I normally do not walk through my apiary with gloves on. If I had had them on, I probably would have taken them off in order to do what I did here. I found a cluster of bees on the ground beneath a mating nuc. I wanted to pick them up off the ground to investigate them and the only way to do this was with the dexterity of bare hands. I have held clusters of bees in my hands before and have never gotten stung so that's where my confidence came from to do this - ss long as I don't squeeze any.
There is no morality in the insect world. They communicate with and respond to chemical stimuli in predetermined ways that have evolved over millions of years to enhance their survival. A queen returning from her mating flight accidentally flew into the wrong mating nuc and was attacked by the resident workers there. She did not smell right and was treated as an foreign invader. This would almost never happen in nature because we have created an unnatural situation by having many mating nucs.
Sorry - but the chic in this video sounds SO ignorant. Bees are not "vengeful little critters" - they are not engaging in vengeance but in a very powerful evolutionary and instinctual defense mechanism. I feel bad for that rejected queen bee. nature is no joke.
and kudos to the "hand of chuck norris" there calmly flinging away angry wild bees while giving a discovery channel level discourse at the same time. Nice!
and the squealing of the dying queen bee did freak me out.
These are not drones. These are female worker bees and they do have the ability to sting. There are too many people watching this video that think the word "balled" is a reference to a sexual act. This is NOT a sexual act. This is an attempt to kill what is perceived to be a foreign queen. The term "balled" in the honeybee world, is when a group of bees completely surround another bee or enemy insect, and attempt to chew away at the individual while generating heat with their wing muscles.
@meowzy99 The bees on that queen were workers, they are perfectly capable of stinging. However, the workers are more interested in killing the queen hence they pay no attention to the guy. A queen and drone usually mate like some 20 ft in the air. This is definetly not any mating.
This is quite impressive, thank you for documenting this. I am learning about beekeeping, going to start a farm and I insist on having bees (it just seems logical) and I hadn't known this was a thing!
Absolutely amazing! Now I know what to do when I find a ball around my hives. It appears you saved one of your queens. Or, did she die later? Thank you for that.
@magprob - She definitely flew off. Whether she died later or found another hive to enter is not known. I think her days were numbered one way or the other.
Thanks for sharing Fredster. Recently found 10 such balls on two consecutive days last month August, some falling out in balls from a weird contentious 2ft swarm 20ft up in an oak tree.
Its like their glued together so I used water in spray bottle to break up the balling workers. Agua disbanded them ASAP. All the queens died subesquently. It was if the swarm had competing loyalties & multiple possibly virgin queens swarmed together. Interesting bee behavior. Not sure why this is occuring?
When a queen is getting balled, the other bees are trying to kill her. It normally occurs when a queen is present in a hive and the resident bees do not accept her for various reasons. It will happen normally when a queen is introduced into a hive and the bees do not recognized her scent. She is treated as an intruder and killed. Bees do not have strong mandibles so this can be a difficult and long process. When I found the queen in the center, they were trying to chew her wings off.
I've tried a few times to cage a balled queen and put her back in the hive, but once they've made up their minds to kill her, that's it. It's the worst when you lay down $50 for a package and the first thing the bees do is ball the queen.
whoa look out we got a badass over here!
the2222full 2 weeks ago
looks more like a virgin queen after she mated and got lost from your nuc
Don
the fatbeeman
fineshooter 3 weeks ago
Comment removed
tludolph18 3 weeks ago
I normally do not walk through my apiary with gloves on. If I had had them on, I probably would have taken them off in order to do what I did here. I found a cluster of bees on the ground beneath a mating nuc. I wanted to pick them up off the ground to investigate them and the only way to do this was with the dexterity of bare hands. I have held clusters of bees in my hands before and have never gotten stung so that's where my confidence came from to do this - ss long as I don't squeeze any.
Fredster411 1 month ago
why not wear gloves?
TomValedro 1 month ago
There is no morality in the insect world. They communicate with and respond to chemical stimuli in predetermined ways that have evolved over millions of years to enhance their survival. A queen returning from her mating flight accidentally flew into the wrong mating nuc and was attacked by the resident workers there. She did not smell right and was treated as an foreign invader. This would almost never happen in nature because we have created an unnatural situation by having many mating nucs.
