A BEE PROBLEM

I haven't posted about this because we had to give it some time to check it out so we'd know the outcome.

When we lost our last beehive, I was lazy and didn't throw away the hive boxes right away.  They would have either had to be meticulously cleaned (the wax melted and the honey fermented, ugh) or hauled off and dumped.  I left it alone as Winter approached and figured I'd tackle it in the Springtime.

Months passed.

When mowing season was about to start this year I walked the property as I always do to make sure I wasn't going to mow over any fallen limbs.  Imagine our surprise when we found bees in our empty hive!  We had captured a wild swarm!  I know many beekeepers hope to capture wild swarms and purposely set up hives for that reason.  That wasn't our intent but somehow we got them anyway. 

I figured I'd wait a few weeks to see how they settled in to the hive.  Over this time however, I found that they seemed more aggressive than normal bees.  I went to the hive once with my suit on and they pelted the suit repeatedly.  This made me nervous.  

In recent weeks as I have mowed, I have found them to be even more aggressive than they were before.  They are easily agitated.  Remember, I had the boxes set up with the three hives of bees we had in the past and I could mow pretty close to them and they were fine. These bees however, you can't get within a couple hundred yards before they start swarming around outside the hive box, often turning the exterior of the box from white to brown. 

This last time I mowed, I did my usual mowing job while staying far away from the hive (the grass is getting really tall around the hive area).  I looked over and they were pouring out like smoke and heading my direction.  I punched the speed on the mower, got to the driveway, jumped off and ran as fast as I could toward the house.  They chased me almost all the way and a few even kept going and were hitting the screen door of the house.  I wasn't stung thankfully, but it was like some scary attack of the bees movie.  

No.
Not going to happen.

It's very possible that we have captured an Africanized swarm (i.e. what they used to call "killer bees").  They have all the signs of this and from what I've seen up close, they also match the description (more golden yellow, darker bands, etc).

This may sound odd but while I loved working the bees we had (I even took a hands on beekeeping class and loved it), something about these bees gave me a sense of foreboding.  I can't explain it but from the moment I first saw them, something in me said to be careful.  When walking near them gathering dewberries a few weeks back, they made the hair stand up on my arms and my heart beat faster.  Could have been imagination or maybe it is indeed wise to listen to your instinct.

With 2nd Family having kids visiting, us having visitors or workers, dogs and cats roaming around, even the deer and other wildlife we have passing through the property, we just can't have the potential for something bad happening because of the bees.

As much as it pains us (because of the importance of bees), whether they are Africanized or angry feral honeybees, they have to go. We have called a couple of professionals to see about coming to remove the hive and they can take the boxes and then relocate them elsewhere if that's possible. We just can't have them at the farm.

Never a dull moment!