Debbie Gaynor asks:  Do bees have their own personalities?
 
They definitely do, and there is a lot of variability.  After beekeeping for a
while with several hives, you learn what to expect from your different bees and
how to handle them.  I have a Buckfast hive where the bees are so gentle that I
have never smoked them and have worked them with no gloves without being stung.
I also have a wild-caught swarm that I will never work without a full bee suit
with gloves and lots of smoke and I still sometimes get stung.  That's one of
the things that makes beekeeping so interesting--there's so much variability
that you can have a great variety of fascinating experiences.  It adds spice to
life.  If your aggressive bees are altogether too aggressive, you can requeen
with a gentler queen.  Some beekeepers say that the more active (aggressive)
bees are also the better honey producers, better housekeepers and harder
workers.  As long as I can still enjoy working with them, I will keep some of
the more "active" bees as well as the gentler ones.  The challenge of learning
how to deal with them and control them is also fun and results in a great sense
of accomplishment.
 
Layne Westover
College Station, Texas