Honeybees are incredible creatures. A beehive is an organized society where all bees have their designated duties and perform them together beautifully.
We keep quite a few hives and over the years we have gravitated to the Italian (Corneolans) and Buckfast breeds. Both are gentle breeds, not aggressive at all.
We feed the bees 1 to 1 Sugar Syrup in the warmer months and 2 to 1 Sugar Syrup in the colder months when there is little food. During the winter we make a Pollen Patty and add it to the hive that we wrap to retain heat in the hive.