Getting a bit behind with my mail due to a computer problem.
Would like give Catherine Duffy's bad tempered hive an answer.
    We have been trying a couple of new ideas (to us), both of which work
very well.
"Tobacco smoke" calms even the angrest of hives even on those really bad
days. Remember we are queen breeders and have to handle the bees in bad
weather, even rain!
    We roll a small handfull into the corrugated cardboard we use as smoker
fuel. Makes the biggest cigar imaginable. Light from the bottom, and use
sparingly.
        The second thing we've tried is "Fabi Spray" comes in an aerosol can
and as the ad says, 'A little dab will do yer". A brief one second spray
across the top bars, replace the inner cover for a few moments and the
roughest bees calm down. Slightly expensive, but a large can will 'do' a lot
of hives.
        We sell both these items, for further info a personal e-mail will
get you an answer.
 
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The Bee Works, 9 Progress Drive, Unit 2, Orillia,
ON. L3V 6H1. Canada.
Phone (705) 326 7171
Fax      (705) 325 3461
David Eyre. Owner.
[log in to unmask]
www.muskoka.net/~beeworks
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>(a) What is the best way to handle a bad tempered colony?  and
>Catherine Duffy