Ghislain observed:

"In my village chickens were killed by nigra bees last year and in France buckfast bees killed a horse in 2004. So, I fear it will be difficult to conclude."

Is this like human serial killers?  Random acts of senseless violence by a miniscule percentage of the honeybee population?  Something we cannot avoid or guard against?

So many people are afraid of all stinging insects.  When even our friends the honeybees can (unpredictably???) overwhelm an animal with thousands of stings, killing it whether it had an "allergy" or not, I wonder what is going on.   It's not good for public relations!!  How do these isolated incidents relate to anything else we know about behaviors, and biology?  I cannot find an explanation.

Last fall, I was helping a beekeeping buddy of mine combine two hives....one weak with a queen, one strong, queenless, and aggressive.  In the act of putting the weak nuc on the ground (I was carrying it) to get the top off the strong hive, the weak ones decided I was their enemy and I was viciously stung.   Lots of smoke did not help. We managed to combine the two but then had to run.  Those bees followed us for at least 100 yards and then we were able to get inside and slam the door against the persistent aggressors, who continued to try and follow us, banging themselves against the glass in the door.  I had trouble walking for three days after that (I estimate that I got over 50 stings around each of my ankles).

The good news was that the combination worked and the hive overwintered OK.  And now it's a lot more docile than it was last summer.  Go figure!!!

Christina

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