Hello All,

As a rookie (2 years, 4 hives) I find this list very interesting and
informative.

One of my hives has very dark bees -- almost no yellow.  Since I never write
down what I do, and since I had problems with queens last year, I'm not
really sure what kind of bees they are.  They are probably Carnelolas (sp?).
Anyway, I noticed that when I smoke them, as I did last weekend, instead of
going down into the hive, many of the bees come out of the hive and kind of
hover.  I work my hives from the back and it seems as if they are towards the
front, in the air, just looking at me.  Their guard bees are more aggressive
than my other hives, but it seems as if there are usually just a few bees
after me while the others are there watching.  I found this odd, but I have
little experience.  Comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Vickie
Green Harbor, MA