# do bees hate me,winter or bourbon roses?



## pepper (May 10, 2002)

i was potting up rose cuttings today and found a live bee in a bucket of water so i placed her on a bourbon rose and set them down on the landing pad of the hive.

guard bee as usual ignored me, sunny yet still pretty cold out 48? deg so the fight path was not busy. then the guard bee attacked the next bee attempting to land and bees came boiling out & concentrated on the flower & waterlogged bee a few carroomed off of my face & jacket so i backed up speedily.  they knocked the flower off the landing pad & a couple of bees dive-bomed me again, no 'buzz' warning, no circling, just full out attack.
i've put tired bees on flowers there before with no hassle.

i was wearing a big red & black jacket, but i think the problem is i can't tell one bee from another and i put a girl from another hive on their doorstep?
any other reasons my previously mellow hive should flip out?

->pepper


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

(1. Your scent possiably?
(2. Girls defending the honey stores?
(3. Water logged girl didn't belong there?
(4. Bright colored clothes, although the book the Honey Bee says bees can not see the color red. They use utrla violet light from red flowers.

Any way that is some possiable reasons.

 Al


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## pepper (May 10, 2002)

i was thinking they go for black to attack [bears little black noses!]
i don't do perfume, and they have never had a problem with me messing about their hive before, i check the ipm srcreen & just hang out & watch them work. shoot they don't even get alarmed when i pull up a chair & watch them boil in the air right before a storm comes in.
but this is the first winter so do bees get grouchy in winter like they get on a shady day?
->pepper


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## the kid (Jul 9, 2006)

when I put my girls to bed for the winter ,,,they were defending the stores and I had to back out and put a vail on ,, never had to use anything before.. Even had the two grand kids stay away. That was the first time I used a vail ... Guess they dont like anyone when it comes to the stores to protect.
My grand kids ( all 12 ) always are right there to look in the hive other wise..
the kid


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## dcross (Aug 12, 2005)

Skunk/possum, or robbers have the hive on edge?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

doesn't have to be perfume. Could be the shampoo or conditner you use in your hair. My money goes on protecting the stores. I bet you are colder than normal in that area the last few days.

 Al


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## foxtrapper (Dec 23, 2003)

Read your own story, the answer's right there.


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## pepper (May 10, 2002)

oh mighty mr.foxtrapper share your insight with me the lowly begging keeper of bees.... :baby04: 

i'm a horse whisperer dude, not a bee whisperer, so you think acting like they were africanized bees is a normal response to a near immoble stranger bee?
i don't know myself, i've seen them deal with ants, robber bees & hornets, this response was a bit bigger than that, they came after me too! so i put forward what happened & asked all y'all actual keepers of bees.

->pepper


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## Iddee (Sep 25, 2005)

Do anything with them at 48 degrees and you will get the same reaction. It's the temp, not the bee, flower, or color.


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## foxtrapper (Dec 23, 2003)

I'm not a bee whisperer either Pepper, I simply read your story.


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## Cascade Failure (Jan 30, 2007)

foxtrapper said:


> I'm not a bee whisperer either Pepper, I simply read your story.


Then how about a straight forward answer for those of us who don't yet know bees but are interested?


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## Sunmo (Dec 29, 2004)

A Bee Whisperer......How cool!!!

I have no idea what the answer is. I'm waiting with baited breath like the rest of us for the answer. I just think it would be cool to be a Bee Whisperer.


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

You might drop an email to the nearest university bee/bug expert to find out for sure what this behavior indicates.

If your hive has been africanized you'll want to replace the bees before it gets warm and they become active and dangerous.


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## pepper (May 10, 2002)

suburbanite said:


> You might drop an email to the nearest university bee/bug expert to find out for sure what this behavior indicates.
> 
> If your hive has been africanized you'll want to replace the bees before it gets warm and they become active and dangerous.


 EEEK! don't scare me outta keeping bees! *whew* there are no recorded africans in mississippi, they have to cross cajun country to get here i don't know if they are crazy enough to try....










i caught this hive out of my water meter, just like they say african bees like to nest as in the above picture, but that is very common here with honey bees.
in looking up the range of the africans i learned something new.....19 stings per 2.2 pounds is the predicted median lethal dose for a healthy human by envenomation....

->pepper


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## OkieDavid (Jan 15, 2007)

Pepper,
Mine are always nice as can be. I enjoy sitting three feet away from four hives drinking my morning coffee BUT only in the spring and summer. This time of year they are mean as snakes protecting their food stores. You did exactly what you should have done. When they told you to back off, you did. The bee you placed on the landing board may not have come from their colony and they interpreted the smell as a robber attack. If they are AHB, you probably would have already known.....or soon will.

David


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## pepper (May 10, 2002)

so the most answers seem to go for bees hate winter ! thanks y'all


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