Hi Andreas,
 
        Just thought you would like to know that during my
commerical queen breeding days we operated 7000 mating colonies.
At the end of each 15 day cycle of production (from the introduction of
a queen cell until catching of the queen) we routinely caught our
queens with out the protection of a vail or gloves. Always had a
hat on though as the Australian sun is pretty hot in summer,
especially in the northern part of the continent. Actually we
often worked our honey hives the same way particularly on hot
days. It was't out of some misguided bravery but trying to
keep cool. The area that we kept our hive has tempreatures of
around 38 degrees celsius and 80% relative humidity in the summer. If you
didn't keep cool you could easily get heat stroke. In my younger
days I use to do all my beekeeping in short pants.
 
 
        Aggressive behaviour in bees is not only influenced by genetics
there is a good deal of the environment  envolved. We all know that
the weather has alot to do with making the bees aggressive, what
I have to come to realize over the years is it's often the floral
source that the bees react to. For instance I use to dread
working bees when the tea trees flowered,  a type of melaleuca
that grows on the coastal strip in  Eastern Australia. Even on
the warmest day the bees often drew blood when they stung and the
pain from the stings was very intense. I have been told that bees
working on citrus flow also become very aggressive however I have
no personal experience in this.
 
        It might be interesting if others would comment on their
experience with bee behaviour and various floral sources.
 
Robert Rice
CSIRO Division of Entomology
Canberra, Australia.
 
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