Amm / Native Black Bee Discussion

Hello,
For those interested in Amm / Native Black Bees. Tell us about your bees, queen rearing groups, successes and failures.
Please feel free to post your experiences, observations, or questions regarding the above.

 

[Swarm]

Spent the afternoon making up nucs for a few more Amm queens, not the nicest of days but the bees were really well behaved and the queens strolled into view to make things even easier.
My friend has taken them to his new site and the last of the mating nucs will follow shortly. The earlier queens are all accepted and laying.
Your bees are doing really well, Emily. I like that big queen.

 

[Swarm]

Today I was at the farm, landowner is going away in a couple of weeks and wanted to clear some of his supers and return the empties before he goes. After sorting the clearer boards, I went on to check for laying queens, one colony looks a bit iffy and the next colony has sealed brood and was split a week later. I'll check again next week, they look suspiciously too happy to be queenless.
The 'tiny' queen is still kicking around, they had drawn cells last time but must have warmed to her. Nice pattern as well and she is not quite so tiny now.
Last two mating nucs that were successful, one from a cell the other an introduced virgin. Not any more, one from a cell turned out ginger and is a sorry state of chalk brood, the other has disappeared. Sods law that the one gone AWOL had a lovely pattern.

 

[E&MBees]

Marked another home raised queen. She is laying nicely and her bees were very steady on the comb. Photo isn’t great, nor are my marking skills. I need to get a better COT as the plastic one is useless.

 

[user 20297]

Marked another home raised queen. She is laying nicely and her bees were very steady on the comb. Photo isn’t great, nor are my marking skills. I need to get a better COT as the plastic one is useless.
View attachment 36837

A few weeks ago I watched our local beekeeping expert mark a queen with a Posca and free-hand. The dot she made was decisive, tiny and made in one movement. Being small made it no less obvious to see such an artificial colour amongst the bees. Following that example I'm much more confident and less prone to making a mess.

 

[Ian123]

Marked another home raised queen. She is laying nicely and her bees were very steady on the comb. Photo isn’t great, nor are my marking skills. I need to get a better COT as the plastic one is useless.
View attachment 36837

She looks like a victim of a just stop oil protest

 

[Erichalfbee]

My swarm queen is just like that. Black with orange highlights. Dabbed her with fluorescent green the other day.

 

[Swarm]

This year is heading to be a repeat of 2015 and the last Hawthorn year, there was an initial blast of Bramble and Clover and then the flow ended. The Spring crop this year was greater but slim pickings since and the outlook is bleak.
The bees are drawing wax in the boxes I added to nucs for space but only slowly. After an initial worry about being low on kit, it seems the panic is over, crikey it will soon be time for treatments.
I decided to have another look at my tiny queen and I was very happy with her laying pattern. The bees are nice and gentle so she can have a chance, after all she is quite sweet

 

[Swarm]

Last two mating nucs that were successful, one from a cell the other an introduced virgin. Not any more, one from a cell turned out ginger and is a sorry state of chalk brood, the other has disappeared. Sods law that the one gone AWOL had a lovely pattern.

Still need to dispatch the ginger one but on a brighter note, I found young larvae in the queenless nuc so I'm a little happier than I was.
The nucs at the new mating site have expanded nicely and all the Amm queens are accepted and laying well, particularly nice brood patterns too so can't wait until next year.
The bees at the farm are working the Balsam when they can but with almost continuous rain there is no chance of filling frames. Ivy is just around the corner, the main worry now is finding a dry spell to get the clearer boards on and pull the supers. Despite the awful Summer, it looks like we could still match last year for honey thanks to the immense Hawthorn flow. I'm always wary taking Spring crops so I only removed half of the supers, those were all returned and filled again in no time, which is hard to believe now, poor bees have seen a month of constant rain since.
Queen matings have been quite good this year though, only two failures and the one due for the chop.
We are over wintering a lot of nucs again this year and hope to have some for sale next Spring but a few things to consider and assess before then.
Very pleased to hear from a beekeeper who had three colonies off me earlier this year. He extracted over 200lbs Spring crop and they matched or out performed his Italian Buckfast. One of the colonies I gave him was the late supersedure queen I nearly shook out, they were understandably the smallest but have gone on to be his best colony. It will be interesting to find out how they did in the Summer (?)
The season seems to be getting shorter.

