> Back in the 1980s I had bees among the citrus 
> groves of San Diego. When oranges bloomed 
>  it smelled like heaven. We even got that fragrance 
> when we extracting the combs. But it never amounted 
> to much. The honey was predominantly eucalyptus, 
> no matter how much we dreamt of orange blossoms. 

There is an easy way to know if your hives are working oranges.  Bees working oranges apparently become nearly as defensive and stingy as the German little black bees, the "Apis mellifera mellifera" line of bees.  I made the error of tagging along to look at some hives that were pollinating oranges in FL, and I realized why full bee suits and gloves were preferred, even in the heat and humidity of Florida.  I borrowed a suit for myself.

I guess it is the higher sucrose content. The same hives, before being placed on oranges were easy to work in short sleeves, with nothing but my usual (Brian Sherriff "Bee Farmer", accept no substitutes!) veil lying on my back at the ready. I asked about the defensive behavior, and I was told it was to be expected from working oranges.  I chose not to repeat the error, as life is too short to work pissy bees, so I have only the one experience to relate.

             ***********************************************
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