[Brad Bee]

I have one hive that the bees festoon like mad when I pull the frames during an inspection. The bees aren't what I'd consider runny, compared to some videos I've seen but they do typically walk over to one side of the frame then ball up and cling to the side of the frames, in large enough clusters that they will fall off in wads when I put the frames back in the hives.

Is this a particular trait of any specific line of bees? These bees were caught in a swarm last year and just look like the typical feral mutts that I get here.

 

[AR Beekeeper]

Pouring off the edges of the frames, boiling over the sides and out of the box, and being runny is a trait associated with the German bee and bees that are Africanized. The only time I have seen it is with queens I bought out of Texas in 2005.

 

[Brad Bee]

These don't boil over the sides of the box and I wouldn't consider them runny. They may have some German ancestry but we don't have AHB anywhere near here. Whatever they are, they aren't aggressive and they're very productive.