Front Cover of Welsh Beekeeper

[B+.]

Good for you Paul!

I now join as a "County Member" as £12 for the comic seems reasonable.... even if full of last centuries revamped beekeeping advice!!!

Chons da

I'm not even that. My local association (Bedfordshire) isn't affiliated to the BBKA - membership still only costs £10/year. We have 470 members. How many associations can say that?

 

[Millet]

We have 470 members. How many associations can say that?

Impressive.. if i ever felt the need to be a member of an association this one would be my choice..with that many member i can imagine some good advice could be given.

 

[B+.]

Impressive.. if i ever felt the need to be a member of an association this one would be my choice..with that many member i can imagine some good advice could be given.

I see. You follow the Groucho Marx school of thought.

 

[Millet]

I see. You follow the Groucho Marx school of thought.

 

[Finman]

Impressive.. if i ever felt the need to be a member of an association this one would be my choice..with that many member i can imagine some good advice could be given.

You do not need to visit in meetings. You may pay only your membership.

 

[For want of a better word]

I see. You follow the Groucho Marx school of thought.

Didn't he once say " There aint no Sanity Clause?"

 

[beebopper]

Now that I would like to see!

Me too. Probably end in fisty cuffs!

 

[pargyle]

I see. You follow the Groucho Marx school of thought.

He could just be a country member ?

 

[beebopper]

Are you sure there isn't a native Kent Black Bee. Everywhere else seems to have one.

Well if there is I want some to compare the local s**t in my area.

 

[beebopper]

Neither are "so called" Buckfast bees... from Phill the Greek or Kel the Dane or Fritz.. or... from anywhere else overseas!!!

Stupid pointless debate infested with the usual trolling!

Yeghes da

I think you consider people who do not hold you opinion has to be a troll. I am interested in your Cornish black bees - wish there were some Kent blacks. Around me it a free for all with people bring in different stuff all the time. No wander the ‘local’ bee population is s**t.

 

[beebopper]

I wasn't going to comment as is usual whenever Amm or native bees are mentioned it just descends into argument and sniping.

One thing that is always brought up is that dark bees are nasty and not productive.
well, mixed race dark bees can be but my near amm's are lovely and calm and produce more than enough Honey for my needs.

Also, why are bees always measured by honey crop? yes it's critical for those that rely on it for a living but as has been said before, you can site the same bees in two different places or in the same place in two different years and get huge variation in the crop, surely even poor Honey gatherers would out do Super bees if sited in the right place?

I am a relatively recent convert to 'natives' and I'm very happy with them, I don't keep bees to fill the garage with Honey buckets but they do a reasonable job regardless, maybe I keep near natives because I don't like the idea of them joining the ever growing list of extinct or endangered.
I will be using I.I at some point but so far drone flooding around 1/2 mile away from where my mating apiary is seems to be going reasonably well.

Availability is a huge issue and often queens come from a fair distance away but then it's common to reintroduce other animals to where they used to be under the banner of conservation, far better that than just breeding from local mutts pretending that they are something that they aren't which seems to be BIBBA advice.

Anyway, there it is, my thoughts on the whole thing, I'll await the replies telling me I'm talking testicles

Interesting, where did your natives come from?

 

[birdsandbees]

Interesting, where did your natives come from?

Predominantly Jon Getty but I have a couple from France and have retained the best of the very dark amm lookalike local collected swarm queens.
I will be looking at getting some from other places to try out but it's no simple task!
I de-selected two of JG's queens due to not only yellow banded workers appeared but after test grafting from them they threw out yellow banded daughters too, I guess this is why native enthusiasts get upset by imports, not a problem if all you do is constantly re-queen with imported queens but if you are trying to keep them true and breed your own.
they are a delight though, they certainly changed the opinion of the SBI on black bees last year when he visited.
I made the mistake recently of buying a couple from a supplier in Scotland, while they make no claim to be producing native or near native queens the pictures on their website show very dark bees very much appearing to be such, when they arrived they are very yellow more like off the shelf Buckfast.
I'll be hopefully buying a couple of Welsh Blacks this year but I'd really like some Cornish ones, I suppose understandably priority is given to those in Cornwall first or you have to buy a complete Nuc.

I.I plans have been shelved for this year, I have the kit but not the time, weekend beekeeping with 30 colonies to look after and my Daughters wedding next month has meant the project taking a back seat for now.

 

[JonnyPicklechin]

New beek here so only trying to apply logic but shouldnt the notice say "only obtain stock from well known, reputable breeders"? Sonce there is no regulatory system, its down to beekeepers to maintain disease control and temperament above all else. Geography be damned.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

 

[birdsandbees]

New beek here so only trying to apply logic but shouldnt the notice say "only obtain stock from well known, reputable breeders"? Sonce there is no regulatory system, its down to beekeepers to maintain disease control and temperament above all else. Geography be damned.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

I think the implication and reason for ruffled feathers is that this is taken as native/black bees, of course as you say, in reality it could just be as you say for quarantine and disease prevention.

 

[Beefriendly]

Predominantly Jon Getty

He produces good Amm queens.
Used them for a while, but they were not honey monsters...nice bees to work with. They put any of my aggressive local mongrel stocks to shame, that was for sure,
If I was into exhibiting frames or comb honey I would buy some queens just for the pure whiteness of their capping's. Rosettes galore...
However mine where martyrs to chalkbrood and quite runny on the combs in comparison to the Buckfast I was running at the same time.

 

[For want of a better word]

ALWAYS MAKES ME LAUGH... DID YOU BUY YOUR BEES FROM BUCKFAST ABBEY...

what is a Buckfast anyway.... a ?????

 

[Beefriendly]

New beek here so only trying to apply logic but shouldnt the notice say "only obtain stock from well known, reputable breeders"?

They can be hard to find. There are several stack em high sell 'em cheap queen merchants. Their queens, from my own past experience, have ranged from poor to okay but never excellent.
You need to buy from a few and expect a few duffs, even from the best. It's a numbers game, out of 100 queens several will not be as good as their sisters.

 

[Murox]

They can be hard to find. There are several stack em high sell 'em cheap queen merchants. Their queens, from my own past experience, have ranged from poor to okay but never excellent.
You need to buy from a few and expect a few duffs, even from the best. It's a numbers game, out of 100 queens several will not be as good as their sisters.

I think you have summed up the whole issue very very well with those few words.

 

[beebopper]

ALWAYS MAKES ME LAUGH... DID YOU BUY YOUR BEES FROM BUCKFAST ABBEY...

what is a Buckfast anyway.... a ?????

And your the one complaining about trolls when people say things you don’t like.
I mean really pot and kettle spring to mind. :

 

[Stiffy]

He produces good Amm queens.
Used them for a while, but they were not honey monsters...nice bees to work with. They put any of my aggressive local mongrel stocks to shame, that was for sure,
If I was into exhibiting frames or comb honey I would buy some queens just for the pure whiteness of their capping's. Rosettes galore...
However mine where martyrs to chalkbrood and quite runny on the combs in comparison to the Buckfast I was running at the same time.

I also found them to be nice bees, certainly better than the local horrors I have had the misfortune to keep.Jons bees were just not very productive (for me) or certainly no where near as good as the Buckfast I now have. I don’t keep bees for their looks, to satisfy someone’s fanciful whim or to fill as many hives as possible. They are albeit small, part of a business and they have to as much as possible pay their way.
S