Woe is me...

[Poly Hive]

Just phoned my Queen supplier to check that my carefully laid plans are in place.

Err... no. They had a delay of a day and my queens are in the post guv... may arrive Monday or may arrive Tuesday.

My nucs are bursting at the seams so I am off out to split them and take off some pressure.

Botheration.

I have all the kit ready, I have the weather, I have a low work load and so have the damn time... and am stuffed because some silly person at Heathrow couldn't do their job.

I am annoyed.

PH

 

[Somerford]

PH - I can only sympathise, but it is a reason why I started some apideas this year - to rely on home grown queens and also to prevent my wallet being lightened by some ridiculously overpriced unprooven queens.

I hope you manage to sort it all out and they turn up !

S

 

[Poly Hive]

Oh it will work out. I am buying in for a very precise reason which is AMM, if not for that I can assure you that I would not be buying at all. However to put things in perspective the cost is balanced by the sale of nucs so really they are free to the operation.

PH

 

[mbc]

Imorting native bees ! is that an oxymoron Or somesuch complicated english word

 

[Poly Hive]

Pretty much yes.

PH

 

[mbc]

PH
couldnt you source something more local ? Where are the queens coming from , how much and how pure amm ( open mated or AI ? ) if you dont mind my asking

 

[Poly Hive]

Sorry to say that even with my not inexhaustive contacts could I get anything in the UK. And believe me I have tried.

BIBBA here have a lot to answer for as they are running pretty much a closed shop and I am a bloody member... And they hve recently decided not to run a forum to open up who is doing what so that tells me a lot.

They are from a well known supplier in the UK which are imported from Greece and from the info I have read they are open mated.

I am not so much bothered by that as it is the drones I want for next year.

PH

 

[BKF Admin]

Has any other member got experience with these AMM ?

I am thinking they are via Liverpool if its the same company ?

 

[keith pierce]

pity you are not living near me.

i took out two amm queens out of hives that had drawn down and capped supersedure cells, 3 in each hive , 2 together and one on the other side of the frame. Both of them are two year old queens, one had four commercial supers nearly full, and the other had 3.
I Put both in an apidea box with a cup full of bees and am deciding over a few cans of cider wether to keep them or phone a friend.
they were cracking quiet bees and were always one of the hives to open up , when i had a demo in the apiary....keith

 

[Poly Hive]

I will report in due course and yes Liver birds.

I pinched two frames out of one of my nucs which I knew were very over crowded and I do wish I had had the camera with me as I have never seen the like, they were stuffed. And I mean STUFFED full of brood and honey with a tennis ball clump outside with not a hope of getting in.

To my amazement not a queen cell in sight. I was convinced they were at swarming point. Damn good queen who is now bringing on a Langstroth nuc.

I am playing ring a ring of rosies with queens at the minute, the five out of the nucs will be replaced by five from my colonies which in turn will be replaced with AMM, and then the rest of the colonies will be re-queened with AMM and any crappy nuc queens will be replaced with this years from the colonies. The surplus if any of mine will be sold off. The rubbish are marked for destruction.

PH

 

[BKF Admin]

PH dont forget to send the old queens to Bcrazy.

The queen in the full hive is she an 09 or 10 queen ?

 

[Stiffy]

Has any other member got experience with these AMM ?

I am thinking they are via Liverpool if its the same company ?

I bought 4 from (I think) the same source in May this year. All have done well and built up well, 2 have two supers on at present.
I have not had a genetic studies done on them but they show the characteristics of AMM ie nice white capping's, fly in most weather and bring in lots of pollen. Not had them long enough to really know if they tend not to swarm but are certainly a lot less that nucs I made up from Carnies which have all tried to go twice this year.
Downside: Bit stingy but think this is another charteristic.....defensivness?

I another 3 on order and hope to move them all to an out-apiary next year that is, I think very isolated to see what 2nd gen is like .

 

[keith pierce]

>is the queen in the full hive is she an 09 or 10 queen ?
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2008