<Rubbish to me and contrary to Nature's doings.>

If I understand Dee's latest blurt (above), Lusbees are currently not
selected for any trait, apparently.

Apparently selecting is  "rubbish" and "against nature", if I understand
her comment, although years ago, Dee did select carefully.

That change in management may explain the difference in temper
between my early visits and the time, later, when Dean impressively
documented how nasty they have become in video.  I could not
find a link to the video on his site currently, even here:
http://www.beeuntoothers.com/index.php/beekeeping/the-lusby-archives
even though, it was on the web at one time.
---

 > It will take a while to evaluate though since I won't get them until
 > late Spring and need to see them Winter etc.  I've also heard that
 > the hybrids can be hot, which is worrisome, but I wonder how much
 > that depends on what they cross with.

I don't know about the hybrids, but here is a group of beekeepers
examining fairly large Russian hives. No one was stung, and we broke
all the rules, like about not standing in front of the hives, etc...
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/images/2004/russians3.jpg

Hybrids of any sort can be problematic I've heard, but I think that
depends on location -- or something.  In some regions, bees just seem
to be a lot more aggressive.  Andy Nachbaur commented that bees that
were tame in California turned hot when set down in Arizona.  I
bought bees in Ontario that would almost tear the bee suit off you at
the original location and which I worked almost naked after I trucked
them to Alberta.

Over the years, I have had all sorts of bees and cannot say I have _ever_
seen any unusual aggression that I can attribute to mating between
the various varieties of bees I brought in.

I have, however, seen pure strains that were unbearably mean.  One
came from New Zealand and was a golden Italian.  Another was
package bees we imported into Alberta in the late seventies. Konas
were a bit hot before Gus got that characteristic out of them. Saskatraz
were a bit hot, too a few years back, but it seems that Albert has
selected for gentleness lately and I can work large yards with little
protection.  Buckfast crosses were reputed to be mean, but for me
they never were.

Does anyone have any stories about crosses between identifiable
lines that were unbearably hot compared to the parent stock?

I don't.

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