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]

They look very nice indeed!
I'm so glad I jumped into mine on Friday as the weather went off on Saturday and didn't amount to anything yesterday.
No loss, with colonies ranging from brood on four frames to a couple with brood on thirteen. I added brood space with some drawn combs and foundation as I noticed the nectar glistening in the cells within the brood area. I hadn't intended to mark queens as I was transferring nucs into hives and was more interested in how the nests were looking but a few presented themselves so they are freshly marked now.
I had seven colonies with over wintered queens to sell, three are going next weekend after we transfer them into their new hives. I'm hoping the others go before they need checking, they will be desperate for space in a week or two.

 

[Swarm]

A quick visit to drop off frames and boards and sort out the nuc stack for a bit more order around the place. A bit soggy today but at least everything is still standing.
The new floors are a hit.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uqskkej8oy8m9sc/new floor 01.mp4?dl=0

 

[Swarm]

Yesterday, I inspected the last few colonies, these had so far only been checked by lifting the crown board. Three double brood colonies were looking very strong, I expected to find the nests mostly in the upper box but the bottom combs were well laid up with lots of eggs and very young larvae, there was also a fair amount of fresh nectar so I gave extra combs for space.
One of these is a three year old from a good line of queens, her daughter is one of the other double broods and equally strong. I re marked the blue queen and noticed a few cups so time to keep an eye on her.
The single box under the Oak tree were heaving, the first frame lifted revealed a patch of drone eggs on the outer face. She had laid up every frame, typical nest surrounded by stores on each frame not wall to wall brood. She had a big colony that filled seven supers last year and remained in a single brood box but I think she needed more space so the three central combs went in the upper box with some comb and foundation.
Very bright sunshine but such a cold wind, April seems to have taken over from March as the unpredictable month, March is predictably rubbish these days. Despite everything, the bees are looking vibrant and they were very well behaved, nice big nests all we need now is some warmth, it's barely scraping eight degrees today.

 

[joebeewhisperer]

I think we still have remnants of Amm in the mountains of TN, though they are generally regarded as having been wiped out. When Dad eventually moved to Italian bees, they would generally breed in some defensiveness that was unprecedented. I've searched for them for years, and finally found what I believed to be a colony in a nearby tree. However, I think it was just a case of CBPV, and I was associating the black color with Amm without actually looking at a modern Amm colony's coloration.

 

[Polymorph]

Managed to find and mark 3 queens and 3 not seen. A bit more smoke required as the weather wasn't brilliant.

 

[Antipodes]

it's barely scraping eight degrees today.

We had an amazing 25 degrees down here yesterday. It seems a bit the same down here as regards spring weather... being generally quite poor and erratic, but it seems that autumns are becoming more settled over the years. I saw lots of drones coming and going from the hives yesterday.

 

[Swarm]

The season really is spluttering and indecisive so far with up and down temps and seemingly endless rain. I forgot the odd sunny day here and there, easily done I suppose as there hasn't been many. Not that it slows down the bees, they are building up as normal, the nests are big and they are all getting extra supers tomorrow as more space for the bees.
I've been repainting the Abelo roofs as they were looking old and flaky, mixed up a nice grey colour that is less conspicuous. Strong smell of Dandelion from the hives yesterday.
One colony marked for queen raising had not been looked at for three weeks, they are doing really well and their temperament is superb. Found the queen in the top box and rotated them, I found a couple of eggs in cups so added extra comb and popped the queen excluder between the brood boxes for now as I didn't take extra kit with me. I'll set them up tomorrow when I prepare another colony for a split, this one was also marked for queen raising but she was superseded last year and sadly, the bees are not what they were.
Time to dust off the incubator again.

 

[Mabee]

First charged swarm cells found today so queen removed and I intend to use this hive for queen rearing as @Swarm suggested, going to try my hand at grafting next week once i’ve removed any further QC’s, queen removed to another hive that I wanted to requeen today So timing was ideal!

 

[E&MBees]

First charged swarm cells found today so queen removed and I intend to use this hive for queen rearing as @Swarm suggested, going to try my hand at grafting next week once i’ve removed any further QC’s, queen removed to another hive that I wanted to requeen today So timing was ideal!

Good luck!

 

[Mabee]

Good luck!

Thank you, I know what i’m supposed to do but having never tried grafting it might all go pear shaped but only one way to find out! I’m an optimist so i’m sure it’ll work at least to some extent!

 

[Curly green finger's]

Thank you, I know what i’m supposed to do but having never tried grafting it might all go pear shaped but only one way to find out! I’m an optimist so i’m sure it’ll work at least to some extent!

