Here We Go Again

The dirty, and sometimes stinger-filled, gloves of a beekeeper.

MITE MITIGATION: 08/15/21

Each one of the dark spots on Robbin's gloves (above) is a stinger left by a bee. There are more on the palms and fingers. These, as he so eloquently put in the below video, represent a bee giving up it's life to defend the hive.

We have a spice problem again in the bee yard. (NOT a Dune reference, BTW.)

A couple of weeks ago, when we tested for mites, HIVE C was the third of five hives we opened, as has been our norm. We have always left HIVE A for last because they were the OG Spice Girlz and usually had the most bees. At some point, there has been a shift. Hive A is doing well, but, as we noticed during the last inspection, they aren't as full as we thought. (Those industrious girls moved all their brood and stores from the lower box to the upper.) But now HIVE C, for several straight weekends, has been increasingly agitated and aggressive, and we really don't know why. They have plenty of resources of their own nectar, honey and pollen, and we are feeding them sugar water.

I knew this. We knew this. But perhaps we were both in denial. So when I chose to NOT wear my leather, protective glove, and only opted to wear my navy blue (dark!) knit inner glove that offers little protection against bee butts with stingers, it turned out to be a bad decision.

I chose ... poorly.

But here is the reasoning. HopGuard, which we were using to treat the hives for mites, come in long strips that are folded in half. They are also very gooey and each one is stuck to another. I would be much more nimble and dextrous without the cumbersome, leather gloves, and I also didn't want them covered in this goo.

For two hives, that plan worked fine. Robbin smoked the hive and exposed the brood box. I pulled out a strip, opened it like an upside down "V" and helped him put it over the top of the middle brood frame, the ends going down in between the surrounding frames. Easy peasy. I was stationed on the outskirts of the bee yard, preparing the next strip, when Robbin opened HIVE C. Almost immediately he had hundreds of bees on his suit. As he walked in my direction, we both kind of looked at each other, not knowing exactly what I should do. I told him I would give him the strip and he could place it in the hive himself. I quickly moved toward him with the strip in my outstretched hand. A navy colored hand. A hand that obviously – to a bee – looks like a giant bear paw. A hand that was covered in seconds by bees.

I will spare you all the details, all the cursing and banshee screaming. The commotion caused the dogs to come to my rescue, who were rewarded for their heroism by getting attacked as well.

Still covered in his own bees, Robbin watched in horror but knew he couldn't help us. I ran away, trying to both hide my bear claw and wipe bees off of it, and at the same time trying to get bees off the dogs.

— It must have been a sight to see and hear. What must our neighbors think? It's a good thing they live acres and acres away. —

If the dogs weren't with us, I could have recovered and put my leather glove on and helped finish our task. But it wasn't an option. I knew the dogs would stay near me and they needed help. Robbin was on his own. I headed down the hill putting as much distance as I could between us (the dogs and me), and the spicy flies. With only a few lingering, obstinate bees, we made it to the shed and sat licking our wounds while we waited.

After a short while, Robbin came barreling down the path. Half standing (he didn't want to sit down fearing a bee sting to the bum) he was driving as fast as the UTV and terrain would allow him to go (we often do this to outrun the bees). He stopped a ways off, got out and stood still. He STILL had bees buzzing around him. These Girlz are nothing if not persistent. Finally, FINALLY, they gave up and flew away, presumably to go invade Europe.

I'll hand it to Robbin – he managed to get all the strips in place, disburse all the sugar water, and pack up all the tools, tables and equipment we use in record time. He's cool as a cucumber under this kind of pressure. The yin to my yang. Thanks to him, our first mite mitigation is complete and hopefully a success. The hives and Girlz should be ok for a while, so we are going to take a small break from the apiary this weekend.

In the meantime, I am researching possible reason and ways to handle these Girlz. I read that some beekeepers spray the bees lightly with sugar water instead of, or in addition to, smoke. It keeps them busy cleaning each other to worry about the intruders coming in their house. We also might change the queen and get new genetics in the hive if I can find one this late in the season.

So what's the aftermath? Robbin got one sting in the crook of his elbow where a bee must have been when he bent his arm. After the swelling went down on my hand, I could count nine distinct stings on my right hand, and several grazes.

Luckily, Robbin did not have a reaction to his sting, especially after the last time he was stung. And surprisingly, even with my multiple stings, I, too, did not have any adverse reactions. For me, it could be that I have started "hymenoptera venom immunotherapy," a fancy term for bee sting allergy shots.

Every week is an adventure, albeit sometimes unsettling. But we will persevere and keep learning. All I can say is next spring, their honey better be freaking worth it!

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CURRENT HIVES:

A: Spice Girlz; 2021 Queen (Gretchen BR): 2 Deeps, 1 Super

B: 2021 NUC Golden Cordovan: 1 Deep, 1 Super, Feeder

C: SPLIT from A; 2021 Golden Cordovan Queen (TBS): : 1 Deep, 1 Super , Feeder

D: 2021 NUC TX5000: : 2 Deeps, Feeder

E: SPLIT from A; 2021 Queen (Gretchen BR): : 1 Deep, 1 Super, Feeder

Hopguard: 08/15/21

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