Aggressive Bees

[For want of a better word]

The problem is that there are beekeepers popping up everywhere. It takes time to influence the feral population and someone can bring in bees for a specific crop and change it all. There is no control over that. I can control my bees by instrumental insemination but I can't control the ferals

What I mean is that there's a big difference between "control" and "influence".

That is so true..... we attempt to influence beekeepers to keep our Native Cornish Black bees within the catchment areas of our mating apiaries and control the drones produced by helping local beekeepers to obtain good quality native Cornish black bees by assisting them with queens from our own proven black stocks.
I believe there is a renound beekeeper in Pembrokeshire who loans out virgin queens to increase the selected geneotype.
Unless you can find an isolated island to live on control is always going to be a problem.

Yeghes da

 

[B+.]

Do you remember the awful experience that Obee1 had with her bees?
She was a new beekeeper and struggled with an aggressive colony which grew very rapidly into a huge mature colony. To begin with when you are new to beekeeping...you don't know whether the colony is aggressive or that your own inexperience is causing the problem. Confidence is quickly shattered too which doesn't help. The Mean Green Queen dominated her small apiary.....they were local bees. In the end they were shipped out up the mountain, split up and requeened...and still they were mean bees.

I remember this very well. The local bee inspector took them off her hands and requeened them in the end.
I felt very sorry for her. She was trapped with a colony of aggressive bees and a school across the road and a public footpath just the other side of a hedge. Whoever sold her those bees should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[B+.]

Unless you can find an isolated island to live on control is always going to be a problem.

Absolutely!
Thats why I came to the conclusion a long time ago that I would use II and island mated queens.
You can open mate daughters from these as drone mothers or production colonies, but, they won't be as good as their mothers.

 

[Swarm]

Do you remember the awful experience that Obee1 had with her bees?
She was a new beekeeper and struggled with an aggressive colony which grew very rapidly into a huge mature colony. To begin with when you are new to beekeeping...you don't know whether the colony is aggressive or that your own inexperience is causing the problem. Confidence is quickly shattered too which doesn't help. The Mean Green Queen dominated her small apiary.....they were local bees. In the end they were shipped out up the mountain, split up and requeened...and still they were mean bees.

Unfortunately she kept giving the queen more laying space instead of splitting them to sort it out.

 

[Tremyfro]

Unfortunately she kept giving the queen more laying space instead of splitting them to sort it out.

It was a very challenging situation... It's all very confusing when you start beekeeping...if you go by the books...giving more space probably was the recommended step. I saw the hive...it was huge! I do know she tried very hard under horrible circumstances to sort it out. Luckily the inspector came to her aid.
I requeen regularly to keep my Carniolans at no more than F2. I have been to other people's apiaries and thought their bees were pingy and runny on the comb but they thought that normal. I guess it's what you get used to as well.

 

[Swarm]

With a defensive colony, the last thing I would recommend is helping it become a huge, defensive colony, that's a recipe for disaster.
Divide and conquer, it's easier to deal with.

 

[B+.]

With a defensive colony, the last thing I would recommend is helping it become a huge, defensive colony, that's a recipe for disaster.
Divide and conquer, it's easier to deal with.

I doubt it was done on purpose swarm. She was a first year beginner trapped between a rock and a hard place. I remember her seeking advice on a daily basis. The "mean green" saga is probably still there if you want to look back at last years posts. It was clear that she was absolutely terrified of these bees and it was only when the bee inspector took them away to another apiary that the torrent of pleas for help subsided.

 

[PBee]

....
Thats why I came to the conclusion a long time ago that I would use II and island mated queens.
You can open mate daughters from these as drone mothers or production colonies, but, they won't be as good as their mothers.

For Carnica/Mellifera (or reciprocal) crosses Ruttner states the outcome for F1 to be 30% increase in honey production but temper and stability will be much worse. For Ligustica/Carnica good yields in F1 but again very poor temper and stability, and for the reciprocal cross temper OK but yields poor.

 

[Beagle23]

I dont think anyone has asked yet if you are a member of your local beekeeping association or if you have a mentor. They should be able to help you to learn the right way to handle your bees gently and to assess if handling is part of the problem. Or they can help you assess if your bees need requeening and if so the best way to do it. They may even be able to provide you with a new queen or a queen cell from a colony with good temper.
Trying to learn all this from a book, or even with the advice of forum members, is not the best way.

My local club meets on a Saturday, which is no good for me, but you're right I could certainly do with some help.

 

[Anduril]

My local club meets on a Saturday, which is no good for me, but you're right I could certainly do with some help.

Have you approached them and asked for a mentor?