This section needs a kick !!

[BKF Admin]

Do we not have any members here who are also members of Bibba that could help educate others with whats happening in the world of AMM breeding in the uk ?

I think we have members with lots of interest but little education in the subject..

 

[Poly Hive]

I am.

PH

 

[dobby]

Hi whats Bibba? I am interested in bee breeding.

 

[Roy S]

I'm a lapsed BIBBA member, got fed up with them spending years trying to ducument where about they could be certain Amm were, when a lot of Scottish beekeepers got fed up with telling them. Then seemingly very little going on on the way of increasing the numbers of them

I'm thinking of joining them again, but they need to sort out comunication between members, especially those with queens/nucs and those who want to get more hands on involvement. Hence the need for this forum.

I got fed up like PH has of trying to scource Amm in this country. I've gone for the second best (to me anyway) of obtaining Amm queens from Bickerstaffes, and I have to say I'm very pleased with the way the colonies are performing that are headed by them, only time will tell wether they are Amm, I will be checking the morphometry out once I'm certain all bees in the colony are offspring of the Amm queens

And yes before all the nay sayers start going on about morphometry proving nothing....it satisfies my idle curiousity and may warrant further investigation
of the colonies to find out for definate.

 

[Poly Hive]

Thanks for that Roy and yes BIBBA desperately needs to improve their comms.

I have been told privately that there are major moves afoot to achieve precisely that.

I had a conversation at Stoneleigh on just this very point that they are beating their gums about AMM and doing precious little to make moves on the matter.

I am not retelling the story about their attitude save to say that they were amazed on their visit to Perthshire to see the results of the measurements. so much for their own theories.

Saying that I feel they are/were a bit too entangled in the word "local".

I still have hopes for them which is why I am still a member.

If you have good results from Bickerstaffes can you let me know as I may well go that route next year on the backs of selling off some nucs. I have done quite well in producing nucs this year, some 12 to date and another 8 to come.

PH

 

[Hawklord]

Perhaps the relevant forum members could tell us how they breed/ raise queens, what qualities they look for and what they reject. Also suggested books etc. I'd certainly find it useful.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Bibba

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEy89l0SOZs

 

[Poly Hive]

Lost me with that link. Mind you I don't have the sound on but the relevance escapes me totally.

PH

 

[Roy S]

Yep must admit......totally lost me with that link!!!

 

[DrNick]

Ditto.

 

[Poly Hive]

i suspect Hivemaker is not a BIBBA fan and it's noticeable the further south the less interest there is in the native bee.

PH

 

[BKF Admin]

Some of us even do the weekly shop in France because its cheaper.

My book arrived today from BIBBA(Ruttner) on the native black bee.

 

[Poly Hive]

Now you have some good reading.

PH

 

[RoofTops]

I am after a couple of queens so if anyone out there has a good AMM for sale I would be very interested. It would also be interesting to see how they get on in South Devon and in poly Langstroths. Breeding from them would be a challenge I suspect, surrounded as I am by Heinz 57 bees.

I was talking to a lady on the Isle of Seil today, which is near Oban and only technically an island I think as the strip of water between it and the mainland is very narrow. She knows of a beekeeper on Colonsay which is a couple of hours steaming from Oban. He has quite a few colonies I gather and they are dark native bees by all accounts. Does anyone have his contact details?

Going further off topic the lady was also saying they are varroa free in the area where she lives but they nearly lost this status. Apparently someone near her recently bought some bees from Glasgow. The local bee inspector heard about it and made a quick visit. Sure enough the recently arrived bees had varroa. The bees were burned.

 

[Crg]

very narrow. She knows of a beekeeper on Colonsay which is a couple of hours steaming from Oban. He has quite a few colonies I gather and they are dark native bees by all accounts. Does anyone have his contact details?

Those bees appear in one study and were found to be as much as 98% pure, but I don't think he supplies small numbers of queens.

 

[Crg]

i suspect Hivemaker is not a BIBBA fan and it's noticeable the further south the less interest there is in the native bee.

Because it doesn't exist in any pure state in the south, and arguably isn't that suited to beekeeping there.

The situation certainly isn't helped by certain pro "british" bee people who make all sorts of claims about the british bee that are so obviously incorrect.

 

[BKF Admin]

Because it doesn't exist in any pure state in the south, and arguably isn't that suited to beekeeping there.

What are your thoughts on MMA in the south crg ?

 

[Hivemaker.]

MMA, Whats them.

 

[Hawklord]

MMA = Metal Manual Arc and is a welding process.

 

[JCBrum]

MMA = Metal Manual Arc and is a welding process.

Tried that, ..... it b*ggers up your bees, but the varroa all die.

JC.