I'd like to thank everyone who responded both on and off list to my question
-- I've tried almond extract and peppermint oil along with the bug repellant
(damn those gnats!) and have been sting-free for the last two days. I've
also been more careful to use unscented shampoo and soap when I'm going out
in the garden. I don't want to requeen as I’m just not good at finding the
queen, and also because I want the queens I have now unless they become a
real problem, since 2 of these hives are no-treatment survivors.
Joe, to answer your question; I have three hives, two of which are from a
hive I've had for five years with no treatments at all. I split it this
spring, letting the split make their own queen, and both seem healthy.
Unless they prove to be really aggressive -- which they haven't been so far,
my main problem is getting stung when I'm not all that near them -- I'd like
to keep those queens. The 3rd hive is a nuc I got this spring, and the queen
has some Minnesota hygienic genetics, so I want her to stick around, too.
As for changing my gardening times -- well, I'm a gardener first and a
beekeeper second. :-) I have a large garden and raise much of my own food,
so I need to be able to get out there whenever I need to. But early morning
and late afternoon are usually good gardening times!
Joe asked:
> Also wondering how they are to
> work, do you perhaps noticed a
> strong smell of alarm pheromone,
> or non-response to smoke.
I have to admit that I work my bees as little as possible. I still deal with
the ramifications of post-traumatic stress disorder from a long-ago
incident, and working bees is difficult for me. The thing is, once I had
discovered that it was a problem I was fascinated by them! Not to mention
the fact that I love honey, and they really make a difference in my garden's
yield. So now I just approach working them as a meditative practice in
controlling panic attacks. :-) But I am not the most observant of
beekeepers because of that -- not to mention that I dress like I'm heading
out for a jaunt in Fukushima which does not aid in observation! Still, I can
say that they were kind of riled-up when I split them, but no more than I
would have expected from any hive. I haven't been in them since, except to
put a second hive body on, and they seemed reasonably calm when I did that,
and appeared to be doing fine, but I didn't go through the frames. The
guard bees seem a bit more touchy and ready to sting than I’m used to, but
the bees don't come boiling out of the hive or anything, even when I mow
near them. Maybe I'm dealing with some Africanized genetics, but it just
doesn't seem that bad. At least I hope not. The problem is really just the
stings while I'm in the garden or at a seemingly respectful distance from
the hive and yes, I'm sure it's the honeybees and not hornets or ground
bees. I think scent may be the main issue, and perhaps the repellent I used
for the gnats pissed off the bees.
Thanks again to all for your responses -- much appreciated!
Diotima
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If there is a better solution...find it" Thomas Edison
Virtual Assistance: The better solution for small business.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Diotima Booraem, CPVA
Virtual Executive Assistance
http://www.virtualhelp.biz
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm
|
