# I suited up



## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

there are times when your glad you have a suit ........ I take back all my comments about wearing a suit .... went in the hives ,, they were fine taking off the top 3 boxes on the first hive ,,,, then wow they said ,,,, get out of our house ,,,,,, I suited up the 2nd hive was fine taking off the top 2 ,, the second 2 they said were you not told to stay out of our homes .. each one has 3 boxes ( 2 deep one med ) of brood so there are a lot of bees


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

many old bee keepers tell me they never wear a suit , but I always do I have taken a super of honey and thought I bet I would of not gottin a sting ,but then a I think of the other time I took the top off one with no hat on and pow pow pow I got three in a row on my bald head . some times they are in a bad mood for whatever reason . some have told me that high humidity ,or yellow jackets trying to steal will have them on guard and grouchy .


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

I always wear my full bee suit. I see nothing particularly virtuous in getting stung.


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

no don't think I'm knocking you that wear a suit ,, its just that , started not putting one on ,, and I do have 3 suits I got them at auction's for very little cash ,but the norm for me is ,, no suit and take my shirt off ,,,, but today I even had the shirt on when I started ,,, I just feel the suit gets in my way , and as the norm no stings , and I enjoy when the girls on me,, I know weird,, I do use bee sting therapy on my hands , it helps a lot,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, the 2 hives started this spring as nuc's ,, next spring I want to get some queen's from these queens , they are both laying nut's ,, less then 3 weeks and we had to put a 2nd box on.....


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Glad every thing is going well for you Tom. I will wear a helmet and veil but no sauna suit.

Second year here with out me putting any honey supers on. I didn't even make up any nucs this year. 
Just didn't seem the bees we getting much when we inspected.
I have 3 deep for brood and over wintering though.
Also made up some winter wraps, need to do a few more.

 Al


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Y'all would have different attitudes if you were in the south! Dealing with Africanized genetics is frolicsome at times  

Of course I do something about the hive as soon as I realize they are Africanized, but the process of discovering they are Africanized can be quite painful without a full suit.


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## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

This time of year, the bees are usually at their peak in numbers and while a small hive doesn't bother a beekeeper, a hive full of bees usually gives them a "mob" attitude.

Add onto the fact they have honey in their hive, and most bees this time of year, aren't in a good mood to just let someone look through their house without some consequences!


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I might concede to a suit if I were having to deal with African bees.

Other wise no way.

 Al


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

I've been in quite a few hives where I was VERY grateful that I was wearing a full suit....with rubber bands around the pants legs and a double layer of gloves! Besides the fact that they really truly, deep down in their tiny little hearts want to kill you.....I have to destroy the colony. I have tried and tried to requeen Africanized hives and it just doesn't work. 

Now I suit up in everything I've got and take a big tub of soapy water out to the bee yard and shake all I can into it, freeze the comb and come back out after dark and seal up the entrance to get the rest of them. It will plumb make you cry! 

The Africanized queens are really prolific. Absolutely jam packed full brood nests. Always a huge, very populous hive. Also, almost always a superior honey producer as well. If only they could figure out a way to keep the productivity and prolificness of the queens and do away with the aggressiveness I think we'd have the perfect honey bee. Unfortunately according to a geneticist that I listened to speak about this very thing....the aggressiveness is the one thing that breeds true.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I have heard the very same thing, about the AHB. Couldn't you use a 3 gallon sprayer of soapy water?


 Al


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

The tub of water is actually easier. Also I don't want to get soap all over my comb. By shaking bees off the frames into the soapy water I get the queen plus all of the house bees. Then I leave one box in place with 1 frame of brood....no other frames. Returning field workers will return to the hive and stay. Then I completely plug up the entrance that night and leave them for a couple of days. That slows them down enough from hunger and dehydration that I can take the lid off. Then I take a bucket of soapy water and dump over the bees in the hive. I run all screened bottom boards on my hives so this isn't a problem. That way I am only soaping and destroying 1 frame of brood. The rest of the frames I freeze and then give to other hives.....1 per hive....to clean out the dead brood. Rinse the hive with water to remove the soap and I'm ready to go again.

I tried giving them queen cells, enclosing queens in wire cages on frame, leaving queens in introduction cages for a week, removing all young brood and giving them young brood from a gentle queen. None of it has worked.

I've also tried taking those frames of brood and instead of freezing them, putting them into other hives as I hate being wasteful. Oh boy is that a bad idea!


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Ok I thought you was dumping the tub of water in the hive.

 Al


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## Ford Zoo (Jan 27, 2012)

Those comments make me happy that we live in a northern climate. Do you think the AHB will ever be able to continue breeding farther north as it crosses with our other stock? If it does, I hope it leaves the productivity but breeds out the aggressiveness.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

That's the problem, the aggressiveness doesn't breed out of them. You can cycle generations really quickly, which makes them a great subject to study. They have cycled them enough to have determined that the aggressiveness breeds true.

My understanding is that the Africanized bees do not overwinter well. So hopefully they won't go very far north.


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

one thing I did learn today ,,,,, ,, I put the suit on opened the hive ,,( and like norm I am not gentle ,, ) I take off the inner cover hit it hard on th hive to knock the girls off ,,, pull the zip lock bag I put on to see if they would take syrup ,, gave it a hard shake ,,, the air is full of ------ off girls ,,,, I take the spacer off ,, then I feel girls in my shirt ?? and on my neck ?? how are they getting in this suit there on my arm now ?? wait a minute there in my vail ??? I just got stung on the arm and face ?? what is going on ?? I look down and wounder why and how can I see my shirt ??? holey cat I didn't zip up the suit ,,, now I have 10 12 inside the vail ,,, about 30 or more in the suit with me ,, it looks like over a pound of girls in the air ,,, the suit looks like its trying to turn black ,,, can only go about 20 feet away from the hive cause the Neighbor does not know I have bees and he is in his yard ,,,, and do not want him to know .. any way got the suit off , the girls follow me around over 100 foot from the hive ,,, go back to the house ( the hive is only 30 feet from the house ) got inthe house 20 min later ,,, hour later they are on me as soon as I step out the door was lucky only got 8 10 stings ,,,,we left to go to our sons and let them settle down ,,, so remember to zip the suit


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Tom, us ladies like to be treated gently! Have you considered not going into your beehive like you are storming a castle?

I work all of my bees without smoke at least 98% of the time. The other 2% there are usually extenuating circumstances like an approaching storm. I take the lid off and let them get used to the notion that I'm coming in for a moment or two and then I work very smoothly with no jarring and it is very rare for me to mash a bee...or roll a queen. Most of my hives have a mild initial reaction to the roof of their house being removed and then they go about they business and pay me no mind. It doesn't take me long to work a hive. 

It is not the removing and replacing of frames that takes so long as it is the eyes locating what they are looking for. 

Also, I use neoprene mechanics gloves (from Harbor Freight). They allow me to feel what I am doing but turns the girls stingers unless they are really serious about it. Leather gloves are horribly clunky and make you more 'ram handed'.


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