It's almost that time of year to start new hives! I have always had hives at my previous homes and would plant an acre or two of clover just for the bees. Italian bees are the current norm and very calm. The only time they sting is when someone bothers the hive, endangering the queen. Honeybees sting once and die. A honeybee sting does NOT cause other bees to attack, unlike yellow jackets. One jacket sting brings the rest to the attack location.
Honeybees are actually a very smart colony with different groups of bees involved in only one process of the hive. A little smoke calms them down so you can move in and remove gallons of the golden liquid. Of course I would always share with my accepting neighbors. Afterall, it's their plants providing the pollen.
And for anyone worried about stings....my bees are non posso-eyetowelyens which are without stinger, so it must have been someone else's bee.
