've never had this problem in 4 years of having bees...

VolunteerK9 · May 10, 2011, 11:55:20 PM

Ive heard several times how pissy the Russian ladies could be. I bought a package of the Russian hybrids this year from Kelleys, but so far they have been incredibly docile.

schawee · May 11, 2011, 12:05:30 AM

HAD 4 russian hives :-D pinched all the queens and requeened with some of my gentle hives. schawee

bailey · May 11, 2011, 02:22:25 AM

had a few russian swarms from my father in laws hive a few years ago.
they worked great but they were the pissiest bees i have had.
requeened them all!

Brian D. Bray · May 12, 2011, 06:44:47 PM

I bought a batch of Russian pacakges about 5 years ago, had no problem with them. Since then I've gotten a few Carnolians and Italians so that what I have now is a mix of the three. The bees I have now are the gentlest bees I've had in 50+ years of beekeeping and that's saying a lot.

Bees can be prissy for a variety of reasons. One of the primary ones, if you live in the city, is neighbor kids lobbing rocks at your hives or doing other things to harrass them. I've seen kids kick at bee hives as they ride by them on their bicycles, slap them with their hands, and spray water in the entrances.

Other things I seen cause bees to get proddy over are colognes, gasoline vapors, etc. Back in the day my great grandfather advised against having a hive too near an outhouse, the stench made them prissy.

I'd advise an evaluation of the hive location, a move to a more suitable spot might make a big difference in their aggression. Never be too quick to off a queen cause it's not always the queen fault.

Michael Bush · May 12, 2011, 11:29:08 PM

http://bushfarms.com/beesrequeeninghot.htm

tsmullins · May 23, 2011, 10:31:01 AM

Quote from: asciibaron on May 10, 2011, 08:51:35 PM
i've gotten stung 3 times in four days simply by walking around my backyard, within 25 feet of a month old Russian package. my oldest son (9) was stung once and i'm afraid that the 4 year old is gonna get it. i really am concerned because our neighbors have a small kid who likes to come over and play on our swings (20 feet from hives). the latest sting was odd, i heard the bee flying around me as i stood still looking at my patio. i wasn't in the flight path. this must have been a guard that came out to get me.

i haven't been in the hive in 10 days - the queen was going like gang busters when i last checked. my son got stung 11 days ago.

i've never had this problem in 4 years of having bees...

Sorry to hear that your Russians are hot. My new Russian hive is very docile. I often sit next to the hive to try and observe what they are bringing in. I have mowed around the hive with a riding mower and have had no issues.

Shane

Kathyp · May 23, 2011, 12:54:23 PM

it's not the breed, you just have pissy bees. are you feeding or is there enough for them to eat? if they are that bad, and you are concerned about the kids, requeen.

i had one like that from a swarm. i pulled the queen and some frames of workers and made a nuc. let the hive requeen itself. now both are fine. no explanation. i only saved the queen to make sure that the other hive was successfully in requeening, but they settle down so well that i never pinched her.

sterling · May 23, 2011, 05:20:22 PM

I have small huntin dogs and if I have been handling the dogs and then go near certain hives the bees will fly around me pretty bad and they normally don't pay me any mind. They will sting the dogs if they get to close.

Brian D. Bray · May 23, 2011, 05:58:09 PM

Aggression is more likely to come about because of what we are wearing (wool), body odor, odors from other animals we've been working with, foods we've eaten (ripe bananas and caffiene drinks), chemicals w've applied before going into the bees, and weather conditiions than from the bees themselves.

I have one vest I wear when painting or using chemicals that if I wear it near the bees I need to hang it on a fence post. The bees will buzz that vest and will become very agressive if I wear it when working the hives.

If I've worked with the sheep and goats I'll get nailed rather quickly if I go near the hives.