Thanks for your response,my Uncle and myself are going out tomorrow to get some
samples to determine what type of bee this is and if there is a problem.There
were none of the possible problems that you asked at least not to my knowledge.I
have been told it will take 3-4 weeks for results.I have been out to check on
them on prior occasions and had to leave as a result of being mean,but never like
this time.
 
David Green wrote:
 
> In a message dated 97-10-21 14:07:54 EDT, [log in to unmask] (Marlin
> (SCOTT) Kline) writes:
>
> << Did I do some thing wrong ?
>  and any idea what type of bees I own.?"I also counted somewhere in the
>  area 150 + stingers in my gloves and pants." But the honey is good.! >>
>
>    I've seen bees like that. The old german black bee used to be common in
> this area before mites and the return of cotton (pesticide misuse).
>
>    It was the bee brought by the early settlers, and a remnant predominated
> in the wild. So our Italian queens would mate with them, and produce some
> remarkably savage offspring sometimes. I have commented to other beekeepers
> on more than one occasion: "You know, these bees could kill us, if we didn't
> have protection."
>
>    I don't like the bees that hammer on the plastic helmet like a hailstorm.
> The ones that hit the air, when the smoke hits them.  They are not happy
> bees, and the beekeeper who works them is guaranteed to not be very happy
> either.
>
>    A friend of mine used to split all his bees into nucs each year and let
> them raise their own queens. He did not buy queens, nor make any effort at
> selective breeding. He has an outfit that became known for bad bees, and he
> began to lose nuc sales. He did not want to stop, he claimed that the black
> bees made more honey, but he finally did begin to requeen many of the worst.
>
>    If your hive is really bad, and it stays bad no matter what the condition,
> it may be there are still some of these wild germans around your area, and
> your hives superceded and got crossed with them. The solution would be
> requeening (wait until spring now). You might have to get some assistance
> from someone with experience.
>
>    Personally I would (in the spring) place a nuc into a full sized box
> alongside them. Then I'd move the hive a hundred feet or so. The field force
> will go into the young hive. They will be nasty for a while, but the old bees
> will soon die off and the new hive will be going like gangbusters.
>
>    Then after a day, requeen the old hive, with most of the field force gone
> and they will not be near as bad.  If they still are too much for you to
> handle, move them again. When you requeen, you will have nothing but young
> bees and they will accept the new queen much better.
>
>    If the hive is fine the next time you work it, genetics is not the
> problem; there was some condition that set them off.  Was there any evidence
> of skunks, or other animal or human molesters? Was there a distant
> thunderstorm rumbling when you worked them? Any evidence of bees robbing each
> others' hives? Had all nectar flow just stopped? Several days of
> overcast/rain?
>
>    I once went into a bee yard that a couple kids had been tearing through
> with four wheelers, skidding about and throwing sand against the hives. They
> ate me up! I went to see their papa, and solved that problem.  (When a dog
> keeps chickens in a turmoil, they will stop laying - a good way to present it
> to folks. It's also a wonder that the kids did not get stung.)
>
>    Some of the hybrid queens are very gentle, but when they are superceded,
> their offspring can be really bad. Did you have hybrid queens?
>
>    Don't give up! Get some experienced help, if you need it. But bad bees are
> a fluke, and they are less and less common these days, as the wild germans
> are mostly gone. And with experience, you will learn that there are some
> times when it is best to simply let the bees alone and come back to them on a
> better day. That is one of the wonderful things about being a hobbyist. A
> commercial beekeeper who is staying in a motel, and paying some help, is
> going to do the bee work no matter what, so we sometimes have to just grin
> and bear it.
>
> [log in to unmask]    Dave Green   Hemingway, SC  USA
> http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html