Chris asked: > a) The bees look rather like Amm, dark with narrow tomenta. Is it their > reputation for bad temper that made the operator wear gloves? Yes, working towards A.m.m. They are very good tempered - these can be worked without smoke and probably without a veil, although I do not risk that. The reasons for the gloves are twofold: first propolis - we do not want it all over the steering wheel etc when moving between apiaries second hygiene - we use soda wash to clean gloves and hive tool after each hive, and discard the disposable gloves after each apiary. Best wishes Peter Edwards beekeepers at stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/ ******************************************************* * Search the BEE-L archives at: * * http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?S1=bee-l * *******************************************************