Good luck

 

[Swarm]

You just know with years like this one that the first chance to inspect reveals swarm cells. The last few days dodging downpours and splitting hives, suddenly things are kicking off. The brood nests are particularly nice and big this year, I found charged cells with our 2020 yellow line queen today so took the opportunity to make up another mating nuc after finding the queen and putting her in a six frame nuc. This line has been so consistent, I'm proud of the queens they produce and this queen has been a beast. They were probably the largest colony at this site but her daughter from last year was very, very similar in strength.
I was maybe a bit harsh in my assessment of one colony that I had marked for queen raising this year, I'll blame being disappointed at finding they had superseded. They were not their normal, quiet selves when I first inspected them but (on reflection) it was only eleven degrees and the wind was bitter, since then they have been wonderful. Today was no exception so I apologised profusely as she wandered across a comb. Typical, bullseye pattern of brood, pollen, nectar, honey and a look down into the bottom box and all those bees tells me she is doing really well, top marks.
Finally found the Oak tree queen, not seen since I marked her last year.
Last bit of preparation done and a site all sorted for a batch of Amm queens.

 

[Mabee]

First charged swarm cells found today so queen removed and I intend to use this hive for queen rearing as @Swarm suggested, going to try my hand at grafting next week once i’ve removed any further QC’s, queen removed to another hive that I wanted to requeen today So timing was ideal!

So I inserted two drawn combs into the centre of my breeder queen hives then went back on day 4 to graft only to find eggs, the queens obviously started laying in them a day later than I planned. so I took the opportunity to put the grafting cells into the cell builder, painted some sugar syrup into them to encourage the bees to clean them. I went back the next day to graft. I tried various different ways and settled on a paintbrush which I found quite easy. Grafted 20 since we’re always told to graft way more than you think you’ll want or need. Checked yesterday expecting to see maybe 6 and to my amazement all 20 have been started, i’m delighted so far!

 

[Swarm]

That's great news, I hope you get a full house

 

[alancooper]

I am in rural hedged countryside in the west of Ireland and have worked to develop local black bee colonies for my apiary. A couple of years ago my local association began a project to to locate treatment-free hived “wild” colonies in the county.
What are the views of other black-bee beekeepers on such projects?

 

[Lislarybees]

I am in rural hedged countryside in the west of Ireland and have worked to develop local black bee colonies for my apiary. A couple of years ago my local association began a project to to locate treatment-free hived “wild” colonies in the county.
What are the views of other black-bee beekeepers on such projects?

Hi Alan, I live in Sligo- where on the West coast are you? Great you are working with our native honeybee. I’m not sure I understand what you mean. ‘Treatment free hived “wild” colonies’. Are these caught swarms where the beekeeper thinks they came from a tree, building, compost bin etc.? I catch quite a lot of swarms - some of which have come from a roof that has had freeliving/wild honeybees occupying it for over 25 years.
NUIG came up last year to test the genetics of this colony and other colonies I had caught in swarm traps. Maybe your local association was supporting the project below?
https://www.universityofgalway.ie/s...sciplines/zoology/research/wildhoneybeestudy/

 

[Mabee]

That's great news, I hope you get a full house

Not a full house but 12 beautiful queen cells! I didn’t use a finisher, I decided just to leave them in the same colony for finishing so reduced the chances of them all being sealed. TBH as this was my first time grafting I wasn’t expecting so many so i’m very pleased!
I’m not a queen breeder so didn’t need a full house, i’m thinking though, the bees hopefully favour cells for a reason, so hopefully all will be the best out of the 20 grafted. Not sure if that is very scientific!
I’ve also got a nice split of 6 each from the two lines I grafted from.

 

[Erichalfbee]

What do you all do with these queens you are producing?
Do you sell them?

 

[Mabee]

What do you all do with these queens you are producing?
Do you sell them?

I’m making up 2 nucs for my local association apiary, i’ll make up 6 nucs and 4 apideas. i’ll keep the 6 nucs going alongside my hives in case I need them, I’ll either requeen some colonies later in the year with them or sell them next year. The apidea queens, i’m not sure yet, i’m sure there will be takers in my local associations. I have been wanting try queen rearing for ages, I took my module 7 in March and I know they’re not for everyone but I felt I learned a lot and wanted to put the knowledge into action. I am also keen to keep improving my bees by breeding from my best colonies. I enjoy lots of areas my beekeeping but I really enjoy this bit!

 

[Erichalfbee]

am also keen to keep improving my bees by breeding from my best colonies. I enjoy lots of areas my beekeeping but I really enjoy this bit!

If you have good bees it’s great to have all your neighbours on board. Then at least you have some control over the drones.