which bee for beeks

[Bryanthebee]

I am just a hobby bee keeper.

so here is the question which is the best bee for a begginner and which for a commercial bee keeper?

I am starting to think i may of been better of with a british black bee because they are slower on exspansion and superced more than swam or does this hold no truth, what do you think about buckfast, italian, british black, and so on, please tell me a few truths about your bees. just let the pros and cons flow.

I find my Buckfast strain exspand quickly and swam every year without fail they cope well with diseases, but the Queens mate and produce very bad temperd bees in my area, are they a devon bee ment only for devon.

And what bee did you wish you had and would you change it and why.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Buckfast is a good bee, not aggressive and a good forager - I like them although I no longer have any.
I now have mostly Welsh black bees but they again can fill a brood box in no time (mine was on 11 frames for a while, luckily I needed brood to make up nucs so it suited fine.) They get out early in the morning and work late and in all weathers, they build up early in spring and overwinter without much fuss. I don't find mine particularly aggressive.

 

[Little John]

I find my Buckfast strain exspand quickly and swam every year without fail they cope well with diseases, but the Queens mate and produce very bad temperd bees in my area, are they a devon bee ment only for devon.

Good topic to raise - 'cause you're not alone in that experience ...

One of my hives went into winter with the most docile of grey Carnie's, and emerged - following an assumed late supercedure - into Spring with pure evil dressed in Italian stripes.

So, seems to me that unless you want to be tied to a Queen supplier for the rest of your life, what's needed is a blood line which can happily co-exist with that of the local drones - as you allude to. So maybe trial and error is the only way to find out which crosses 'work' ?

Think I'll try a dark bee next, and see how she gets on.

LJ

 

[Erichalfbee]

Left alone your bees will become local mongrels if you have the patience and the inclination.
I have a colony of second generation Buckfasts, two Buckfasts from Devon and hopefully a third generation Buckie cooking in an ASd hive.
All seem fairly calm........ for now
Maybe I just have the mad bees yet to come

 

[enrico]

When I started it was.... Any bees I could get for free!
I have never knowingly bought bees by strain. If I get a swarm or an as that gives me a stroppy hive I unite with one that is 'nicer'.
Too much credit is given to stains of bees IMHO! Work with what you have if at all possible. The only reason I would consider buying bees in, is if all my hives were foul! And they never have been ..... Yet!
E

 

[rolande]

they cope well with diseases

Which diseases do they cope well with (and, how do they cope)?

 

[Chris Luck]

Which diseases do they cope well with (and, how do they cope)?

Good question, I'm a bit bemused by that as well.

As far as bee type goes I'm happy with those that survive well, mine all pan out to be dark mongrels which I'm very happy with.

Chris

 

[Goran]

Buckfast is a good bee, not aggressive and a good forager - I like them although I no longer have any.
I now have mostly Welsh black bees but they again can fill a brood box in no time (mine was on 11 frames for a while, luckily I needed brood to make up nucs so it suited fine.) They get out early in the morning and work late and in all weathers, they build up early in spring and overwinter without much fuss. I don't find mine particularly aggressive.

This I can say for our carnies.. What I meant there is no particular bad bee especially for hobby beekeeper. Those main differences are important for commercial beekeepers, and according to conditions of area where they keep bees they chose which one.
If I am at your place as hobby beekeeper I would chose the bee which is at most at your area. Later when You learn more about bees and getting to understand them better You will know do You want to change or not..

 

[Ely]

Mine are local mongrels. I just let them get on with it. They seem great, it is my beekeeping that needs to improve

 

[pargyle]

This I can say for our carnies.. What I meant there is no particular bad bee especially for hobby beekeeper. Those main differences are important for commercial beekeepers, and according to conditions of area where they keep bees they chose which one.
If I am at your place as hobby beekeeper I would chose the bee which is at most at your area. Later when You learn more about bees and getting to understand them better You will know do You want to change or not..

I'd agree ... local bees suit local conditions ... if you can get them from a beekeeper in the area then they will tell you what they are like and if he says they are anything other than calm and well behaved - look a bit further !

Mine arrived as a local swarm and are real pussycats - I guess I was lucky because with a hive now very full of bees and in my first year I would be struggling, I think. As it is, they are a real pleasure to look after.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Re diseases: Buckfasts were bred to resist the Acarapis woodi (tracheal mite) that decimated bees 100 years ago. I know of no advantage re varroa but others might. Mine are very docile, brand new from "a bee farm on the South Downs".

