Hello All I am presently putting together some documentation for a lecture on Suburban Beekeeping which I am to give early next year. This will be my first lecture in beekeeping. I remember coming across a statement that the aggressiveness of a hive varies inter alia with the number of guard bees posted at any one time. Thus if the size of the entrance is reduced, fewer guard bees are deployed and therefore there are fewer stingers ready to pounce. Can anybody confirm this assertion or otherwise?. I am also interested in trying to find out how many guard bees are deployed on average say per centimetre/inch of entrance space, as I like to put numbers on things if at all possible. Also if anybody has lecture notes on this subject which he/she would be willing to share with me, this would be invaluable assistance for which I would be most grateful. In return I will send my efforts when they are completed. Thanks as always for any help Sincerely Tom Barrett 49 South Park, Foxrock Dublin 18 Ireland Tel + 353 1 289 5269 Fax + 353 1 289 9940