This goes back a little to the original thread, "How mean is mean?" but I thought I would pose the question in a different way.
My father has kept bees for some 17 years. He has never once bought a package or a nuc. All his hives originated from swarms or cutouts. He may have bought a few commercial queens, but that was long ago.
He might go collect supers in one of his beeyards. I asked him how it went, and he said fine. How many times did you get stung? "Oh I don't know, 20 or 30." To me, this seemed like a lot (for someone with veil and gloves, and maybe beesuit). But to him, it was no big deal at all. He just has a higher tolerance for more aggressive bees. I think he has mainly cared about whether they are healthy, and whether they are producing.
Having said that, he has had hives that were so aggressive that he disbanded them. As in bees that would conduct stinging sorties 100 yards out.
Keeping bees that are on the more aggressive side....is this a matter of preference and style? Whatever you feel comfortable with?
Or is there an ethical demand on the beekeeper to only keep bees that the average beekeeper would consider as good temperament?
I think there are a couple of competing things here:
1) the genetic pressure his bees put on the beekeeper that wants docile bees
2) but also, the idea that his bees are throwing off swarms and drones that will lead to more bees surviving in the wild (he doesn't treat).
Thoughts?
My father has kept bees for some 17 years. He has never once bought a package or a nuc. All his hives originated from swarms or cutouts. He may have bought a few commercial queens, but that was long ago.
He might go collect supers in one of his beeyards. I asked him how it went, and he said fine. How many times did you get stung? "Oh I don't know, 20 or 30." To me, this seemed like a lot (for someone with veil and gloves, and maybe beesuit). But to him, it was no big deal at all. He just has a higher tolerance for more aggressive bees. I think he has mainly cared about whether they are healthy, and whether they are producing.
Having said that, he has had hives that were so aggressive that he disbanded them. As in bees that would conduct stinging sorties 100 yards out.
Keeping bees that are on the more aggressive side....is this a matter of preference and style? Whatever you feel comfortable with?
Or is there an ethical demand on the beekeeper to only keep bees that the average beekeeper would consider as good temperament?
I think there are a couple of competing things here:
1) the genetic pressure his bees put on the beekeeper that wants docile bees
2) but also, the idea that his bees are throwing off swarms and drones that will lead to more bees surviving in the wild (he doesn't treat).
Thoughts?