bees and lawnmowers

thomast55 · August 13, 2007, 03:06:55 PM

I'm new and have a lot of stupid questions . Will bees attack you if you mow or weed eat around the hive ?

MrILoveTheAnts · August 13, 2007, 03:19:07 PM

Most of the time No. You can run the lawn mower right up in front of the hive. However tapping the hive might provoke them to react. And the longer the vibrations from the mower are around the more likely you'll be attacked (probably stung once). So when mowing in front of the hive, try to get it done as fast as you can and don't hit the hive by accident. Go back later with hand tools and do touch up. Try not to breath on them or block the entrance way. Otherwise you should be fine. I do all my hives once a month or so.

annette · August 13, 2007, 07:35:51 PM

I cannot say this is for everyone, but my 2 hives are on a friends property. He mows in front of my hives with a riding lawnmower without a bee suit on. He goes right up to the hives and around them. Even stops in front of them and goes into reverse. He just is a fearless person. He has never gotten stung from my bees.

Annette

genesbees · August 13, 2007, 07:56:37 PM

I was "brush-hogging" around my hives the other day and was not watching closely when I nicked the corner of my hive rack with the brush hog. It nearly toppled three of my hives. I was so surprised when it did not evoke any reaction what so ever from those bees (Russians). I just jumped off the tractor and walked over and straightened them back up. I guess it really depends on their mood at the time.

gunny · August 13, 2007, 09:38:42 PM

Yup.

Found that I can mow right up to the hives. Try to not blow grass or the exhaust into the entrance and don't hang around. Do it and go. Never been stung mowing. Well never been stung by a honey bee while mowing. Yellow jackets, wasps and hornets are something else, they are just ill tempered.

You might consider using roundup around your hives to keep the vegitaion down so you don't have to mow real close. Apply at night when the girls are in bed.

afretired · August 13, 2007, 11:41:05 PM

The other day I decided to bush hog around three of my hives. I took one trip down the back side of the hives and the discharge of the bush hog hit the back of one hive. What a mess, they came rolling out looking to get a piece of me. I didn't make a second trip around. This particular hive is fairly calm, but I guess there was just something about all those cuttings hitting the hive that stirred them up. Round up sounds better.

Dave

Casimir · August 14, 2007, 01:54:30 AM

An elderly man was killed after riding his lawn mower too close to a beehive. Obviously this is an extreme.

http://wpi.clipsyndicate.com/publish/video/368447

indypartridge · August 14, 2007, 07:52:58 AM

Quote from: gunny on August 13, 2007, 09:38:42 PM
You might consider using roundup around your hives to keep the vegitaion down so you don't have to mow real close. Apply at night when the girls are in bed.

Or use old scraps of carpet. Easy to find on trash day.

bassman1977 · August 14, 2007, 10:23:44 AM

99.9% of the time I could mow right up to the hives (moving quickly while doing so) and not be bothered. My chances of getting stung from being in their flight path is greater than them coming from the hive to do some damage.

Last year I was mowing near the hives and I ran over a wet area where a couple bees were gathering water. One of them nailed me in the back of the neck.

Now weed wacking was a different story this year. Luckily I went prepared and wore my suit, but after about 10 minutes they came out of the hive to see what was going on. A few got a little up close and personal. It was getting dusk at that point. Probably should have waited a little longer.

Sean Kelly · August 15, 2007, 07:21:47 AM

Never been stung weedeating around my hives, but they sure don't like it. I stand behind the hive and reach around with the weedeater so all they see is the weedeater's head. They get pretty hot and I usually loose a few dozen when they hit the blades. When I've been bad and let the grass get too tall and there's a lot to mow, I just suit up in a old Tyvek suit that I dont mind getting dirty.
I got an old bagging push mower that I'm trying to get running to use instead of the weedeater. I think that would be more welcomed by the bees since the weedeater sprays grass all over the hive (probably what makes them mad).

Sean Kelly