> I have had experience with aggressive hives. My solution was to requeen
 > all of those hives within the month before swarming season. The change
 > has been dramatic. I can now work all hives in tee shirt and veil, some
 > require light smoking others do not. I have used mostly natural queen
 > rearing and mating the past five years with no known "nasties" being
 > produced.

Temperament is an odd thing.

Yesterday I went to a yard after working several other yards bare-handed,
and by the time I left that one yard, I was sincerely plotting the deaths of
a number of queens.  Maybe the whole dratted lot.

I had left my gloves at home.  (Actually I found out when I looked for them
this morning that I don't even have a pair -- someone had 'borrowed them
last fall.  That's how often I use gloves)

Anyhow, this morning I found gloves and returned to finish the work we had
left at quitting time yesterday, and the same bees were really calm and
nice.  I recalled having driving through a little rain squall between yards
the previous day, and I guess that had ticked them off just before I got
there.

That's not to say that there are not bees that are always miserable.  We all
know that there are., and they are not welcome anywhere.

I also reported here on this list, some package bees from Australia that had
driven the supplier's son from the yard last year when he dropped by to see
them on a trip to Canada.  This spring I went back to work them and they
were most hospitable.  As I say, I don't usually even carry gloves with me,
and I had no problem with them.

As Pooh said, "You never can tell when it comes to bees".

allen