EC>From: Ed Costanza <[log in to unmask]>
  >Date:         Wed, 25 Jun 1997 14:54:44 -0400
  >Subject:      Aggressive Bees
 
EC>What can you do to make an excessively aggressive hive of bees more docile?
  > Out of 15 hives of bees and 30 years of keeping bees I can never remember a
  >hive so aggressive.
 
  >Edgewood, NM (30 miles east of Albuquerque)
 
Hi ED,
 
WOW it must be a HOT one for sure as the bees in New Mexico are well
know for their temperament in certain areas.<G>
 
Anyway for those individual hives that are too hot to handle you should
KILL the queen and replace her with one from a different stock, like a
mail order queen if possible from California of course or the South. I
would for sure shop outside of my normal channels to get in some new
blood other then your own. This is the easiest advice to give but as a
beekeeper who has studied beekeepers for a lifetime it is not always the
one that is followed as many of us beekeepers share one gene in common
and its called "WNWN", (waste not want not), and more times then not we
would spend much time, effort, and money on our bees before we would
kill them no matter what the problem, disease, pests or predators. And
its the same the world over no matter what is advertised by government
PR persons. I would guess thats why there are so may different confusing
solutions to every apiary problem. I try to say go with what works for
you and thats what I try to write about.
 
I have experienced these hot individual hives that can make a bad hair
day seem tame by comparison and have found that sometimes it is almost
impossible to fine that queen because the bees themselves are not only
on the tooth but are very flighty or nervous, even to the queen who
will run and hide and I have even seen them take wing from the corner of
the box as I closed in for the kill after looking for her on every
frame, and I have even found them under the hive at least once. I also
would advise that she or anyone like here be killed on sight as it
always seems coming back the 2nd time she is always harder to find if
not impossible at times and no matter what the color or flavor of that
bee hive if a few individual hives are impossible to work they are
seldom worth the effort.
 
SO if possible plan ahead and have a small nuc with an established queen
to introduce if you do find the nasty queen and can kill her, or you can
take the aggressive hive and make several weak nucs from it and in a few
days add new queens to the parts that have started cells and maybe get
lucky and find the queen or queens in the one that has not started
cells. OR in time this queen will fail and be replaced by here own
daughter and may or may not bee as aggressive, normally not as aggressive
in commercial yard situations but it may be a good idea to not wait as
these queens seem to out last the best of the rest as it seems that
aggressive behaviour is coupled with longevity, or better stated they are
the survivors.
 
I know one beekeeper in the SW that has confirmed "Tex-Mex, Killer,
Afro," bees and takes advantage of them by making all his increase
from them as they are, he says, not only some times, but not always,
more aggressive then his normally aggressive bees and better at brood
rearing and will swarm out if not divided early and often. He uses cells
he rears from his and others stock of dark Italian type bees and is
satisfied with the results. He also kills the queens from the most
aggressive hives without regards to race or preference when they can be
found.
 
                 Good Hunting, the OLd Drone
 
 
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