Fredster411 1 month ago
Comment removed
tludolph18 3 weeks ago
The hoodlums of the insect worl ladies and gentlemen
MrDesa4 1 month ago
I held my breath the entire video...
missmeandsuch 2 months ago
Wow. It's amazing how you didn't get stung man
01Weirdguy 2 months ago
Sorry - but the chic in this video sounds SO ignorant. Bees are not "vengeful little critters" - they are not engaging in vengeance but in a very powerful evolutionary and instinctual defense mechanism. I feel bad for that rejected queen bee. nature is no joke.
and kudos to the "hand of chuck norris" there calmly flinging away angry wild bees while giving a discovery channel level discourse at the same time. Nice!
and the squealing of the dying queen bee did freak me out.
nativesun 4 months ago
These are not drones. These are female worker bees and they do have the ability to sting. There are too many people watching this video that think the word "balled" is a reference to a sexual act. This is NOT a sexual act. This is an attempt to kill what is perceived to be a foreign queen. The term "balled" in the honeybee world, is when a group of bees completely surround another bee or enemy insect, and attempt to chew away at the individual while generating heat with their wing muscles.
Fredster411 7 months ago
its harmless because all that bees are drones and they are stingless
meowzy99 7 months ago
@meowzy99 The bees on that queen were workers, they are perfectly capable of stinging. However, the workers are more interested in killing the queen hence they pay no attention to the guy. A queen and drone usually mate like some 20 ft in the air. This is definetly not any mating.
tludolph18 3 weeks ago
Your a hero.
Gregarious3 8 months ago
maybe all the bees are just horny :D
teejay816 8 months ago
how the fuck dd u not get stung!!
cathalnick1 10 months ago
Hi-5!
iluvskylines1234 10 months ago
what a hard ass!
thexblackxxxmombax 11 months ago 2
I must not be if I never got stung, If I had, it's not a major event for a beekeeper, and frankly, well worth the experience.
Fredster411 11 months ago
fckin bees .... are you crazy man !
tiggakayz 11 months ago
If the queen gets defective or if a rival queen enters the area, the bees will kill it.
ryanexsus 11 months ago
This is quite impressive, thank you for documenting this. I am learning about beekeeping, going to start a farm and I insist on having bees (it just seems logical) and I hadn't known this was a thing!
TextualFury 1 year ago
This video is awesome :)
rokman500 1 year ago
Wow, anyone who has the guts to move around, squeeze, pull and shake a fistful of angry bees is amazing. You sir are the new Chuck Norris
takeshitapart 1 year ago 13
wow thats really interesting, i never understood bee's behavior with certain heirarchies.
ledawg951 1 year ago
Absolutely amazing! Now I know what to do when I find a ball around my hives. It appears you saved one of your queens. Or, did she die later? Thank you for that.
magprob 1 year ago
@magprob - She definitely flew off. Whether she died later or found another hive to enter is not known. I think her days were numbered one way or the other.
Fredster411 1 year ago
Thanks for sharing Fredster. Recently found 10 such balls on two consecutive days last month August, some falling out in balls from a weird contentious 2ft swarm 20ft up in an oak tree.
Its like their glued together so I used water in spray bottle to break up the balling workers. Agua disbanded them ASAP. All the queens died subesquently. It was if the swarm had competing loyalties & multiple possibly virgin queens swarmed together. Interesting bee behavior. Not sure why this is occuring?
Kryochrysalis 1 year ago
When a queen is getting balled, the other bees are trying to kill her. It normally occurs when a queen is present in a hive and the resident bees do not accept her for various reasons. It will happen normally when a queen is introduced into a hive and the bees do not recognized her scent. She is treated as an intruder and killed. Bees do not have strong mandibles so this can be a difficult and long process. When I found the queen in the center, they were trying to chew her wings off.
Fredster411 1 year ago
What were they doing with her? lol
tall32guy 1 year ago
Wow. Thanks for catching that on film. Very interesting to see.
scry42 1 year ago
I've tried a few times to cage a balled queen and put her back in the hive, but once they've made up their minds to kill her, that's it. It's the worst when you lay down $50 for a package and the first thing the bees do is ball the queen.
podius 1 year ago
Great video man! Been there before and done the same as you did, trying to save her.
I've seen them ball queens during a removal before as well. Sometimes stress will cause them to ball their own queen.
Have a good one!
...JP
JPthebeeman 1 year ago
@JPthebeeman Why do they do that to her? Are they trying to protect her or kill her? LOL
tall32guy 1 year ago
I never got stung. They were totally focused on the queen, not me.
Fredster411 1 year ago
@Fredster411 Hopefully they didn't catch her again! Poor thing! LOL
tall32guy 1 year ago
dude aren't they going to sting you if you disturb them like that?! crazy
ScorpiXeleveN 1 year ago