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 e-mail : [log in to unmask]