When I worked african bees in Paraguay...there were mighty clouds of bees around atacking all around..of all the seasoned beekeepers present -I alone stood my ground.... Hold it..thats what the story will have evolved into by the time my grandchildren get here. The actual fact is that initially I was so hesitant that the lady who owned them asked if I had ever worked bees..To my surprise, the 4 hives I worked were not aggresive to the point where I took off the work gloves I had used and worked barehanded..one time even peeling back by suit/veil to get a better look at the queen. I got stung once in an hour or so of work.I did work very cautiously for the most part. My daughter caught about a dozen swarms over 2 years and none were horribly ferocious except one got testy when a drunk guy w/ no protection insisted on helping her...he eventually left out of necessity.My best memory is that he tried to help cut down a branch w/a chain saw. Her co-worker observed them working at night which is kindve unusual. She has heard of several factual reports from her fellow workers that can only be described as horror stories. Most involved children and animals. I talked to a beek from S Afica...the ones he worked sounded like they truly deserved the title "killer bees". He said they would meet you when you opened the door to the truck several yards from the hives-duct tape better already be on your feet and hands interfaces. John Horton N Alabama *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Access BEE-L directly at: http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L