In our Beekeeping Association in N England some old hands insist that
rough handling of colonies during inspection makes  bees permanently bad
tempered.  I know that a single rough inspection can make the mildest of
colonies aggressive for that inspection. This will presumably be a
response from the colony to the alarm pheromones generated by
damaged/squashed bees. Also, some colonies are aggressive and are very
hard/impossible to handle however calm and gentle the beekeeper's
technique may be. Presumably this is because the bees concerned have a
stronger response to a lower level of alarm pheromones.
 
  Is there any experience in the Group that continuing rough inspections
make the bees on the receiving end persistently bad tempered?  In other
words is it possible that a colony of bees can be 'sensitised' by
repeated exposure to increased alarms so that eventually the bees
consistently respond more aggressively that they used to?
 
 
--
Mike Rowbottom
 
HARROGATE
North Yorkshire
UK
 
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