u/EndAny6635

So somehow I ended up with 3 yes 3 queenless hives. I ordered 2 new queens and they will be here in a day. I have a seriously large queenless hives mid sized queenless hive and the swarm I grabbed from my own hive that is also queenless. So two queens coming in. I have no brood no anything and the bees that are still there are many. Lots of bees. They are very aggressive and stinging without any reason.

What I need opinions of is should I dismantle the hives and clean the frames and basically clean up the hive before introducing the new queens?

So I’m a 5 yr keeper. I have 5 hives and usually don’t have any issues. Until this year my hives have been realistically pretty easy to work with. However. At the end of last season and now this spring season I have one hive that is very territorial. This is where the problem starts.

So anywhere from the hive to about 75 feet away is now an issue. If I use my BBQ which is 45 feet away I am getting bumped and then definitely getting stung. If I’m in my front yard with a fence between the hives and the front I’m getting bumped and stung. Once I’m hit once I’m getting hit 2-4 move times. It’s not actually a major thing for me but I have wife and kids and neighbors.

The hive in question just swarmed a week ago. I caught the swarm and rehived. So the queen is in a new box and the original hive is in process of requeening. However I’m still being seen as a threat from significant distances.

I need to calm this behavior and am looking for thoughts and comments that may set me on a path to deal with this. The original hive was always slightly spicy but not so much that I couldn’t work the hive. And now still not an unworkable hive but having 3-8 guards not leave me alone at all, literally all over my face, is becoming a big deal. I don’t mind a sting or two but this is now past that.

Thanks everyone.