caucasian black queens

[peter genders]

Has anyone had any experience with this particular strain thanks for your time.

 

[enrico]

Not in beekeeping circles......sorry couldn't resist it......smack wrist!
E

 

[Arfermo]

Google for transgenders?

 

[Finman]

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Caucasian is a race, not a strain. I had those since 1966...perhaps 10 years. Origin was from Canada. I do not know what kind of bees they are now.

Caucasian is from subtropical district. It does not achieved very popular role among bee types.

Its color is carbon black but nothing to do with German Black bee.

The crossing between German Black an Caucasian was quite sentitive to EFB

Large hives but lazy forager. Good Italian strain brought 50% more honey.

 

[peter genders]

Thanks finman for sensible advice i have friends who are going to lecture in the region of georgia they are prolific and bees are a very important income to the local communities.

 

[Arfermo]

Don't know if you might import any but please don't as we have quite enough of the consequences of that all over the world - varroa, foxes, rabbits, cane toad, american squirrel, etc etc ad infinitum. Respect the local funa and flora and leave foreign stuff where it is.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

foxes,

Pray, when were they imported?

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

"Respect the local funa and flora.........."

Not to mention the fact that 'flora' and 'fauna' are imported words.


Dusty

 

[Arfermo]

Pray, when were they imported?

Which and does it matter - the world over is cluttered with imported stuff that is best not there. Have you really no idea? Try a bit of travel overseas and you'll see it.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

does it matter

It does -As for no idea, I know very well but if you had rwead my post properly you would have seen that my question was specific to the fox

most of those you list were introduced species, and i agree but as for the red fox it's indigenous to this country and to the whole european continent and the Americas - evidence of foxes here date back to pre history, so someone has misled you on that one I'm sorry.

 

[REDWOOD]

Part of evolution, and to think there was nothing only a wiggle in a pond and now look at the marvel of species we have in the UK, how luck we are

 

[Swarm]

It does -As for no idea, I know very well but if you had rwead my post properly you would have seen that my question was specific to the fox

most of those you list were introduced species, and i agree but as for the red fox it's indigenous to this country and to the whole european continent and the Americas - evidence of foxes here date back to pre history, so someone has misled you on that one I'm sorry.

May have been aluding to species introduction worldwide by mankind, as per mention of cane toads? Foxes and rabbits, along with the toads, were certainly introduced with catastrophic affect in Australia.

 

[Finman]

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As said, Caucasian bee is allready distributed over the world. It is popular in Argentina.

English black bee was most distributed over the foreign continents, but it is now rare out there.
.

 

[Longinus Sdapeze]

.
Caucasian is a race, not a strain. I had those since 1966...perhaps 10 years. Origin was from Canada. I do not know what kind of bees they are now.

Caucasian is from subtropical district. It does not achieved very popular role among bee types.

Its color is carbon black but nothing to do with German Black bee.

The crossing between German Black an Caucasian was quite sentitive to EFB

Large hives but lazy forager. Good Italian strain brought 50% more honey.

Caucasica from Canada?Are there still breeders of real caucasians in Canada?

 

[Finman]

Caucasica from Canada?Are there still breeders of real caucasians in Canada?

I do not know. IT was 50 y ago.

.

 

[Michael Palmer]

Caucasica from Canada?Are there still breeders of real caucasians in Canada?

I doubt it, although Sue Coby has been working with imported Caucasian semen to bring them back.

Years ago there were Cauc. breeders in North America. I remember their adverts in the journals. They had gray hairs if I remember....advertised as being gray or silver. So Finman must have gotten some of that line. But the Caucasian bee certainly wasn't from Canada.

From Wiki..The Caucasian honey bee originates from the high valleys of the Central Caucasus. Georgia is the “central homeland” for the subspecies, although the bees also can be found in eastern Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

 

[Finman]

.
I read about Poland that they tried to breed Caucasian, but they was mixed to Carniolans and the work stopped.

 

[Into the lions den]

I doubt it, although Sue Coby has been working with imported Caucasian semen to bring them back.

Years ago there were Cauc. breeders in North America. I remember their adverts in the journals. They had gray hairs if I remember....advertised as being gray or silver. So Finman must have gotten some of that line. But the Caucasian bee certainly wasn't from Canada.

From Wiki..The Caucasian honey bee originates from the high valleys of the Central Caucasus. Georgia is the “central homeland” for the subspecies, although the bees also can be found in eastern Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Going back quite a bit..............

Had Caucasians from York Bee Co in Georgia...they were ok but nothing fancy, and also Midnites, which were a hybrid including Caucasians, which were very nice but not strain stable.

Bought a consignment from Bolling Bee Company in Alabama that were a complete disaster. Totally unsuited to our area and terribly prone to acarine mites and nosema. Would not even take syrup properly, far less go out and work. All died inside 18 months.

More recently I obtained a supply via a vendor in France, stated to be pure stock from Georgia. Lovely grey bees, not totally calm however and could be nippy on a bad day. However they were very slow off the mark in spring, packed the lower boxes to the exclusion of brood late on, and sealed everything except a couple of pop holes in the entrance with copious amounts of propolis, and the honey harvest was very modest. Another type that we decided were not worth persisting with.

Still available are hybrids involving these bees, the 'caucasit' was and remains in many parts a very popular working bee. Can be got from both EU sources and from Argentina.

There is an interesting marker that pops up from time to time in 'native' stock that shows this race to be part of our mix in the UK, and I have seen it almost everywhere. Its the drones. A significant proportion of them are melanistic to an extreme degree, all black, and even the wings are somewhat black pigmented. If you have ever seen it it is obvious.

Historically there were Caucasian strain breeders in the UK and back in the 50's...the earliest references seen in MY experience but I know it goes back to between the wars too, this was a very popular bee type as it was considered a great clover bee. It was of great interest to those involved in the drive to produce bees with longer tongues.

I like to give many things a fair trial. Caucasians are not a thing I will repeat with. 3 strikes and they are out.