Well Cindi, I do not know why people act, as they do? perhaps they feel threatened? Their way of thinking is threatened? I have no answer to that one...
About the wrong bees in wrong places? I use simplistic terms cause if one wants to know exactly why - there are numerous places on the web where such things are explained better what I can manage.
Cindy, bees have been on this earth for a helluva long time and are largely indigenous to their areas. (All this through millions of years of evolution!) Golden colored around equator,(roughly) and darker as one gets higher up on the mountains and/or towards the poles.
Man, in his own wisdom, decided that he would take bees from the Mediterranean lush gardens and keep them in Canada, or Scandinavia for that matter.
It works. Bees are tough! But, that was not all that man wanted... He houses them in all kinds of boxes on 11 different size combs. Now, we have nothing but problems on top of problems! Bees of all sorts, with bugs of all sorts.
To fix what we have done - we keep pro-ping up those poor bees yearly, just trying to keep them till next Spring. Some with greater, others with lesser success.
Every few years, mother nature tries to tell us that our ways are not working. Bees simply disappear! This year is one of those years... Of course I wont even get into the crap that we are enveloping our poor earth with...
There you have it - is that why some get upset?
But, I'm Happy to say, that more and more beekeepers are "reinventing the wheel!" All is not lost yet.
Hopefully?
SC/natural comb, bees appropriate for the area, locally raised queens, local/feral swarms, etc... About all - no medicines, poisons or whatever one calls it...
Perhaps someday soon, they will also realize that spring importation of package bees from Australia and New Zealand is not the way to go. But, it's hard to buck the all-mighty dollar, isn't it?
Yes Cindi, I do come from Slovenia and if you visit the link below you will See why I get, sometimes, carried away when it comes to races of bees. In Slovenia we have Carniolan bees ONLY, even though Italy is just across the road! Our bees do not have any yellow rings on them... It is all about breeding - not just having bees - in the box and let it be what it may!?
I too was once comercial keeper. I too had bought a lot of packages in Spring. I knew it was wrong - but that was the only source to be had. When varroa came and the boarder closed, I and many others went by the wayside. Before it was hard business cause on every step there were bees and beekeepers. Now there is none. I can drive all week and never see a hive...
Only a few are still holding on in our parts... But nobody imports anymore...
I envy you - your Carniolans?! I have Italians, cause that is the bee that is already acclimatized to my area. I do plan to perhaps acquire some dark bees - preferably from a wild source...
Did see those Japanese Giant Hornets. Yes, bees are very smart and they too ball their own queen - same as you saw those "cooking" the hornets.
http://www.carniolan.com/uk/caracter-uk.htm