Does anyone keep native black honey bees?

[For want of a better word]

(Apis Mellifera Mellifera).............Apis mellifera mellifera to be correct....

The Cornish black bee seems to be quiet on the comb and non aggressive in comparison with some Carniolian and some of the Buckspinfasts I have had the pleasure of looking at!

Perhaps as with dogs and children, your own are perfect little darlings!

 

[Stiffy]

How strange , exact opposite of Cornish black 'dreckly' bees I have had . Right bxxxxds to work with and very lazy. Have a good Buckfast strain now and a pleasure to work with and very hard working.
S


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[For want of a better word]

How strange , exact opposite of Cornish black 'dreckly' bees I have had . Right bxxxxds to work with and very lazy. Have a good Buckfast strain now and a pleasure to work with and very hard working.
S


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Did you check their wing morphometry?.....

I have a few colonies of Carniolians... black as your hat... to some may look a little like Apis mellifera mellifera I suppose...excellent security for any out apiary.... if they were dogs they would need chaining up !!!

Possibly Apis mellifera mellifera are not the most productive bee honeywise, but have outperformed my NewZealands this year and may not be suited to those who wish to wring every last drop of honey from their bees to sell!

Yet we hear of 110Kg being supered up... I wish!​

 

[Stiffy]

Yes, Morphometry was checked and was 95%. The trait of the bees I had was precisely as it is described, including protectiveness!
Not sure why anyone would want them but guess its the British thing of thinking everything from past was good ?
S




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[For want of a better word]

Not sure why anyone would want them but guess its the British thing of thinking everything from past was good ?
S

BUT the grokkles just love it... psuedo pasties...road signs in dual languages... impossibly narrow roads... and minds !

 

[Poly Hive]

Not at all, there were some excellent traits in the AMM I had.

Beautiful white cappings, won me more than one first prize in the Aberdeen and District show, one of if not the biggest in Scotland. Assoc membership was around 450 at the time, and yes that is four hundred and fifty odd.

Supercedure traits. Some 60% of mine supped on the heather. So only 20 odd percent offered to swarm. The rest were the 2nd and three year old queens which toddled on happily.

Best yield? Over 300lbs from a National brood box, and I will be honest with you and say yes it was a timber one as at that time there were no poly Nats, just Smith and Langstroth depending on your DIY skills to convert Lang to Smith.

PH

 

[Haughton Honey]

Could someone please explain to me who invented or decided upon the yardstick for the wing morphometry/colour/size/temperament in relation to the black bee and what it was based upon historically (i.e. did someone just pluck what they thought was a suitable bee from somewhere at some point in the past and decide it was what AMM should be?).

I'm asking the question as devil's advocate in the same manner someone might ask what the true Buckfast 'blend' is.

 

[keith pierce]

Yes, Morphometry was checked and was 95%. The trait of the bees I had was precisely as it is described, including protectiveness!
Not sure why anyone would want them but guess its the British thing of thinking everything from past was good ?
S




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Why would anyone want to do morphometery on agressive bees. Regardless of race they should be requeened straight away. That is my first thing at any time of the year, that the queens get culled for, as soon as i suspect any agression, jumping off the frames or following. You shoild be able to close up you hive after inspections and get out of your suit in the apairy

 

[mbc]

Why would anyone want to do morphometery on agressive bees. Regardless of race they should be requeened straight away. That is my first thing at any time of the year, that the queens get culled for, as soon as i suspect any agression, jumping off the frames or following. You shoild be able to close up you hive after inspections and get out of your suit in the apairy

If we all followed this advice it wouldn't be too long before the temperament of the entire population improved, making beekeeping more fun for everyone involved.
Shame about the imports continuing to make a stable population highly unlikely.

 

[waverider]

And some will have you running for cover. They are not all friendly cuddly ladies I can assure you.

PH

Have to agree. I have 5 colonies, with one being Cornish black bee's and their temperament is foul. They forage very well however they are on a different apiary site due to their behavior therefore I cant compare accurately against my other colonies.

They truly are from the darkside!

 

[Chris Luck]

Highly rated here by the old school keepers who also reckon they are more robust, (as well as being on the dark side).

Chris

 

[theboynelson]

I think that Dave Wainwright in Pembroke is breeding Black Bees, doing it with the West Wales Bee Breeding project, in association with Aberystwyth University, may be wothwhile googling them if you want to know more. I talked to a bee breeder in Anglesey who was also breeding them.

 

[keith pierce]

Could someone please explain to me who invented or decided upon the yardstick for the wing morphometry/colour/size/temperament in relation to the black bee and what it was based upon historically (i.e. did someone just pluck what they thought was a suitable bee from somewhere at some point in the past and decide it was what AMM should be?).

I'm asking the question as devil's advocate in the same manner someone might ask what the true Buckfast 'blend' is.

I think its based on honey bees taken out of viking dumps

 

[For want of a better word]

I'm asking the question as devil's advocate in the same manner someone might ask what the true Buckfast 'blend' is.


Maybee WAS ?

The hybridised Bee That Brother Adam produced and called the Buckfast after the abbey in Devon where he had his own bee improvement programme can hardly be the same as the hybridised mix that is extant today.

Wing Morphometry in the honey bee has been highly scrutinised and peer reviewed, a web search will throw up shed loads of information... or look at BIBBA webiste for references.
Good luck... fantastic cure for insomnia !

 

[Stiffy]

I regularly use a lab in Ireland for species DNA analysis, will ask if they undergo or have thought of DNA for bees as this would be the best for deciding if any were AMM. Problem I can immediately see is the lab would need a definitive sample or samples. Who would supply the samples.... BIBBA, seems unlikely?
S




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[Hivemaker.]

Who would supply the samples....
S

I believe there is one preserved inside a lump of amber somewhere,perhaps they could locate that one,or go digging for another.

 

[REDWOOD]

I had a swarm of black bees last year and this year I done an AS and kept the new queen, still black bees and pingy but they work like hell and collected more honey than my other 2 hives, my bee inspector says I should breed from this queen, that probably will be another chapter next year so be prepared for lots of queen breading questions next year

 

[Norton]

I think its based on honey bees taken out of viking dumps

SO, they are imports themselves after all.

 

[Poly Hive]

Now how do you work that one out Norton? You are aware that the Vikings were residents in the UK for many years.... of course you are so you are having a giraffe.

The foundation I believe was is a wing preserved in amber in the British Museum and used to calculate the basis.

PH

 

[Stiffy]

I believe there is one preserved inside a lump of amber somewhere,perhaps they could locate that one,or go digging for another.

Personally I don't think the resurrecting of an extinct dinosaur strain is really worth the effort and the people who claim to have these bees really wouldn't like the results.
S


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