Terrifying, yes. But it would be hard to argue with 100 lbs of hyper-local, raw honey suddenly appearing. I would have dropped it from the ceiling straight into a brewing vessel for a whole-hive mead, angry bees and all like ancient times. And I’m speaking as someone who’s allergic to the winged bastards.
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The stingers might provide a bit of jalapeno-like zip. For those not allergic. Or keep an epi pen handy.
Supreme Beings, they’re the worst!
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I kept an urban honeybee colony alive for ten years by never opening or “managing” it. I let the bees do their thing & stopped stealing their honey. They pollinated the community garden &, if you believe the folklore, brought security & good fortune to the non-profit that ran it. Unfortunately, the beekeeper who came after me felt the need to open the hive “to see how the bees were doing.” Last fall he disturbed the bees, broke into their home, removed & replaced a super & extracted the food they were preparing for winter. The bees are gone now. I hope they absconded rather than dying of some introduced illness.
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Sad. I have lost them to mites and moths, as well as multiple unknown die-offs. I have only tried two colonies per year. The old-timers around me assure me that I’m doing the right things, but the rate of colony collapse problems in my area just makes the odds against the small time apiaries. The big guy in my area says it’s now normal for him to lose 30% or more of his colonies each year, regardless of his approach. I am surrounded by large commercial farms, and I suspect there’s a pesticide issue working against the bees.
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