I ordered a package of Carniolan bees back in February. I later decided to get another package so that I could raise two colonies. It has been suggested in more than one book that two colonies is better than one. First, you can compare hives and quickly determine when one is doing poorly and needs help. It is also insurance that if one hive dies, then you still have one hive left.
Having more than one hive, even for a beginner like me, makes sense. However, I made the decision to go with another package too late. Bees are usually sold out by March 1st; in fact, most bees are sold out by February 1st.
I found a seller in Rhode Island who has a number of nucs for sale and I ordered two. He had a kind of Italian Bee called a Minnesota Hygienic. He also had a kind called Russian. I did not know anything about the Russians, but I had read an article about the Minnesota Hygienic bees that strongly recommended them because of their natural resistance to several bee diseases. I ordered two nucs of the Minnesota Italians.
Now, after the fact, I’ve decided to look into the different bee breeds. These are all pretty much the same bee with different genetic features. They are the same species, but different subspecies or crossbreeds. They are like different races of bees, although the differences can be striking.
Golden Italian
The Golden Italian Honey bee has been the main bee of beekeepers for many years. It is a good beginner’s bee. I found a list of some of its strong points, including: Readily builds comb, Light color so it makes it easy to find a queen, Good at finding pollen, Doesn’t swarm as much as other bees, Relatively calm and gentle, resistant to foulbrood disease, Doesn’t make as much propolis (bee glue).
On the minus side, the Italians keep laying eggs and making brood even when there is no food source so they can starve if not watched. They build a lot of comb that is not for honey or brood – the structural comb called brace and burr. They drift, which means they can wander off.
The Italian bee seems to be a good all around choice.
The Minnesota Hygienic is an Italian hybrid developed by Dr. Marla Spivak at the University of Minnesota Bee Lab. They are called hygienic because they are particularly good at cleaning out sick larva and pupa, which makes them better able to fight off American Foulbrood and Chalkbrood.
Carniolan bees.
Carniolan bees or Carnies were imported from Slovenia because they are resistant to insect pests and it is very gentle. It is almost as popular with beekeepers as the Italian Honey Bee. It is a darker brown bee, not as golden color as the Italians.
There are lots of things to like about the Carniolan bee. Among other things it has a rapid buildup in early spring, even before flowers bloom. It is very gentle and non aggressive. It survives well in the winter. It regulates its size better than the Italians so it is less likely to starve as the food supply declines.
On the other hand, it swarms at the drop of a hat, especially when there is a good food supply and as pollen decreases, the size of the brood substantially decreases.
Russian Honey Bees
Russian bees have been imported in the last 20 years because they are naturally resistant to varroa mites. Varroa mites seem to be a big problem in recently, and the Russians, coming from the place where varroa mites originated, is genetically resistant to the mites.
The geneticist Thomas E. Rinderer traveled to Russia’s Pacific coast area called the Primorsky Territory in 1996. He brought back 100 queen bees. The bees proved to be mite resistant and beekeepers have been trying them out with great success.
The Russian bees have many good points. Besides mite resistance, they are good at surviving harsh winters. They have a quick spring buildup so they increase in numbers during peak honey production season.
On the minus side they tend to swarm more than other bees. Until recently they were more expensive.
There are a number of other bee types. Many of them are Brand name hybrids that have been developed at bee farms for certain characteristics. Your mileage may vary. I am hoping that we will be able to buy queens that are proven resistant to Colony Collapse Disorder.
By accident, I think I did OK. The Carniolan Bees that I ordered for May are a good bee. The Italians that I will be getting in mid April are also a good choice. I should have ordered a nuc of Russians, just so I would cover all bases, but I don’t want to get crazy. Maybe next year, when I figure out how to split a hive, I’ll get a Russian queen.
May I have your permission to use your photos to teach our new beekeepers about the different races of honeybees? I’l like to use them in our newsletter.
I will not do so until I hear from you.
Thank you,
Barbara
I “borrowed” the pictures, mostly from wikipedia.org. I can’t give you permission.
Keith
The Italian honey bee image was taken from my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pho-tog/1373518488/.
I have deleted the image
Barbara,
Not a bee question, but I was wondering about your last name. My GGrandmother was a “Kreizek” from Czechoslovakia, immigrating here in the late 1880′s. DO you have any information about the background of your last name?
Thanks, Louise
Great article on the different bee types. I am currently looking into Russians myself. I have read that it is difficult to requeen an Italian hive with a Russian queen as they ‘smell different’. You may want to check that out before you order that queen
I talked to someone who requeened all of his hives to russians when he decided that he didn’t want italians anymore. He had no problems. I think as long as you introduce the queen in a cage into a queenless hive they will accept in a few days without problem.
A guy in my club says if you confuse the bees enough and then leave them alone it helps to requeen. His concept of confusion is to get as many smells in the hive as possible.
1- He rubs the dead queen on the cage of the new queen. He then drops the dead queen into the hive.
2- He moves frames from two other hives into the queenless hives (bees included)
3- Then he doesn’t peak for 10 days.
He seems very confident and has been doing it this way for a very long time.
After less than twenty four hours the bees realize they’re queenless, forget the previous pheromone and start preparing for a new queen.
where you can by russian bees in usa can anybody help
Walter T. Kelly has Russians the ones I got from them came from “Hardiman’s Apiaries” in Georgia.
I am just learning about beekeeping. I have been attending meetings since October and a begginner class.
