In a message dated 9/1/2006 10:40:12 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: What part of Florida George? Are you in the Africanized zone? No, I am not in an officially recognized Africanized area. And to my knowledge no AHB's are known to be in or around my area. But I expect that is coming to me soon. I suspect that these queens are fathered by a drone from a feral hive that is carrying an old German dominate trait for black color and possibly German aggressiveness too. The progeny of the dark brown queens are not particularly defensive and are to my experience no more aggressive than usual. I don't keep "hot" bees at all regardless of color! However, I don't really care what color queens are as long as I can find them easily and I can live with the workers. What I'm concerned with, is that these ladies are more or less Russian or some other strain that won't buildup fast enough in the spring for the citrus bloom. If I was sure they were slow in building up I would not go into the winter with them. Every three to four years I get new Italians (I think they work best for me) and then I produce my own queens for the next few years. I've always open mated them and have noticed and occasional black worker and wondered about it. Superceding has been an ongoing phenomena for me this season so I keep up with who is laying and frequently find that I have unmarked queens and or queen-less hives showing up. The few charcoal gray queens haven't started laying yet- sooo I'll be watching for aggressive behaviors. Incidentally some of the dark queens half-sisters are as blond as they can be with very faint dark lines. I'm located reasonably close to numerous successful commercial beekeepers who are queen breeders. Some of their yards (35 miles NW of Orlando) are within a 10 mile radius of my yard. The one I rely on most is traveling with his bees now and won't be back for a couple of months yet, or I would have just popped over to him with my question. George W -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---