Hello All,



Regarding night-time inspection of beehives, in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 2012 I was told that at night the bees from opened hives wouldn't fly over the 2m- high security walls surrounding each suburban property, and so passers-by wouldn't be stung. 



During daytime I found I could stand right in front of colonies inhabiting hollow trees etc. and not ever be apparently noticed by the bees. But I was told that if the bees were disturbed they certainly would attack. 



Another observation is that the bees in Zimbabwe were smaller than the European Apis mellifera ligustica and Apis mellifera mellifera, and appeared to be about the same size as the Asian Apis ceranae I saw around Cairns in Queensland, Australia, a year earlier. Also, much like the Asian bees the workers flew directly into the hive. In other words unlike the European bees they didn't land and crawl in.



Regards,

Barry Donovan.

Christchurch,

New Zealand.



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