Friendly Colony Now Hot

[DCHoneybees]

I have a nuc that survived the winter.  These bees were queened with a buckfast hybrid last summer and the bees were reasonably friendly through the fall.

Now that they are active again, they are much hotter than my other hives which I work without protection.  Even with smoke and a veil I was stung probably 5 times and the guards continued to harass me 25 feet from the hive.  This aggressive behavior has occurred under a variety of weather and times of day.

Now, it goes without saying I will requeen this nuc and I have a couple queens on order.  My question is whether others have seen a hive that has changed its behavior with the same queen?

[Keith13]

Yes maybe the bees were having a bad day, so much can contribute to them being hot. Also are external pest bothering them maybe wildlife or people. Also time of day and also the more bees a hive has the more guards may be there to chase you around. Also is it a dearth? if so less bees foraging means more to chase you. Or it may just be a hot queen and its time to requeen her. Things to ponder

Keith

[Robo]

Not sure what you mean by a buckfast hybrid,  but there are plenty of accounts out there of 2nd generation queens from Buckfast stock that are hot.   

My question is whether others have seen a hive that has changed its behavior with the same queen?

Quite common, but usually is season related.   In general, bees seem to be less aggressive in the spring/summer than in the fall.

[DCHoneybees]

I do plan to give her a number of second chances...paid enough for her!!  They are on syrup and pollen patties now and taking it down.

[DCHoneybees]

She's a 2 year old Bee Weaver queen.

[Bee-Bop]

Also, in addition to the above, if you go back to basic 101, you will find that the bees can have different fathers.

Plus  could also just be having a bad bee day, cold day, humid day, or heaven for bid You smelt wrong to them [ it does happen ]

Bee-Bop

[Kathyp]

you may not have the same queen in there.  how big is the hive?  sometimes just splitting them helps a lot, although it's a bit early for that, i think.

where is your syrup?  is it attracting bees from other hives?  even though robbing is not so common in spring, they can get testy if they are being invaded.

[DCHoneybees]

It is a two-story med nuc and appears to small to split.  The syrup is in inverted mason jars, fed through the top and the entrance is reduced.  Sounds like I ought to give this hive a little time to re-acclimate before passing final judgment. 

[JP]

Two story medium nuc, that's a pretty small hive, they shouldn't be that vicious but once you remove all possible variables hopefully they calm down.

I have seen really aggressive small colonies but its not the norm. Usually the bigger the britches, the meaner the...  :-D


...JP