Open air feeding of honey and sugar syrup is not recommended as it promotes defensive behavior by the bees and the spread of diseases or pests. Provide clean water sources in apiaries that do not have natural supplies of water or in areas with residential swimming pools. Locate staging yards away from populated areas even if only a few houses are nearby. Staging yards tend to have defensive colonies. Park trucks loaded with full supers away from areas frequented by people, especially when stopping at a store for a drink, etc.
Many bees remain in the supers during honey removal.
The best approach is to net honey laden supers. All loads of bees should be netted or screened even when moving at night. Requeen colonies that exhibit consistent defensive behavior. Try to manipulate colonies during optimal weather conditions and advise landowners, especially those with livestock, when major manipulations such as honey harvest are to be performed. Apiary management routines vary according to geographic region and climate and pest management strategies must reflect these differences.