Bee hives - Ask Extension
Hello.
My bees have turned angry and I need someone who is willing to come look at the hive to tell me what I’m doing wrong. Is this an option?
Knowledgebase
Bee hives #940918
Asked July 29, 2026, 1:50 PM EDT
Hello.
My bees have turned angry and I need someone who is willing to come look at the hive to tell me what I’m doing wrong. Is this an option?
Linn County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi Stephanie,
This region is in our annual summer dearth of nectar and pollen. It is earlier this year by about 2 weeks. What this means is that there is little food in the landscape for your bees. Consequently, they diligently guard the food which they do have. They might also be subject to more pressure of robbing by other honey bees and by yellow jackets. When you do a colony inspection, use an old sheet or painter's drop cloth to cover any parts of the colony that you are not actively inspecting. This will keep robbers at bay. All of these pressures, little food in the landscape, and robbing will make the best of colonies grumpy.
Actions that you can take as a beekeeper are: 1. Install robbing screens if you haven't done so already. 2. Start feeding the colony pollen substitute patties. 3. If they are really short of supplies, start feeding 1:1 sugar syrup. 4. Check Varroa levels, treat if above the treatment threshold of less than 2% of your sample size.
Here's the link to the Honey Bee Health Coalition's "Tools for Varroa Management". This will tell you how to sample and the treatments available for various times of the year.
If you take all these measures for several weeks, then contact your local bee club, the Linn-Benton Beekeepers Association. They might have someone in the club willing to help inspect your bees. But first take the above steps to see if that is the remedy.
This region is in our annual summer dearth of nectar and pollen. It is earlier this year by about 2 weeks. What this means is that there is little food in the landscape for your bees. Consequently, they diligently guard the food which they do have. They might also be subject to more pressure of robbing by other honey bees and by yellow jackets. When you do a colony inspection, use an old sheet or painter's drop cloth to cover any parts of the colony that you are not actively inspecting. This will keep robbers at bay. All of these pressures, little food in the landscape, and robbing will make the best of colonies grumpy.
Actions that you can take as a beekeeper are: 1. Install robbing screens if you haven't done so already. 2. Start feeding the colony pollen substitute patties. 3. If they are really short of supplies, start feeding 1:1 sugar syrup. 4. Check Varroa levels, treat if above the treatment threshold of less than 2% of your sample size.
Here's the link to the Honey Bee Health Coalition's "Tools for Varroa Management". This will tell you how to sample and the treatments available for various times of the year.
If you take all these measures for several weeks, then contact your local bee club, the Linn-Benton Beekeepers Association. They might have someone in the club willing to help inspect your bees. But first take the above steps to see if that is the remedy.
