I some times help my brother with his bees in southern FL through the
winter. When you can not even put your bee suit on in a bee yard you
know there are some hives that need requeening. The kick test tells
you every time which hives are the culprits. He has been requeening
with Cordovans and last year set up to use AI to help control the
queen breeding. I think he chose Cordovans because of the color of the
queen, making it easier to tell if he has a mongrel. I am not sure. He
has no problems requeen his hives when they get too stingy. The
process it similar to Jose from PR.

But not all of the FL hives that are mixed are a problem. I went to
another persons bee yard to graft queens and didn't need anything, not
even my veil. He probably knew which hives to open but I could be in
the yard and not get stung. Which isn't always the case with the bees
down there.

Karen T-K

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