Productivity vs aggression

[Beagle23]

I caught a swarm in a bait hive in May. They're the gentlest and least aggressive bees I've come across, I don't recall one attempt at a sting all summer.
The downside is that in total they've only managed to fill 5 frames worth of honey, which is clearly sub par. There's no evidence of sickness in the hive or a high varroa count so I think it may just be their temperament, I have hippy bees.
Contrast this with the little bastards in my other hive, who are consistently aggressive and always ready to throw themselves at you - I've just taken the 4th super from them.

Has anyone else seen something similar where productivity seems to be linked to aggression?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

No - it's just a fallacy people adhere to as an excuse to defend bad bees

 

[JamezF]

Maybe there's also an element of confirmation bias about the idea too. People tend to remember defensive colonies that do well. Defensive colonies that don't do well perhaps don't last very long.

James

 

[Ian123]

There’s no correlation between aggression and productivity.

 

[Antipodes]

I caught a swarm in a bait hive in May. They're the gentlest and least aggressive bees I've come across, I don't recall one attempt at a sting all summer.
The downside is that in total they've only managed to fill 5 frames worth of honey, which is clearly sub par. There's no evidence of sickness in the hive or a high varroa count so I think it may just be their temperament, I have hippy bees.
Contrast this with the little bastards in my other hive, who are consistently aggressive and always ready to throw themselves at you - I've just taken the 4th super from them.

Has anyone else seen something similar where productivity seems to be linked to aggression?

I've certainly heard of it before but I've actually experienced the opposite.....I've had nasty bees that produced nothing and very nice bees that produced lots.

 

[user 20297]

No - it's just a fallacy people adhere to as an excuse to defend bad bees

Bad bees can defend themselves!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’ve had bait hive bees so gentle none come up to see us inspecting. The following season is often a different matter.

 

[user 819]

Unscientific garbage some beeks trot out as mentioned in defence of keeping very defensive bees.
How much a colony produces is dependent on the forage, weather and the beekeeper.
My current six queens subsesquently are diluted progeny produced from a swarm collected in April 2019 headed by a very Yellow queen, that summer once they got going they built up I harvested 52lbs and the following spring in early June I harvested 108lbs from them.
That summer was rubbish and no more honey came from them and may have been a precursor to 2021 where they did very little only managing 40lbs. Roll on this year and they have done well again 139lbs hearvested from the colony. though now headed by a usurper queen from the now diluted progeny. Two other colonies with sister Q's also producing over 100lbs each as well.

 

[blackcloud]

Small colonies (like a nuc) can be quieter and can be also less productive so the knee jerk reaction is to assume a big, gobby colony is more productive.

 

[Beagle23]

Seems like a it's all gibberish then

Thanks for indulging me

 

[menteth]

I have a super super aggressive hive, that produced absolutely nothing this summer. Pointless.

 

[PeaBee]

Some of the most productive bees I have ever come across where also the most placid. Aggressive colonies also take longer to work which is a factor when you have a few to go through.
Just people justifying their badly behaved pets.

 

[Crazyhorse]

I’ve got a colony where the queen has filled nearly all the frames of 14x12 and produced 7 supers full of honey and that included drawing 3 supers of comb.. hardest working bee’s yet most aggressive little blighters..

Only went near them the other day to move an empty nuc box and swarmed me with about 100 bee’s even got down into my boots and up inside my suit stinging all my ankles..
Ended. Up having to get the hose and fill my boots with water. Stung through the veil, through the suit on my back had about 15 stings in total… but on the plus side my anaphylaxis is no longer an issue it seems!

 

[Erichalfbee]

but on the plus side my anaphylaxis is no longer an issue it seems!

Have you had an immunotherapy course?

 

[Crazyhorse]

Have you had an immunotherapy course?

Nope… but I reckon the sting that put me out cold was behind the ear and the brain felt threatened. Since then I’ve been stung, chin, cheek bone, back, arms and legs. With out a single episode…

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ah so you aren't allergic, which is good news.
I'd hate to think that beginners reading this might imagine that an allergic reaction to bee stings which causes anaphylaxis might just disappear on it's own.

 

[Crazyhorse]

Nope, the body does strange things at times.. but the Dr has advised me to still get an epi-pen just in case.

 

[PeaBee]

Nope, the body does strange things at times.. but the Dr has advised me to still get an epi-pen just in case.

I would get some more placid bees too.

 

[oxnatbees]

I've seen a couple of experienced beekeepers state they reckoned that the mechanism is simply that most beekeepers open (disrupt) defensive hives less. The question then becomes: did the OP open the defensive hive less than the placid one? And those people in this thread who state aggression is not linked to joney production, did it put you off opening the hives?

 

[Crazyhorse]

I hate opening them, and try not to disturb them at all, lol put 3 supers at a time and try and change them all at once. With rape this can be difficult. But I did ok this year.

I’ve just moved them to an out apiary, and now need to think about treatments and condensing them into the brood box..