# Is that Austrailian beehive for real?



## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

Just wondering if there is hope for those of us who do not want to walk around in smoke wearing a hood?


----------



## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

myself ,,, I have had bees from 2006 ,, have 3 full suits ,, but til this year I have put the suit on twice ,, this fall for some reason ,, they were pissy ,, I ended up putting it on 4 to 6 times , over a 2 or 3 week feeding , then they were back to norm so no suit was put on ,, and I'll tell you I am NOT gentle if I want to look at were a girl is ,, I shove her over with my finger ,,, if I want to see all the comb ,, I hold it over the hive and hit the hand holding the frame ,, the girls fall off and go in the hive ..... and I only get stung 5 to 8 times a year ,,


----------



## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

If you don't want to get stung, get gentle bees. After getting sick for a couple of weeks this spring from breathing smoke from my smoker all day, I got determined to have bees that didn't require smoking. So I quit smoking my bees. Those hives that required smoking got a new queen. If they were quite aggressive I killed the hive. 

I work bees very gently and rarely squish a bee. There is no reason that you can't work quickly and gently. Now that I don't use smoke it is a complete pleasure to work with my bees. I run around 50 hives year round and in the spring I run a lot more plus lots of nucleus hives. This has now become a selling point for me. I raise bees for sale and mostly work with beginners and this is a pretty big thing for most of them.

As to the flow hive, IT DOES NOT WORK LIKE THE VIDEOS SHOW! I have a friend that has actually gone and seen one. She says that it is pretty cool and it does release the honey. However, the videos show it still on the hive outside when you extract the honey. That simply isn't how it's done. You have to remove the bees from it and bring the box inside to extract the honey. Which means you are going to have to carry that box full of honey which is very heavy. Also keep in mind that this thing costs around $600 and you still need to buy a hive to put it on.


----------



## txsteele (Nov 19, 2014)

My bees don't like smoke. That's what makes them pissy. I stopped smoking them and I can work with them all day with out any issues now. I was stung twice this year and it was my fault because I dropped a frame. 

Nothing like gentle bees. They are a pleasure.


----------



## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

i use very little smoke ...... I do have very gentle bees ,, I'll tell 2 funny stores about them .... story 1 my younges grandson ( at that time ) was in kinder garden ,, he got up , went and got a jar with a lid ,, put some holes in the lid ,, went out to the hives , picked up 5 drone's put them in the jar , took them to school ,, my daughter got a call saying the he can not bring any more bees to school ... we asked him when he got home what he did .. he said I brought drones to school and I told them they do not sting .... 
story 2 I went out to work a hive ,, one of the grand kids came out with me and wanted to help ,, then said he wanted to hold a frame ( they hold frames a lot )I gave him a frame full of bees ,, turned and pulled another frame to look at ,, I heard a thump ,, then OH OH , that didn't sound real good ,,, turned around ,hes standing looking down at the frame on his shoes , that look like there moving because of all the bees on them ,, I picked him up tapped his shoes off ,, set him down ,, he looked at me and said ,, one just went up my pant leg ,, I pulled down his pants just in time to see the bee go up under his under wear ,,, pulled his under wear down and I see this bee crawl up the crack of his butt gets to the top and flys away ,,, I have a good laugh each time I think of both of these stores


----------



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I wear a long sleeve dress shirt which is light weight also a helmet with a veil that is it. I do not smoke the bees when doing inspections just use a spray bottle with a 1:1 ratio of syrup I sprits on the bees. I do keep the smoker going setting on the truck tail gate just in case I need it. I use it if I get stung to cover the scent of the sting and surrounding area.
I will also use it when pulling honey supers so as to push the bees down into the main hive. 
Like Tex said if the hive is to aggressive get rid of the queen and wait about 30 days for the new queens brood to hatch out. 
That is where raising your own queens shines. You breed gentle queen bees so you don't get those aggressive hives.

 Al


----------



## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

I feel kind of strange investigating this since I do not eat honey. Not that I don't like it, I have no idea if I would like it or not LOL since I have never tasted it. I just keep thinking about when times get harder and folks need sweetener and cannot get hold of any. Thinking I should leave this to someone who is more brave than I!


----------



## Iddee (Sep 25, 2005)

I love these "no-smoke" stories, especially the follow ups.I have been keeping bees since 1976. I have worked for commercial keeps that keep thousands of hives. I will work bees all day without a veil, but I will NEVER work a hive without smoke.Yes,I have seen it done many times. I have also seen the day, more than once, when they released 100 to 200 stings within the first 3 seconds of opening a hive. You folks keep on working without smoke. One day, you will see the same. 

For the newbees, PLEASE, use smoke until you are sure you want to become a statistic.


----------



## kendall j (Mar 30, 2007)

I wear my suit but I don't smoke unless I absolutely have to. I had one hive that was mean a couple years back, I saw a queen cell and I let them swarm. Hated to lose half the bees and some honey, but I was not sad to see that queen go. Her daughter is just as productive, if not more and her daughters are much nicer when I open the top cover.

The only other time I have used smoke since I was a kid helping my dad was this spring when a bear got one of my hives. They were pissy for a couple months after that. They still stung me through the gloves a few times last time in, but I didn't use smoke that time, so they are starting to calm down a bit.

When I rob, I use a bee escape and my lungs. I take the super away from the hive and pull the frames. Then I blow on the bees to get them to fly away. I end up with a few that won't leave, but by and large I can get them out and get the super between two top covers before I end up with too many bees back on the frames.


----------



## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Why would you presume that I don't wear a beesuit? I'm in Africanized bee country, whether I use smoke or not, I wear a suit.

I'm a queen breeder and I am in my hives frequently. I work at least 10 hours a day in my hives in the spring. If I breath smoke for that long every day for weeks I will get sick. Anybody would. 

While I've not been a commercial beekeeper since 1976, I have been keeping bees for 25 years. Do not assume that people you don't know don't know what they are talking about.


----------

