[urbanfarmgal]

Anyone ever have success allowing a hyper defensive colony rear a new queen and end up getting a gentler queen who lays workable bees? Typically I requeen or use brood from another gentler colony for queen rearing, but am curious can I get lazier on this process and just pinch a hyper defensive laying queen and hope the genetics mellow by allowing the colony rear a queen from their own brood? Can I get lazier requeening? 😉 I work almost exclusively with SoCal ferals so I’m used to the varying levels of AHB defensiveness.

 

[Richinbama]

Since no one has chimed in yet...
I'd say if the bees made their own queen from africanized queen , I'd say dilution would be based on drones on area. You'd mabye get milder, but maybe not. All depends on africanized bees in area. I'd say order or get a queen from out of area with no africanized bees in population. Say you could order from Hawaii, or I think Alvarez has mellow queens. Good luck

 

[Muenster]

I have not done that (but I would doubt the new queen would be nicer). In my experience, in aggressive feral population area, if I don't try to at least control the temperament on the queen side they bees just get hotter, not better. I have killed mean queens and then given them a frame from a nice hive after cutting queen cells a week later. Two months later = nice hive