Hello All

I attended a demonstration last Sunday of bees which have been bred among
other things for docility. To say that I was amazed when I compared the
temperament of these bees with that of my own is an understatement. Ten
colonies were handled by bare handed and short sleeved beekeepers (including
this beekeeper), and two or three stings received at the most. No bouncing
off the veils, or following. You could have had a garden party beside the
apiary. I immediately ordered a queen (all he could give me due to the demand).

These bees have been bred in an area in Southern Ireland where hundreds of
square miles have been largely denuded of all but the bees I saw, thus
virtually guaranteeing the purity of the matings.

When I get my queen and she starts producing workers I will hopefully have a
colony much like those I saw. Fair enough.

But in due course, this queen will generate daughter queens which will then
mate with every Tom Dick and Harry in my area including drones from my
present aggressive colonies, and from the colonies of other beekeepers over
which I have no control at all. It seems to me to be a bit like getting a
bottle of fine wine, and slowly adulterating it with poor wine - at the end
of the day you end up with poor wine.

Do I then just get a reprieve from the aggression and then the situation
slowly reverts to the way it started?. Or must I keep on buying in these
good queens to guarantee my freedom from aggression?.

I realise that this is a much discussed subject, but right now I am confused
about it.

What do the members of the list think?.

Sincerely

Tom Barrett
49 South Park, Foxrock
Dublin 18
Ireland
Tel + 353 1 289 5269
Fax + 353 1 289 9940