nuptial flights in african territory

[bill]

I have just got into beekeeping and I hope to grow to at least ten hive at least as I learn. I am doing a lot of reading but everything is not in the books. I want raise my own queens down the road if it is feasible. here there are african bees around. what I wonder is if you have several hives with drones flying, what would be your chances of gettisng africanized bees. I assume the more good drones in the air it would give you better odds. Say you did this and got some good hives and some more aggresive ones how could you deal with that. I will have three hives at the end of this season if it goes well would that be enough. let me know what you think.

[thegolfpsycho]

Until you get a pretty good feel for what's happening in your colonies, ordering a few queens every fall is a pretty good policy.  The commercial queen rearing outfits are selecting from a much larger genetic pool for t-mite, v-mite resistance, etc.  Once you get a handle on things, and decide what is important to you. ie: low swarming, high production, mite resistance, etc etc etc, you can start selecting for these traits.  If you were to get a hot hive or two, it is much more than a pain in the butt.  They are a hazard to your neighbors and their animals as well.  Being overwhelmed by aggresive bees, and chased 200 yards is not fun.  A little experience would be helpful dealing with them.

[Michael Bush]

Unfortunately, unless you are on small cell the African drones are smaller and faster and therefore have the edge on mating with your queen.

[BigRog]

Where are you located?
This is a good example of being able to help someone better if they have their location in the profile.
I imagine you are in a area with africanised bees.
I would think that if you got a seriously agressive hive you would have to kill off the bees, if only to protect those around you.

[Jerrymac]

I think he said he was in Midland Tx. About 100 miles south of me.