# Bees attacking



## farmnewbie (Apr 18, 2014)

Ok so I just went out by my hives to watch them fly in and out as I do almost daily. This time I had my 1 yr old in tow unlike normal which I don't believe would be the cause of the following behavior. Well not but 30 secs after I walked up to the hives and maybe like 5ft away from them I got swarmed and attacked. Since I had my 1 yr old in my arms I instinctively ran and I had bees stuck in my hair and chasing me away and I got stung on my lip. The only thing I can think of that would have caused this behavior is I just took a shower not too long ago and I use coconut oil as my lotion so I had that on. Do you think that would have triggered their alarm? I didn't even get all that close to the hive and I wasn't in the front of it. Just next to them on the sides. I am feeling like I am totally failing with my bees with how things have been lately! Ugh! Any suggestions? I don't want that to happen again, that's for sure. My lip hurts!! Lol


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## Vahomesteaders (Jun 4, 2014)

They are very proned to smells. They will go after certain smells quick and if one stings you that pheromone is released and more will start popping you quick. So my guess is it was your smell. Hang in there. You will get the hang of it and benefit from the many rewards.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

How far from the hive did they chase you?


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## farmnewbie (Apr 18, 2014)

I don't know. Probably a few hundred feet. I ran clear across my 8 acres and finally stopped getting chased.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

That sounds like Africanized bee behavior. Have they been aggressive previous to this? When you are working them with your bee suit on are they pinging against your veil? You might try getting suited up and going out there again and see what happens. If they chase you again, you need to re-queen immediately.


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## beegrowing (Apr 1, 2014)

Since you made it clear you visit your bees all the time with No problem Something other than You probably upset them. Usually bees differentiate between people and predators but not always. I would say that something disturbed their hive in the night or that morning. Any night creature like a raccoon or mice trying to get in,in the dark,could have put them on the defensive. Don't give them a Day and requeen;give them a week! (unless you hate your queen anyway). They are doing their Job defending, as ALL varieties of honey bees will if they feel threatened.As was said the sting is an alarm bell for the rest of them too.
I've read of this happening half a dozen times on a bee forum thread and no one had africanized bees. In all "sudden" cases the bees went back to normal in a few days or a week. And yes....it's Possible the scent alerted them....some things like bananas smell rather like a foreign queen to them! A person can smoke around bees but not eat a banana-hahahaha. I don't know about coconut. Other scents,like essential oils,they actually usually like or it has a calming effect,like lemongrass oil. 
Some guard bees have long memories so leave them alone for awhile! I made a single guard mad during an inspection last year and I had to wait 2 weeks until that guard died to walk around the hive without being threatened again!


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## farmnewbie (Apr 18, 2014)

Ok. So after talking it through and observing the bees with gear on I'm pretty sure there is robbing going on. The other day when I was inspecting the hive that I didn't finish, the very first frame I pulled was stuck to the side of the hive box and ripped open a bunch of honey and that probably started a huge robbery. So I put in some entrance reducers and will see what happens. I'm not totally sure what to do at this point other then keep an eye on them and keep the entrance reducers on. I should probably wait till things calm down to do an inspection again right? I was planning on it today but no way, not after what happened. So maybe I will wait till next weekend to do an inspection. 
P.S. 
Thank you TexMex!!


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

If you think there was robbing going on which I believe could happen at this time from what I am seeing at my home hives.
You can build a anti robbing entrance which is a 3/4" x3/4" x 4" place these sticks on each side of the entrance standing up then staple some 1/8" hard wear cloth across the entrance on those up rights.
The girls in the hive will come out and go up to get out Robbers seem to want to keep butting heads with the screen and soon give up.

 Al


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## farmnewbie (Apr 18, 2014)

Anyone know how long I can expect my lip to be all swollen for from my bee sting? lol it doesn't seem to be going down at all. &#128533;


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## Iddee (Sep 25, 2005)

Things to make a hive aggressive.

Dearth... When their is no flow, the foragers are home and ready to protect and/or attack.

Robbing... When a hive is being robbed, it is on high defense alert and can be very aggressive.

Pests... When a skunk or other critter is attacking the hive at night, the bees will be on high alert during the day.

Smells... Perfumes, colognes, hair spray, ETC., will sometimes set them off and they will attack.

Shock... Drop a frame, cow or horse bumps the hive, ETC. will put them in defense mode.

Weather... The smell of an approaching storm will make the friendliest hive act Africanized.

Queenless... A hive without a queen will have more of a roaring sound than a calm hum and be highly defensive.

It is best to wait 2 to 5 days after a defensive mood to go back into them. In that time, review the above and determine if any, and how many of these are present.


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## farmnewbie (Apr 18, 2014)

So silly me. There is no robbing going on in my hive, nothing wrong at all. Just a nice healthy hive with great activity.  I just updated on my other thread about the same thing but had a local beekeeper over today to go through my hives with me and everything looks great and they were all very gentle and not aggressive at all. In fact I had one crawling up inside my jean pant leg and it didn't sting me. Lol. I bet they seemed like they attacked me cause they were stuck in my hair and I was flailing and running and acting like a crazy woman. Haha. Anyway. Thanks for all your advice and input. So much to learn first year beekeeping!!! I sure did learn a lot today! Also learned the proper way to light my smoker which is HUGE!! It was taking me forever and a half to get it going before....that's cause I was doing it all wrong. Hehe  
Thanks everybody! I'm a happy beekeeper today


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## 1shotwade (Jul 9, 2013)

About 10 years into beekeeping I caught a swarm and put them out by my garden. All was well for a while then they turned off mean. I got stung all the time. I would be using the tiller 40 yards away and one would come sting me.I couldn't figure what was going on till I happened to see a slight "trail" in the grass that went up to the entrance then back out into the woods.There on the hive entrance was a few lite scratches.A skunk had been visiting at night feasting on my guard bees.I took some old chestnut hulls and put them in front of the hive so the skunk couldn't stand there anymore and the bees calmed down in a week or so.


Wade


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