A little background, I have kept bees for about 15 or so years. Began while living in Texas and decided to go the natural beekeeping route with top bar then later Warre’ hive boxes. It worked well down there. Of course since I was not really able to requeen every year, they turned mean in a short time. It was ok, they were kept in a far corner of my property and since I only messed with them a couple times a year, it was fine. I moved here about 8 years ago and wanted to continue beekeeping. So I bought a couple of packages installed them in my Warre’ hives and watched as they performed as expected or better. Until the following spring when I discovered neither hive made it through the winter. I tried it again. Same thing, they looked like they were doing great but did not make it through the winter. I went to a Lane county Beekeepers meeting. I found that it seemed to be mostly geared to commercial beekeeping. They spent the entirety of the meeting talking about how best to medicate your hives. Talked to a couple of people there about what I was experiencing and their response was yeah, you can’t do that around here, mites are too bad, you have to medicate otherwise you are just killing bees. I left disappointed, I really didn’t want to get new equipment or change my approach or spend money on new packages of bees if they were just going to die. So I decided to catch swarms. If they didn’t make it, no biggie, I didn’t buy them anyway. I have 3 hives now. All have made it through a couple of winters, the oldest 4 winters without any kind of medication. I am really happy but these bees are quite different from the ones I purchased and from the africanized ones in Texas. First, they did not care for syrup much. They would get on it a little but mostly they preferred other sustenance even when newly installed and building comb. They don’t want to fill up their hive, mostly they stay in 2 boxes and seem reluctant to build out further. They are very sloppy comb builders. They build this way and that independent to a degree of the way the top bars orient. And they swarm at the drop of a hat. Actually before the hat drops. And they do that even if they have plenty of room in their hive. Even with 2 empty boxes below, they will swarm. So I have bees, They are nice bees, I get a little honey and my pollinateing needs are taken care of but I am puzzled. I wonder if you have any insight into the strain of bee that I caught. What I can expect and maybe how to get them to swarm less? If I could get them to build into 3 or 4 boxes I don’t think I would get as much brood when I do harvest the top box for honey. Thanks! Jim Speir