Heads up re Amm from Greece

[Poly Hive]

I bought one of these queens in the Spring and put her in a single brood which I built up to a double Nat brood.

I had ma doots ye ken aboot the tewmperment from the 8/10 frames of brood mark.

Today I was inspecting this and that the same as I did yesterday and nary a sting. Temp 25C, nectar about as evidenced by the other colonies and all in all a perfect day for a wee peep.

I lifted the CB and they buzzed me a bit and no evidence of much happening in there so not impressed. I was not using smoke as nothing over the two days needed it. Ha! Super off and boom I was blinded by the bees on my veil and thank goodness I wear a plastic hat under it as the weight of them would have meant a very nasty stinging to my ears and nose. They went berserk! I closed up and retreated as there is a path that some dog walkers use quite close. So what to do now?

I need to find a site to park them up while I de-queen as they are a public liability at the moment.

So if you are tempted to buy Amm from Greece, on the basis of this lot my sage and profound advice is DON'T.

PH

 

[Millet]

Advice does not come much better than that, good luck with them.

 

[GaryB]

Unfortunately, many have said on here, do not buy imported queens, and this first hand experience would seem to bear them out.

 

[Finman]

many have said on here, do not buy imported queens,.

What says the law?

 

[sipa]

Imported queens will be banned soon.

You heard it here first !

 

[Hivemaker.]

They went berserk!

Release the Kraken.

 

[Beefriendly]

Unfortunately, many have said on here, do not buy imported queens, and this first hand experience would seem to bear them out.

Rubbish Garry I'm sorry to say. Caveat empor....there are some excellent bees breeders and some crap ones. Often the later have big adverts in the glossy's (wholesale vs quality) and the good ones have one to two year waiting lists for their queens and don't need to advertise.
There are some very good breeders in the UK as well, who also don't advertise their offspring in the glossies. You don't have to import top quality bees if it offends your ethics.

 

[B+.]

Unfortunately, many have said on here, do not buy imported queens, and this first hand experience would seem to bear them out.

Saying something doesn't make it true. Surely, its a matter of personal choice. There are some excellent breeders in other countries.

 

[Millet]

Release the Kraken.

 

[thibault]

I bought one of these queens in the Spring and put her in a single brood which I built up to a double Nat brood.

I had ma doots ye ken aboot the tewmperment from the 8/10 frames of brood mark.

Today I was inspecting this and that the same as I did yesterday and nary a sting. Temp 25C, nectar about as evidenced by the other colonies and all in all a perfect day for a wee peep.

I lifted the CB and they buzzed me a bit and no evidence of much happening in there so not impressed. I was not using smoke as nothing over the two days needed it. Ha! Super off and boom I was blinded by the bees on my veil and thank goodness I wear a plastic hat under it as the weight of them would have meant a very nasty stinging to my ears and nose. They went berserk! I closed up and retreated as there is a path that some dog walkers use quite close. So what to do now?

I need to find a site to park them up while I de-queen as they are a public liability at the moment.

So if you are tempted to buy Amm from Greece, on the basis of this lot my sage and profound advice is DON'T.

PH

Where did you buy it from?

Envoyé de mon SM-J710F en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[GaryB]

Rubbish Garry I'm sorry to say. Caveat empor....there are some excellent bees breeders and some crap ones. Often the later have big adverts in the glossy's (wholesale vs quality) and the good ones have one to two year waiting lists for their queens and don't need to advertise.
There are some very good breeders in the UK as well, who also don't advertise their offspring in the glossies. You don't have to import top quality bees if it offends your ethics.

I'm not talking about UK breeders. It would seem from the OP, that he has imported Greek Amm's. By implication that would seem that they are being sold out of Greece. If they are x generation Greek AMM's sold here by a UK breeder, and are not fit for purpose, then yes, on that point I totally agree. I'm not against imports, if that is your thing, but I do believe that bees are adjusted to their own individual climates, and therefore if an imported queen produces a hive of horrors, you shouldn't be surprised, irrespective of the price you paid for her, or whether you waited for years to get her. After all, when it comes to bees, nothing is certain. We have seen in the last week or so the labours of LASI go down the pan.... and they're home grown.

 

[Millet]

Where did you buy it from?

Envoyé de mon SM-J710F en utilisant Tapatalk

Lidl.. i presume or Aldi.

 

[Beefriendly]

Unfortunately, many have said on here, do not buy imported queens, and this first hand experience would seem to bear them out.

I'm not talking about UK breeders.

Are you trying to say all non UK breeders are bad?
Gary, question.... have you ever bought a queen from a non UK breeder?

 

[GaryB]

Are you trying to say all non UK breeders are bad?
Gary, question.... have you ever bought a queen from a non UK breeder?

No. I am not saying that non UK breeders are bad. The point I'm making is that if you import bees from abroad that have been bred in differing climates, and are used to their local climes and foraging behaviours, do not be surprised when you suddenly have a horrible hive. After all, if you took one of our locally bred native queens and exported her to Dubai, in their extreme conditions, would you expect her to do well, and within one generation adapt to a very severe and challenging environment?

 

[Beefriendly]

In one word yes. Why wouldn't they?

 

[Quis Custodiet]

Imported queens will be banned soon.

You heard it here first !

Could you elaborate please?

 

[foghornleghorn]

I bought one of these queens in the Spring and put her in a single brood which I built up to a double Nat brood.

I had ma doots ye ken aboot the tewmperment from the 8/10 frames of brood mark.

Today I was inspecting this and that the same as I did yesterday and nary a sting. Temp 25C, nectar about as evidenced by the other colonies and all in all a perfect day for a wee peep.

I lifted the CB and they buzzed me a bit and no evidence of much happening in there so not impressed. I was not using smoke as nothing over the two days needed it. Ha! Super off and boom I was blinded by the bees on my veil and thank goodness I wear a plastic hat under it as the weight of them would have meant a very nasty stinging to my ears and nose. They went berserk! I closed up and retreated as there is a path that some dog walkers use quite close. So what to do now?

I need to find a site to park them up while I de-queen as they are a public liability at the moment.

So if you are tempted to buy Amm from Greece, on the basis of this lot my sage and profound advice is DON'T.

PH

Had the exact same experience with buckfast from a little bit further east, I presume its the local bee adding the aggression

 

[mbc]

I remember a similar thread some seasons ago when PH was deriding his Greek amm's.
Whatever happened to "once bitten twice shy"?

 

[fatshark]

Had the exact same experience with buckfast from a little bit further east, I presume its the local bee adding the aggression

Not unless the colony has requeened since this Spring ...

 

[For want of a better word]

Had the exact same experience with buckfast from a little bit further east, I presume its the local bee adding the aggression

Shall I put that one in my Great Book of Beekeeping Myths????

Good excuse for beekeepers bees going nasty....


Yeghes da