The black bee

[Bcrazy]

Sorry members but I do not understand this need for the black bee of Europe, Apis meliffers meliffera why don't you people breed from your own colonies to try to obtain what you want in your selection of bees. Hype that's all this bull sh-t about pure black bees is .

Breed your own.( not black bees but your selection).

Regards;

 

[wightbees]

Are these types of bees better than others, are they better at keeping that mite at bay?
What are the benefits of having this type of bee , or is it just to get stocks back up again.

 

[hedgerow pete]

an interesting sentiment, but if it was choosen for say rare breed farm animals we would have none left, apart from the "hedgerow sort of saddle back"

thanks but no thanks . I am personaly interested in finding a resonable strain of amm bee to start with, then I am willing to invest time and effort and money in keeping it going. I dont like modern hybred bees as they dont suit my style of bee keeping, neither do italians or carni's. I have grave concerns about the way the bee keeping industy relys on forgien imports and I have concerns about the way older gene pools are discarded away. so for me a old english black would be perfect for me to use and breed with

 

[Hivemaker.]

Sorry members but I do not understand this need for the black bee of Europe, Apis meliffers meliffera why don't you people breed from your own colonies to try to obtain what you want in your selection of bees. Hype that's all this bull sh-t about pure black bees is .

Breed your own.( not black bees but your selection).

Regards;

Quite agree Bcrazy......

 

[Poly Hive]

Funnily enough the further north you go the less convincing the argument is.

I did very well indeed in Aberdeenshire/Kincardinshire with black bees. Yellow bees just couldn't do the business.

PH

 

[BKF Admin]

Yet they have done very well in scandinavia,maybe you have to have a good stock to start with.

Buying in ligustica queens from New Zealand and hawaii must upset nature with our lower temps.
Maybe getting stock from Europe would make a big difference?

Funnily enough the further north you go the less convincing the argument is.

I did very well indeed in Aberdeenshire/Kincardinshire with black bees. Yellow bees just couldn't do the business.

PH

 

[Hivemaker.]

Carniolan are better for further north,but depends on where they come from.

 

[Bcrazy]

OK there are isolated pockets of this infamous Black bee if there always wanted why have they not been breed to meet the requirements of those who only want the Native Black bee of Europe Amm?
I am led to believe that there are stocks of these bees in Scandinavia and Germany, So why dint you all get them from the continent?
I truely believe that you can't get this strain of bee because there arn't any to bee had.
Can anyone truthfully say thay have a colony that is true Amm? With the correct DNA? No Oh dear!

Regards;

 

[hedgerow pete]

again bcrazy a very good set of points. and the reason why we have started several other threads about this bee and its reintroduction and breeding.

The reason why i have personaly not popped over to germany or finlan for such a queen is two fold, one is quality and the second is ecological( i dont want to rack up the carbon foot print)

now this leads to other questions, we shall completly ignore you statement about there being better bees to use as I am personal not interested in any of them and this thread i s about amm not what s the best bee for a given location

yes there is a school of thought for me to say lets go and buy several north european bees as breeder stock and work from those but i dont want to do that in the same way i dont want bees from the other side of the planet, I dont mind going to wales or evan scotland and i dont mind putting ones hand very deeply into the pocket to pay for this reason but what we are talking about here is whether or not there is a good strain of amm that will stand up to scrutiny of the tests that i wish to use. i have at home over 40 stock nucs all black but as i have found out all unable to serve as breeders. the thread had started untill you have taken it to another direction , we were talking about breeders and there stocks and locations

 

[Bcrazy]

H pete

You say

we shall completly ignore you statement about there being better bees to use

Where have I ever said anytrhing about better bees to use??????

yes there is a school of thought for me to say lets go and buy several north european bees as breeder stock and work from those but i dont want to do that in the same way i dont want bees from the other side of the planet, I dont mind going to wales or evan scotland and i dont mind putting ones hand very deeply into the pocket to pay for this reason but what we are talking about here is whether or not there is a good strain of amm that will stand up to scrutiny of the tests that i wish to use. i have at home over 40 stock nucs all black but as i have found out all unable to serve as breeders. the thread had started untill you have taken it to another direction , we were talking about breeders and there stocks and locations

Sorry Pete but to me all you have written is bull Sh-t

Regards;

 

[hedgerow pete]

nice to see bcrazy that you live up to your name. ha ha ha

 

[Bcrazy]

Now were getting personal a?

Not for me sorry

Regards;

 

[Repwoc]

Apparently there are (or were) some pureish AMM in Tasmania.

http://tasmanianbeekeepers.org.au/history-2/

 

[Hombre]

Life appears to be a cleft stick

My understanding is that you were an unwitting yet avid breeder of Carni's Pete - N'est pas?

Once they take off their wigs, they are all black underneath. That, and I'm told that gentlemen prefer blondes . . .

I also understand that you were inordinately proud of your bees last year and that they gave you a bumper crop of honey, wax and propolis. It seemed that they were entirely suited to your environment then, so having found them to be not what you thought, you are now dissatisfied with them and would rather dash off to seek out the holy grail instead of breeding your very own super bees that have more than proven their worth.

You described them as gentle, prolific and not at all swarmy like those nasty Carniolans. I suspect that was because you practiced swarm control that suited them.

In the light of all you said about the productivity and temperament of your "2009 black bees" which turned out to be 75% Carniolan, would you like to make a definitive statement of some sort, regarding how dissatisfied you are with Carniolans in general and your own in particular perhaps?

What are your production targets for 2010, or is it a bit early yet to say?

 

[mbc]

There are many morphometrically pure native bees still alive and well in the british isles, you just have to look for them in the more marginal locations for beekeeping where they have allways been th e best sort of bees for the magority of seasons. We dont all live in lush agricultural lands however people who do and cand see any amm in theyre area seem to want to discount what occurs on the perifery. A good example is the general assumption that the isle of white desease at the beggining of the twentieth century wiped out all or most of the indigenous bees and that they were replaced by imports from the continent. This obviously happened to a certain extent but only where people were wealthy enough to afford paying for imported bees- in the more marginal areas it didnt make sense to spend lots of dosh restocking for what was, and is a marginally profitable enterprise and so beekeepers slowly restocked from the survivors thankfully leaving us with a legacy of our original bees.
Are natives a panicea for modern beekeeping?
Probably not but maintaing diversity has to be a good thing in my book
I'm constantly amazed by the arrogance of a certain type of person from 'middle england' who think they know it all!
Rant over
Its nice to see the sun

Check oput the galtee breeding group if you dont believe in amm

 

[wightbees]

mbc
it's The Isle Of Wight


I'll make a quick get away!

 

[mbc]

mbc
it's The Isle Of Wight


I'll make a quick get away!

No worries wightbees thanks for the correction,
I dont think I'd have posted so strongly if I wasnt hung over and terribly dissappointed in the welsh rugby team

 

[mbc]

OK there are isolated pockets of this infamous Black bee if there always wanted why have they not been breed to meet the requirements of those who only want the Native Black bee of Europe Amm?
I am led to believe that there are stocks of these bees in Scandinavia and Germany, So why dint you all get them from the continent?
I truely believe that you can't get this strain of bee because there arn't any to bee had.
Can anyone truthfully say thay have a colony that is true Amm? With the correct DNA? No Oh dear!

Regards;

check this outView attachment 1482

 

[Bcrazy]

Hi mbc,

Sorry but I can't read what is written on the poster not even in word doc.

Regards;

 

[dilys]

It's a pity the bee in the poster is an Italian.

Dil