>I once combined two colonies with no newspaper. The bees were 
>different colors, so it was pretty easy  to see at a glance that the 
>established colony stung every single foreign bee to death. 

I've seen that a couple of times, once was when I was pretty green 
as a beekeeper.  Can't recall the other time.

>If I had a very valuable queen that I was trying to introduce, I would
> never leave this process to chance. 

Agreed, but newspaper is not usually a part of introducing a valuable 
queen.  There are many ways, but newspaper is not one I would 
consider.

(That reminds me of Juanse's sleep method and I have to say that 
I now have 50lbs of ammonium nitrate -- a lifetime supply.  Although,'
years ago when I was in the fertilizer business (some say I still am) I spent 
a day carrying 100 lb sacks of ammonium nitrate off a railway car, and in 
my chute blaster days in the mines, I routinely set charges with multiple 
sacks of ammonium nitrate soaked in diesel, these days, it is scarce and
I snagged the second last sack from the local fertilizer dealer before they 
discontinued it.  There is one left if anyone wants to drive to Linden.

>With a valuable queen I would always introduce her to a weak nuc, let 
>them build up, and introduce them slowly using newspaper.

We always just placed the three frames with brood and the queen in the 
middle into the space in a hive created by removing the three middle frames.
I thought I read that in a book.  Never failed.

Plain and simple, any time I felt I needed paper to combine hives I would not 
combine them.

> Also, whether the bees are robbing is a factor in whether they are going to 
> fight. 

That is the key.  Actually, if the bees are robbing happily, and without 
fighting, then there may be no problem, but when the robbed source runs out, 
watch out!

Any time you MUST wear a veil to get near a normally peaceful yard, beware 
of fighting, and if there is nothing pressing and if you can come back later, 
that is the wise course of action.

But as several have said, everyone and every place is different.

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

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm