[walshie]

A guy has kept bees on small bit of my land for several years now. His arrangement with the previous owner was that he would supply her with honey and as a keen sea fisherman, the occasional crab and mackerel.

I WAS quite happy to continue this arrangement, but having only been here full time for 2 weeks, my wife has been stung on her back after a bee flew down her top and a couple of days ago a bee kept buzzing me then flew into a visitor's face and stung him on the lip.

I thought bees were supposed to be placid, but this doesn't seem right.

Is there something wrong with the bees or is the beekeeper doing something wrong?

Thanks.

[Caroline1]

Sometimes they can turn aggressive and more territorial, I had a hive do this when it went queenless.

Unless the guard bees are actually chasing you, it may just be an accident as they felt threatened. I would ask the beekeeper to do an inspection just to check on the bees.

[sss]

I have in the past had 'angry' bee's.  One lot very nearly got the queen euthanized to get those bad genes out of the colony, but they superceded her and all was good.

One of my current hives is 'angry' I found that out when i opened them up, but they are curently queen less,  they will settle down once they sort that out.

[waddy]

One of my hives is a bit too feisty. We may find we need to replace the queen.


Helen

[devonlady]

Father Adam at Buckfast Abbey developed a very placid strain of queens.

[Bionic]

Out bee club apiary has one nasty colony and everyone is advised to steer clear of them but the others are fine. I suspect the apiary manager will put a new queen in to sort them out.
My brother in law has Buckfast bees and his do seem pretty quiet but I believe a local strain probably does the best work.

[Rhea]

How far from the hives are you when getting stung, and does it correspond to a visit by the beekeeper? I would talk to him - if it's generally an angry colony he should already be aware, if not it could be a sign of something not quite right.

We had a hive last year that would be aggressive for 24 hours after an inspection. Unfortunately our neighbour got the worst of it so they've now been re-queened and relocated 

[walshie]

How far from the hives are you when getting stung, and does it correspond to a visit by the beekeeper? I would talk to him - if it's generally an angry colony he should already be aware, if not it could be a sign of something not quite right.

We had a hive last year that would be aggressive for 24 hours after an inspection. Unfortunately our neighbour got the worst of it so they've now been re-queened and relocated 

We were about 20 yards away from the colony when we got stung and it wasn't after he came to visit. I've spoken to him and he is going to install a fence beside the hives to make the bees fly higher. Let's hope this works as the only other option is to ask him to move them elsewhere. my family and guests getting stung is too high a price for a jar of honey (which I'm not keen on anyhow.)

[Caroline1]

In my last garden, I had 8 foot trellis about a foot in front of the hives and even that encouraged them to fly straight up. We could literally stand in front of the trellis and watch then come and go.

This will solve the issue if it was a case of accidental and being in their flight path, but will not if they have become a bit aggressive and territorial. I hope it is the former 

[Womble]

One of my current hives is 'angry' I found that out when i opened them up, but they are curently queen less,  they will settle down once they sort that out.

Newbie question:  How are they going to do that then? 

[sss]

One of my current hives is 'angry' I found that out when i opened them up, but they are curently queen less,  they will settle down once they sort that out.

Newbie question:  How are they going to do that then? 

I robbed a couple of frames of eggs from another hive, they should do the business.

[Womble]

Ah, you never told me you'd given them outside assistance! 

[sss]

Sorry a bit of cheating 

[VEG]

Not cheating its a standard way of finding out if they are really queen less.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

I knew someone who kept bees on an estate in north wales, or rather he looked after em, when he retired the national trust brought in someone else and the bees kept attacking visitors and the keeper. I think that bees only prefer one person to look after them and any change usually causes that behavior, whether they adjust I do not know. Bees are very sensitive creatures.