 

[menteth]

Hi there, good idea for thread.
I,m pretty new to the bee game and find this pretty interesting.
I have 4 hives : 2 are big stripey Greek carnica bee. And 2 are much smaller blacker bee (which I assume are welsh mongrels). and this is what I notice:
Greek bee: great breeders, great layers, lots and lots of brood, build up quick. Swarm every year unless you work hard to keep it under controll. Good Foragers- no. not at all. 2 Full 14x12 national hives. Great summer. Very little in supers. Bit disappointed.
Small black welsh bee: much smaller hive (half the size of Greek bee hives). Less brood. Slower build up. Fewer bees. But brother, do they work. Brilliant bee. They begin forage much earlier (7am) and are still at it until 10pm. The result is that my much smaller (2 local bee) hives have both 3 full supers each.
The greek bee, on the other hand, never leaves the hive before 9am and they're all back by 5pm! Maybe they have a stronger union set-up? Or they're managing to hide their savings from the authorities (that being me). I have no idea, but the bee seems to count for a lot.

 

[pargyle]

The greek bee, on the other hand, never leaves the hive before 9am and they're all back by 5pm! Maybe they have a stronger union set-up? Or they're managing to hide their savings from the authorities

Come on ... THEY ARE GREEK !!!

 

[Goran]

Are You sure they are carnies? When they are properly prepared in a great forage they can bring per day over 10kg of nectar easily-difference on the scale weight measured daily ( some said even 15-18kg had results). But I believe it is more to practice than to breed..

 

[mbc]

Too much credit is given to stains of bees IMHO! Work with what you have if at all possible.
E

Very true.
Good bees will do well in good areas and not so well in indifferent areas.
The difference comes when you try and improve your bees when you'll only find consistent improvements when you are working with something compatible with the local drones, so use whatever bee most people in your locality use (and this comes from an amm enthusiast who would love to say "amm all the way!").

 

[Bryanthebee]

I feel there may not be a bee suited to my area rhondda, South wales.

I am in seach for that bee that will live in my area in which the queen can mate without producing an evil off spring.

If i here of a swam i will attempt to catch it i think as this could be my break that i need.
But until then i must try different strains in seach of that bee.

I feel it would be nice to let queens mate localy and be able to produce new queens without having to buy new in.

should we try british black would that bee the bee for me?

There is not any bee keepers up the valley in which i live, but there should be a heads up for new bee keeper setting of on the jouney.
I feel i went through a few books to learn but this just highlights only the bare facts and does not give advise on bee type best suited for you as a beginner that will give you a big insight to what road you need to take.

I think the best advise should be to find a bee keeper in your area, failing this try and obtain a swam from your area. no fix aboud, by doing this you may be on to a winner.

This is just my thoughts feel free to debait my opinion or correct my spelling i am just learning as we all do every year when the bee`s catch us napping.

 

[rolande]

I feel there may not be a bee suited to my area rhondda, South wales.

I am in seach for that bee that will live in my area in which the queen can mate without producing an evil off spring.

This possibly won't be popular with a lot of people who'll give plenty of reasons as to why it's unsuitable advice but why not knock together some cheap mating nucs (something along the lines of those which hivemaker and beebreeder were discussing a while back) over the winter and start rearing your own queens next season, deleting ANY that show the least sign of the traits which you don't want. I reckon, if you approach it in an organized manner, by the end of the season you'll have managed to (astound yourself and) raise a queen who's approaching your requirements regarding temperament but if not, any 'loss' of resources will be compensated with a massive increase in experience which will be of value during the 2015 season when you carry on rearing your own.

Remember, there's as much of a chance of a swarm being headed by a bought in queen (or the daughter of one) as there is of it being led by a queen of 'local pedigree' so you're not necessarily going to be any further forward by taking that route of 'lucky number' beekeeping.

 

[Ben90]

I have carnies. I was told that they were a bad idea for a beginner because of their swarminess (with people even suggesting that I'd be changing breeds next year), and indeed, they prepared to swarm 3 times this year, and the first two times I made increase, the third time I just controlled the swarm with a snelgrove and got on with it, and they've built themselves back up to the point that I've already got a full honey super that I've taken off.

They're incredibly gentle, and I never have any hesitation in taking guests etc. out to see them.

Very happy with my carnies.

 

[clv101]

Yeah, I don't think swarminess is necessary a bad thing for beginners. It provides lots of opportunity for expansion and for learning swarm management. It is straight forward, interesting and fun.

 

[Bryanthebee]

some good sound advise.
queen rearing and process elimiting the bad ones sound the right road to go down which may find the right strain, fingers crossed.