Two Unique opportunities for Cornish Beekeepers.

[Beefriendly]

That may be your opinion. Others (including myself) would disagree. However, IMHO, it's not about which race we prefer. It's about improving what we use.

Why would you disagree? From the right breeders they are excellent queens. I'm not saying your carnica queen's aren't good, they probably are. But they are not freely commercially available whereas good Buckfast queens are, and from a variety of sources.
I'm not interested in further improving just happy to use what has been currently improved.

 

[B+.]

I'm not interested in further improving just happy to use what has been currently improved.

I do agree that any stock will usually be better from the breeder than an intermediary. I just wasn't satisfied with Buckfasts.
That is the probably the main difference between us. I want to improve what I have.

 

[B+.]

I have a LASI queen in the freezer
I have her daughter heading an enormous and bad tempered colony
Accelerated drop results week after next.

I have to ask...why is she in the freezer?

 

[Ian123]

I have to ask...why is she in the freezer?

Testing for winter hardiness of course!!!!

 

[For want of a better word]

That may be your opinion. Others (including myself) would disagree. However, IMHO, it's not about which race we prefer. It's about improving what we use.

It's about improving what we use​

Fit for purpose.... which is why many of us in Cornwall are improving our endemic Cornish Amm.... and this season they have performed well.

Going to get some of the Exmoor Buckfasts for next season to try in my Yellow Stripey zone ( well away from the "Propper Jobs!)... seem to be experiencing immediate superceedure when requeening the failing NZ Italians with the consequential brood break and fall of in honey production.

Yeghes da

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I have to ask...why is she in the freezer?

Because she was bloody useless.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have to ask...why is she in the freezer?

I put her in a nuc as part of swarm control, then I requeened. I couldn't bring myself to squish her so she died slowly of hypothermia with a couple of daughters for company. You never know....she might be worth something as a jewel in Amber, maybe.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Because she was bloody useless.

It's difficult to tell. Last year was a horrid year for varroa, every colony bar two exceptional ones; one swarm which infamously dropped thousands despite repeated treatment and one with a queen from B+ that dropped very little on accelerated drop so wasn't treated...........I still have her; her colony grew and grew,didn't make any swarm preps and gave me lots of honey.

 

[B+.]

a queen from B+ that dropped very little on accelerated drop so wasn't treated...........I still have her; her colony grew and grew,didn't make any swarm preps and gave me lots of honey.

That's what they're supposed to do.

 

[Swarm]

I had a native queen from Ceredigion, in a nucleus in September last year. I put them into a swienty brood box.
They dropped no varroa during OAV treatment and were busy little things last Autumn and during the Winter. They were not set back by the cold and when Spring finally arrived, they went from strength to strength. I gave up on Demarree when the stack became silly and that was in May. I decided to split them instead and I now have two colonies of gorgeous, gentle bees. I've just returned from the apiary, having removed more supers, I'm looking at five still on mother and three still left on daughter. They have given me lots of honey and are now two nice colonies.

 

[Poly Hive]

Ah bless the ignorance.

Morayshire is drier and probably warmer too than Perthshire due to the balmy influence of the Gulf Stream. One of the driest parts of the UK in fact. Ain't microclimates wonderful.

PH