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OUR QUEENS
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Italian Queens |
Now taking orders
for 2008. A 25% non-refundable deposit is required to guarantee your order.
Place your order today online or by
calling
360-652-8967
Apis Mellifera Ligustica:
Very gentle, good brood pattern, is not so prone to
swarm as much, great honey producer, light on excess propolis and
makes nice looking white honey comb. Good foulbrood
resistance. The hybrids of today show some mite resistance and good
hygienic behavior. A great bee for someone new to
beekeeping.
This is the most popular bee in
North America. The Italians are popular with the commercial
beekeepers they are gentle and good producers. They use less
propolis than some of the darker bees. They usually have bands
on their abdomen of brown to yellow color. Their biggest
weakness is that they are prone to rob and drift,
especially when there is a
dearth |
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Minnesota Hygienic Queen |
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Apis Mellifera hybrid: These exceptionally hygienic
queens show good resistance to American foulbrood and
chalkbrood as well as showing some resistance to the Varroa Mite.
The breeder queens are from Glenn Apiaries
(the first Minnesota Hygienic Queens were developed by Dr.
Marla Spivak, and they have proven to be great honey
producers as well as very gentle bees. Dr. Spivak and her
team were able to produce a trait within breeder queens. A
trait where the bees are able to reduce disease by
being exceptionally hygienic. We suggest these queens if you are
looking for a bee that broods up well in the spring, puts up
big in the winter, and has excellent hygienic
properties.
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New
World Carniolan Hybrid |
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Apis Mellifera hybrid: Dr. Susan Cobey is
credited with the development of these queens. These are
darker in color and some of the queens are nearly black.
they are known for their winter hardiness and rapid spring
build up. These queens work well in all areas of the
country, are excellent honey producers and comb
builders. They also show resistance to tracheal mites.
They do well in the cold and long winters of the North.
Our breeder purchases his breeder queens from Strachan
Apiaries, the world's largest producer of the New
World Carniolan. Dr. Cobey is presently at University
of California Davis. She is continuing her work
at the Laidlaw Research facilities
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Russian Queen |
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A product of the U.S. Dept. Of Agriculture's
Honey Bee Breeding Genetics, and Physiology Lab of Baton
Rouge, Louisiana directed by:
Dr. Thomas Rinderer; They imported this bee from the
Primorski region of the Sea of Japan because it had survived
mites for 150 years. It is not a
species but a hybrid.
Russian bees resemble the dark Carniolan strain and use less
propolis than typical Italian honey bees. They are not prone
to sting. The bees show exceptional winter hardiness, small
winter cluster, and a high nectar haul per
bee. They are more apt to building queen cells throughout
the brood season and may have a higher tendency to swarm.
GOOD TRAITS:
They are
more resistant to mites and more winter Hardy.
POOR TRAITS:
They tend to produces
lots of propolis, they always seems to have swarm cells in
the hive, and they are moderate honey
producers.
They
can be testy at times. They are known for head butting
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Old
World Carniolan Queen |
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Apis
Mellifera Carnica: These are darker brown to
black. They fly in slightly cooler weather and
in theory are better in northern climates. They are
reputed by some to be less productive than Italians, but I
have not had that experience. The ones I have are very
productive and very frugal for the winter.
They winter in small clusters and shut down brood
rearing when there are dearth. Our breeder brings his
stock over directly from Europe. It's been said that Susan
Colby obtained her breeders from this source. These are new
additions to the genetic pool here in the States. GOOD
TRAITS:
Explosive spring build up, are not so prone to rob, are
very, very gentle, and good comb producers |
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Buckfast Queen |
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Apis Mellifera hybrid: These were developed from a
mixture of bees over several years by
Brother Adam of Buckfast Abbey. I had them for
years. They were gentle. They built up rapidly in the
spring, produced awesome crops and dropped back in
population in the fall. They are just like the Italians as
far as robbing. They are resistant to the tracheal mites.
They are more frugal than the Italians, but not as much as
the Carniolan.
The Buckfast bee is popular among beekeepers and is
available from bee breeders in several parts of the world.
Most of their qualities are very favorable. They are
extremely gentle, and some authorities rate them
higher than the Italians in most categories. Their main
drawbacks are that they have a strong tendency to lock
combs together with brace combs, and they are very
liberal in their application of propolis to
inner surfaces of their hives. |
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Dennis Lohman's Italian Hybrid |
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Apis Mellifera hybrid:
Extremely good
spring build up, are not so prone to rob, are
very, very gentle, and good comb producers.
These bees are larger than
the traditions Italian. They have good resistance to
foulbrood and chalkbrood. Good hygienic qualities and some
mite resistance.
They do well slightly cooler weather. he discovered these
queens While picking his bees up from
South Dakota one year. There was another beekeeper there
that had worked with in the past. He noticed these
large bees in the other persons hives. The other beekeeper
said he found them in Texas. He was
so taken by the looks of the bee and the other
beekeeper told him of the qualities
he brought some back to his apiary. He crossed these
Texas Italians with his Minnesota Italian Hybrids. The
outcome was beyond his expectations. He has been breeding
them and using them in his own apiary ever since.
The Bees are larger than the regular Italians and the
Queen has a darker body with some Smokey shadows
on her body |
