> Germany ... Buckfasts ..., I was surprised by the uniformity of
their gentleness. <
This isn't new. Back in the early 80s, I discovered that bees in Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the former Yugoslavian region, including Croatia, tended to be very docile. Some can be worked without any smoke. But, the trait is not so much geographical as a reflection of their fondness for Bee houses. Since the early 1800s, they have been promoting the concept of blocks of colonies in shelters, permanent bee houses, and repurposed buses and vans. In order to work these blocks of colonies that are tight together, side-by-side, and vertically, the frames are accessed by doors in the back of the beehives. Open the door, and slide the frames out.
Essentially, they have selected bee strains that do not heavily propolis everything. And, if one is in a building, in the alleyway behind the hives, it's good to select for docile bees. The downside, which is often acknowledged, is that the bees are not only docile but so laid back, they don't put a lot of effort into foraging for nectar. Alternatively, maybe this is an artifact of being inside a building, where the group warmth provided reduces the need for copious overwintering supplies.
Fast forward to 2020-2022, when companies are trying to put bees in containers and use robotics to examine frames. My guess is that think this is feasible based on the Eastern European model of hives in buildings. What I suspect they've missed is that being able to pull frames out of a hive, whether by hand or machine, without greatly disrupting the bees, is a result of nearly two centuries of selection for docile, low propolis-producing bees. And, the eastern Europeans do not expect the honey productivity that we have in many parts of the USA.
Jerry
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