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 (c) Permission is granted to freely copy this document in any form, or to print for any use. (w)Opinions are not necessarily facts. Use at own risk. --- ~ QMPro 1.53 ~ http://194.112.46.22/public/default.htm (Amigabee BBS)