Bee Types

[Ozzi]

I was speaking to a beekeeper today who's hives are located within a mile or two of mine. He seems to have been beekeeping for decades and only keeps Apis Mellifera Mellifera (Dark European) bees.
In my 7 hives I have(I think) 4x Carniolan, 1x Buckfast and the 2x Dark. Is it good practice to try and keep the local bee's to one species if another established beekeeper is trying to breed one type.
I have no real preference which type of bee's I have.

 

[Mrs Webmuppet]

I have two hives of bees which were bred from Buckfast bees by our mentor and one hive of dark bees which appeared in an unused hive. The bees bred by our mentor are very mild mannered and pale.

 

[Erichalfbee]

If you do nothing you'll end up with local mongrels;no bad thing.
3rd generation buckfast have a bad reputation. I have two boxes of these. One is OK and the other is horrid to work and is being combined with a nice tempered colony.

 

[Little John]

If you do nothing you'll end up with local mongrels;

.. and so will the other bloke, after years of keeping to one strain.

no bad thing.

Tell that to the other guy - he may not agree.

If I was the OP, then - especially as seeing he doesn't care which type of bee he has - I'd spend some time developing a working relationship with the other bloke - who may even offer the OP some AMM q/cells for free. If I was in the other bloke's situation, I certainly would.

LJ

 

[itma]

Have you got many other beekeepers within a ten mile radius?

Qs and drones can go further afield to mate than workers go to forage …

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Whilst I sympathise with the guy breeding his own queens - if you want to keep your genes isolated, get an isolated mating apiary.