Smokin' Hot

 Yesterday was bee feeding day.  We were a day late but that is ok!  I have mentioned that we have some temperamental bees with an attitude so we decided to bring out the smoker.



So why do we smoke our bees?  In the age of consent, it is presumptuous to assume that the bees want to be smoked.  Their body, their choice?!  If you watched a certain Bee Movie, you may have learned that smoking bees is like a drug to them.  In the movie, the bees become docile and pass out as if stoned from smoking too much.

But, I am here to teach you that that is NOT the case!  What the smoke actually does is mask the bee phenomes that say "Hey - yo!  Danger Will Robinson!!"  Smoking the bees does NOT - let me repeat - does NOT make my bees more docile.  They don't pass out and act like stoners from old 80's movies.  (Gnarly dude!)  Instead, when we smoke our bees, they get angry!  They fly around and make a loud noise.  Even though they get all riled up, they are away from the hive frames and we can move or change out frames.  We can get a good look at the inside of the hive and really inspect the nuc.  

I have been lucky - I have worked in the apiary without gloves and my bees were generally docile.  But with the heat and lack of food (flowers), they have been a bit aggressive.  

I have been deep down the rabbit hole - and now I am studying how to get your bees to build out the super.  Stay tuned!


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