Sunday, November 3, 2024

Let the stinging commence. That honey was planted. If that was those bees' honey they'd be insane with fury.

 


14 comments:

  1. So somebody reached in there twice just for a pik?

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  2. That chunk is a suspiciously neat rectangle.

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    1. Yeah, my mom's a beekeeper. The comb doesn't look like that fresh out of the colony.

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  3. I had honeybees set up shop in my garage ceiling, came in through the air conditioning line opening. Called in a pro, who removed them. I got to help, pulled out combs barehanded. There were nine combs. I agree, none of them were rectangular, looked more like free-form sculptures. Honeybees are amazingly docile though, I only got stung once, when one dropped into my shoe. They were not aggressive at all.

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  4. If I couldn't tell between killer bees and regular bees I wouldn't be anywhere near that.

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  5. I've helped my uncle remove bees and those were very docile bees. He's been beekeeping for 20 yrs or so and said different groups of honeybees behave differently. Some are cool and some are aggressive little bastards. We're not even talking about Africanized bees, just temperament.

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    1. That's definitely a set up. She reached in with the comb, then pulled it out. That hive probably had little or no honey stored up yet, so they didn't freak. The story is certainly different if they do have honey. Ask me how I know.

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    2. I keep bees. Some hives are just 'hot', they tend to react more than others. When one uses smoke, it drives the bees onto the defensive; they think there's a wildfire, so they become less protective of the hive - instead, they start gorging on honey, anticipating that they may lose their hive to the fire. It's a survival instinct. You can also calm bees by spraying them with a sugar water solution - some beekeepers prefer this to a smoker, when they work the hives..

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  6. Looks like a swarm just landed, or was put on the hollow tree. If that was the case they were already gorged on honey. When I wanted to show my "bathroom" hive to my daughter and her new boyfriend, I gave them my veils and opened up the hive "slowly, with no jarring movements", without protection. sunny day. no stings. Not a hungry bear, no death, no destruction.

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  7. (4th generation beekeeper)

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  8. Everything here so far is mostly true, but the only time honeybees go insane is when their queen has been killed. You can have all the honey you want, but not one hair on their queen's body shall be ruffled without TOTAL homicidal rage wiping their natural aversion to stinging anyone. They can't sting you without dying from it. So it has to be worth it. Harm their queen, and they'll cover you like they're covering that tree and all die stinging every square millimeter of your body. In fact, any innocent passer-by will get that same treatment.

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  9. That there folks is a swarm, the hive they come from is/was over crowded, and the queen split with about half...leave a hatched queen in place with the other half...

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  10. Its a scene from the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes".

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  11. Agree the comb looks too perfect. However, when it's a swarm like that, they're actually pretty gentle. Just looking for a home to build.

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