Requeen or ?

[Owen]

I am new to beekeepking. I picked up a swarm from a guy that was down sizing. The swarm was from one of his hives or at lest that is what he thinks. When I picked them up they were realy gentel. I have had this swarm now for over two weeks. The bee's seem to be getting more agressive. The queen is not well organized but is keeping the population growing.

Do I need to requeen to get them gentel again?

My gloves have been stong and this last time I counted about 20 stingers in them. Should I replace them or at least wash them?

Yesturday when I was in the hive I noticed 5 queen cells none were capped and I could not see anything in them. The bee's are putting honey in some of the open brood cells.

I plan on putting some new frames in the brood nest and move the frames I take out to the top box. Would it be wise to cut out the queen cells or just leave them? I do plan to split this hive soon.

[Sundance]

Wash the gloves. Africanized bees are an issue in your area. I would requeen from known good stock.

Where on the frame are the cells located?

Sounds like the hive is handling the requeening themselves.

[Owen]

The queen cells are on the bottom of three old wax foundation frames. One frame has three cells and the other two have one each. The openings are real close to the bottom bar on the frames.

I would rather get a new queen than hope a new queen that the hive would make would not have AHB trait's

[Michael Bush]

If they are too hot for you, I would requeen.

If the cups are empty they may not be superceding. If the cups have larvae in them they probably are.

[onelove]

owen, it depends where in california you are as to whether you have a likelihood of AHB.
http://ceris.purdue.edu/napis/pests/ahb/imap/ca.html
of course, they don't have to be AHB to be mean. and, as others here wisely stated, if they are mean, then requeen.

[Michael Bush]

Personally, I think it's irelevant if they are AHB or not. Mean bees suck. Mean bees are a danger to you and others. Mean bees give bees a bad name. Mean bees do not have to be tolorated. There have always been occasional mean EHB. If they are mean, requeen them.

[FordGuy]

instead of AHB, maybe you are having a dearth. Or maybe you worked them too early in the morning, or too late in the evening. mean bees are not necessarily AHB.