Debby, be aware that a gentle colony may suddenly turn red hot. I'm
guessing that a group of spermatozoa from a drone carrying the trait of
extreme defensiveness fertilized a bunch of eggs, resulting in a cohort of
defensive workers emerging three weeks later. This does not require any
Africanization--I've seen it happen a few times long before the African
invasion.
I've had to move such colonies away from any habitations and requeen them.
I'm not suggesting that this is your case--just letting you know of the
possibility.
--
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html