Obviously, bees do communicate all together in different ways! but I really would like to actually talk about the way they do communicate with us!
at different times and how they do it that way, what you should be doing if they communicate something important to us!
one of the first ones that I would like to talk about would be :
Pheromones that humans can actually smell!
Such as one Major one which is the Alarm Pheromone!
The alarm pheromone as it’s called is used to Alarm the other bees … can also and should also Alarm us too. The bees release the pheromones as soon as they feel threatened, stinging, and/or about to sting, and are used to call out the rest of the bees close by!
and most of the time that pheromone will create a domino effect, once one stings you if they are many around expect the rest of them to come and sting too!
Enhance why you often will be receiving multiple stings, when you are beekeeping.
There are many reasons why the bees would feel threatened and I am assuming you should know a few already.
But let’s say on this occasion I want to talk about the fact a bee is feeling threatened she just stings you while you are looking inside of their hive. One of the obvious thing most of the time people seem to not get is the smell;
You often only smell the honey and concentrate only on this smell as it is opening some other pleasing sensory activities with your body, which also then open up various subconscious paths in the mind, that will most of the time if you are not concentrating on the "now moment" of your beekeeping. that will stop you from smelling the Alarm pheromone
So over time when you are inspecting a hive, and you can sense there is a smell similar to a ripe banana, look around your suit to see where it is coming from, as soon as you locate the bee stinging you, remove the stinger and, make sure you cover up the smell with some smoke from your smoker.
These types of events are the most usual and very expected to happen and this is one main reason when you proceed to open your hive, you should always have a smoker always ready!
You can often smell this pheromone, meanwhile opening a hive. Especially in colder weather and if you haven’t Smoked them from under the top of the lid prior to opening them! there is always a practice you should not forget in colder weather when opening your hive :
STEP 1: smoke the bees at the entrance!
STEP2: Prior to opening the lid fully, Make a little opening for you to be able to sneak in the nasal of your smoker and smoke the bees there!
STEP 3: Wait for 30 seconds to 1 minute before opening the lid!
Why like this? Well because you weren’t to do any of these steps on colder days, all of the bees on the top of the frames when you open your hive, Will feel threatened and start all releasing their pheromones, it may be a very pleasant smell, but unpleasant consequences to the smell. And you can see the chain reaction one does it, and all the other does it too… and if you are not fast enough to grab your smoker it often results in a stinging concerto!
That leads to what I often hear which is “ My bees are aggressive “ or “ my bees are Moody “ firstly they are not aggressive or defensive!
If you are doing all of the above properly and that the last 3 times you've opened your hive you got hit with overly defensive bees … well perhaps it is time to change the queen!
I hope this little beginning of book writing helps you a little more in your practice! see you all for now!