Peaceful bees

摘要

Bees can be extremely defensive. For example, Africanised bees in Central and South America will chase beekeepers for more than one kilometre. In Europe also there are bees that will sting innocent people passing by a hive. In Norway they had such bees and the Norwegians said, "Whilst we have these bees we need no military alliances!" Defensive bees are inconvenient in beekeeping. They are time-consuming because you need to defend yourself against the stings. Every sting is a loss because a bee diesafter it has stung. It is also a nuisance to need to dress in veil and hat and to cover your body completely so that the bees cannot sting you. Many beekeepers dream of having peaceful bees that they can examine without any problems. They do exist. In Denmark and Sweden, many beekeepers examine their hives without using protective clothing. The bees do not sting and they continue their activities when the beekeeper takes out the frames and looks at them in the sun.