Hello the list,
    I had an amusing (to me at least) experience over the weekend which
caused me to think about smoke and alarm response.  I was making splits, the
weather was great, and the bees in a mellow mood.  A little bit of smoke at
the entrance, and a puff or two under the lid and I was able to make splits
in shirtsleeves and shorts...was only stung once during about 4 hours of
opening boxes, pulling frames, and shifting supers about.
    On the fifth or so hive, I smoked them lightly and opened the box
whereupon I was jumped by about 10 drones.  The workers were going about
their business, ignoring me but these drones were acting like an agressive
worker...the buzzing the face, the bumping into me,...all the actions a
worker would take when mad enough to say "go away" but not yet mad enough to
sting.  This went on the entire time I was working on the hive and continued
a little bit when I moved to the next hive.  No queens in my pocket...no
other hive acting the same way, just the one.  In the past I have had one or
two drones buzz and bump me from time to time but never this many and this
concentrated an effort.
 
 Brought to mind several question though....
    1.  If the actions were not aggression, what were they?  The queens for
the splits hadnt yet arrived so, no queen pheremone on me.  My teeshirt was
a neutral grey, no bright colors, no tiedye patterns.  The other hives didnt
invoke the same response so, maybe it was an aggressive response.  Which
then leads to
    2.  If the actions were aggression, why would a stingless drone act
agressively?  I can see a benifit for the hive...they are large, noisy bees
and, to animals or humans who associate all bees with painful stings, they
communicate the message "We are bees, leave us alone" very loudly.  If they
are swatted and killed, the hive is not out the investment in a worker.
    3.  If it was aggression, why didnt smoke calm them like it did their
sisters?
 
Anyway, for me that one of the fun parts of working with bees, these little
oddball moments that cause you to do a doubletake and maybe think a bit
about their actions and reactions.
 
take care
Patrick M. O'Hearn
Bears Choice Honey
Bloomfield, New Mexico
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