I have just returned from 2 months fieldwork in Central America
(Honduras) and was surprised at how mild some of the Africanised bees
were there. I was working all over the country with many diffierent
beekeepers looking at more than a hundred colonies in many different
apiaries at different times of the day. Mostly it was very hot (30-40
C) and often during the middle of the day and at various altitudes up
to 2000m or more.

In most cases I did not have to wear gloves - though I always had
them with me! On the odd occasion it was also possible to work
without a veil. Sometimes it was necessary to wear full protective
clothing and to retreat, though generally this was in areas where
honey robbing was frequent or exceptionally hot days around midday.
Mostly, I just wore trousers and shoes without socks (because of the
heat) with a good veil but no gloves (having rubbed my hands and
wrists with green grass to remove some of the human odour and sweat).

Is this normal in Latin America or is Honduras favoured with good
tempered Africanised bees?