 

[Lislarybees]

Really positive to see all the main beekeeping associations in Ireland reaffirming their commitment to conserving Amm by halting the import of non-native honeybees into the country. Still work to be done to get the necessary legislation over the line but with the majority pulling in the right direction hopefully we can get this done. I saw recent genetic results showing hybridisation running at 13% and up to 30% in badly impacted areas. That is up from about 8% in the last major study.

https://nihbs.org/2023/07/24/statement-against-imports/

 

[Swarm]

The last Amm queen turned up so today I replaced the ginger chalky queen, the others are all doing well and the bees seemed to take to this one straight away.
Started the clearing and was pleased to find the supers still full. Thirty coming off tomorrow and not a moment too soon with the Oak tree colony, double brood and six very full supers, it had cracked the stand and was leaning. We did a quick repair job and decided to try and clear four, I don't know if that's going to work, the brood boxes were heaving and bees still right to the top of the stack.
Noticed some quite advanced Ivy buds that won't be long, where did the season go?

 

[Blunt Spike]

The last Amm queen turned up so today I replaced the ginger chalky queen, the others are all doing well and the bees seemed to take to this one straight away.
Started the clearing and was pleased to find the supers still full. Thirty coming off tomorrow and not a moment too soon with the Oak tree colony, double brood and six very full supers, it had cracked the stand and was leaning. We did a quick repair job and decided to try and clear four, I don't know if that's going to work, the brood boxes were heaving and bees still right to the top of the stack.
Noticed some quite advanced Ivy buds that won't be long, where did the season go?

Is ivy honey a good winter feed? As it sets like a brick, can the bees eat it in mid winter if its too cold for them to source water?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Is ivy honey a good winter feed? As it sets like a brick, can the bees eat it in mid winter if it’s too cold for them to source water?

Bees have been dealing with it for millennia. There’s always water if respiration in the hive. If you have the top insulated it will condense on the hive walls where the bees can use it.

 

[robinharman]

Is ivy honey a good winter feed? As it sets like a brick, can the bees eat it in mid winter if its too cold for them to source water?

Absolutely fine.
I've started treating today and everything they bring in from now is theirs.

 

[Blunt Spike]

Bees have been dealing with it for millennia

Thank you.

 

[Swarm]

Hot, sweaty, tiring day removing supers after a quick look in to break the tab on the new queen. The bees were very receptive when I put her in, today they were buzzing nicely around the cage with a little proboscis through almost every hole. Sweet!
Yet again the farm stock are the top producers.
Here are some pics of our Oak tree colony from yesterday. I had my doubts they would clear four supers because they were so stuffed with bees but yes they did. We took two supers off this hive in June and these six are just as full. They are on double brood which is well padded out with stores
Glad that bit is over, hopefully one more pull should see the harvest done for this year.

 

[JamezF]

Bees have been dealing with it for millennia. There’s always water if respiration in the hive. If you have the top insulated it will condense on the hive walls where the bees can use it.

Indeed so. There are beeks who will say otherwise, but they're mistaken. We have so much ivy around here and its the major source of food for the bees in winter. They do just fine.

James

 

[Swarm]

Did a brood health check on the colonies today and assessed the supers still on the hives. I was very pleased with the brood nests, some of the doubles are still very large, one in particular had seven good frames of brood in the top box and loads of really nice, patient bees. I didn't trouble them further, they are all doing well.
Looked in on the new Amm queen, nice to see new eggs and larvae and the queen strolling on the next frame. The plan is to go through and assess all the new Amm queens this Sunday, I've not seen the last batch so quite looking forward to it.

 

[alancooper]

Is ivy honey a good winter feed? As it sets like a brick, can the bees eat it in mid winter if its too cold for them to source water?

Fine it is. I usually take a super of honey from the Ivy flow and often do not have to feed post Christmas. Context: my apiary is in a small field, hedged, low elevation, rural landscape with much Ivy.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Uniting and introducing this years queens that were transferred from mini nucs to 6 frame nucs three weeks ago lovely genetics and calm gentle bees .
I’ve reared just over 70 queens this year but have only kept 40 queens mated , quite a few didn’t make the grade.

 

[Swarm]

Spent a sunny Sunday afternoon checking the new queens and they are looking good.
These are a few of the last ones.