>Actually, Dr. Ernesto Guzman-Novoa already suggested this same thing, 10 
>years ago.

>It would be better to saturate the mating congregation areas with drones of 
>European origin.

The above method is not as effective as simply culling whole colonies of 
aggressive bees as soon as discovered.  Ernesto is correct that the solution 
lies with the drones.

The hobby and some sideline beekeepers value the single hive. Lose sleep 
over the cost of a replacement queen. When you are in the business you want 
to solve a problem as quickly as possible.  Solve the problem when hives are 
small. Cull the dinks as today it costs to keep a hive around. In my opinion 
not $200 to provide meds and feed but cost is involved.

Many beekeepers will only get production from a few hives in a yard of a 
dozen. Ok for the hobby beekeeper but will bankrupt the commercial beekeeper 
.

An aggressive nuc will be an aggressive large hive. An aggressive hive like 
Jerry Bromenshenk speaks of in a remote location by itself is not a big 
deal. Take the same hive and place in a yard of forty hives and the hives 
drones will introduce those aggressive genes into the yard through 
supercedure & matings. Will disrupt the everyday work of beekeeping.

A couple of other AHB not as common traits rarely spoke of :

higher aggressive behavior during the honey flow. Opposite of our bees.

smoke only upsets rather than calms. Most areas of AHB use huge smokers and 
they say their best defense but when questioned all will agree some AHb will 
not be calmed by smoke. I have seen these hives and they are the worst. A 
simple puff at the entrance and the bees are in your face!

I keep yards of bees which are easily worked with little protection. I keep 
another line which can be testy at times.

tip:
When culling the main trait to look for( even with European bees)  is the 
quickness to hit the air and the hive response to a few stings.
All hives can get aggressive when left open for too long or the beekeeper 
tries to cram a frame of bees back into the space it came from mashing bees. 
I take the queen off the frame many times and release her on another frame 
before replacing the frame. NEVER CRAM A FRAME IN THE HIVE.
Smoke all stings to mask the sting odor.

bob

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