I am planning on purchasing equipment for three hives, etc this year and actually starting up in Spring 2011.
I would like to locate a seller for the Minnesota Hygenic bees. I am willing to drive to Minnesota to get them, next year.
Does anyone have any sources?
I am a first year beekeeper in Minnesota and I purchased my bees(MN Hygienic) at Nature’s Nectar 11108 Manning Trail North, Stillwater, MN 55082. Jim Kloek is the owner and is very helpful and knowledgeable. Here is phone number 651-439-8793. I know that we have to order our bees way early around the end of January.
Good luck,
Karine
Try Olympic Wilderness Apiaries. Minnesota Hyg Bees don’t come from Minnesota. Its where the program for hygenic bees was created. Its very unlikely that the Dr. Spivak strain still exhist there. Olympic Wilderness bees are hybrids of a lot of different strains that came out on top for hygenic testing. I’m happy so far with there queens.
Hi!! I am Spyros form Greece. I look forward to finding the right type of Bee .
Are you a professional???
do you know if the Russian can resist to high-temperature climate???
Please reply to my e-mail account.
Many thanks
Spyros
I am not a professional. My bees, both Russian and Italian and the hybrid hive, lived through the 100 degree F (38c) weather here without problems. There was a heat wave in July for almost the whole month.
From Wikipedia:
“The claim of superior Russian bee winter hardiness (at least in US apiaries) is touted as a beneficial trait [11]. However, Danka and Beaman (2009) of the Baton Rouge laboratory found that un-fed Russian colonies actually lost bees (-16%) whereas un-fed Italian stocks gained them (4%) during winter months [12]. DeGuzman et al. 2005 [13] found no significant difference between winter mortality between Russian and Italian stocks. It is possible that the Russian bee’s tendency to hoard food during winter months leads to smaller size [14] but also reduced health, resulting in mortality.”
So, research from the same lab that imported Russian Bees into the US shows that they are no better than Italians with winter hardiness. It’s frustrating because US taxpayers pay for expensive stock certification for private citizens for a bee strain that didn’t turn out to be that good after all.
I spoke with Dr. Martha Spivak last year at our bee club. The only Minnesota hygenic bees that she describe as caring the same traits as her bees were 3 different guys down in North Carolina that had worked with her. She only gave names of the gentlemen that had these bees, no address or locations, and phone numbers to get ahold of them. My personnel opinion is Dr. Spivak is a little angree that she did not patent the name. She’s not very helpful, friendly, and I personally think it was a fluke that she came across the hygenic bees. Then the progam funding ended bye bye bees. Last year I purchased three queens from Olympic wilderness Apiaries, so far so good. We’ll see how they do in the spring.They are a mix of surviving wild bees in Washington state, russians, Min Hyg, and vsh. They are very calm bees. Check out there website, its a small apiary so order early. Oh and in the Lousiana testing on hygenic behavior they came out on top of all others vsh and min hyg.
I’m trying to find a supplier for Carniolan package bees that will ship to Northern IL. Where did you order yours from??? Any help would be great, first year so I’m sure to make lots of mistakes!
I got mine in Rhode Island and they don’t ship. Sorry.
You might look in EBay, although they are mainly Italians there.
Try Honey Glow Farm out of wisconson.
[...] and you get to watch him inspect the hive as he chats. A very well done video. I want to go with Russian bees because they are a bit heartier than the Italian bees most beekeepers work with. They resist [...]
I LOST MY HONEYBEES OF 12 YEARS AND NEED TO BUY SOME MORE. DO YOU KNOW ANYONE IN THE RHODE ISLAND AREA.
THANKS AGAIN,
http://azapiaries.com in CT has bees for early June left. It is a hike, but not all that bad.
Keith
You do not want to mix Italian bees in the same area with Russian bees. You lose the varroa mite advantage of having Russian bees, they will get them just like the Italians unless you have Russians exlusive. There is a certified group of professional bee Apairies doing controlled research on the Russians with great results. It is true they have less problems if any with varroa and Tracheal mites. However, there is a difference in how you manage them and need to be aware of their needs.
I have italian and Carniolan. I started with italian and had some problems with aggressive behavior (they stung the hell out of me and the kids next door). I replaced the queens, still some aggressive behavior, but not so bad now. I started a set of carniolan dowb the road at a farm. Expected them to build a ggod strong hive and also allow me to work them without a suit, no such luck.
Both bees have lost queens of late. Wanting to try and get a strain that is safe to work and safe for the kids next door. Also want a string hive, one I do not have to requeen often, and one that builds and builds.
Regards,
Stephen Mantell from Murrells Inlet SC
I HAVE BEEN KEEPING HONEYBEES FOR 30 YEARS I LOST ALL MY NATIVE WILD BEES DUE TO MITES I GOT A PACKAGE OF ALL ‘ AMERICAN ITALIAN BEES FROM R’ WEAVER APIARIES I’VE HAD. THEM FOR 10 YEARS. I DO NOT TREAT THEM FOR MITES
It’s a good idea to credit the photos. Your photo of the Italian bee is one I took at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis. Not sure where the others came from.
Here’s where the photo of the Italian bee originated, from someone’s Flickr account. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pho-tog/1373518488/
Hive is ready and I’m awaiting opportunity to purchase my first package.
Given there are decades of experience on this site, can you tell me the top five mistakes rookies make and how can I avoid them.
Thanks!
Decades????
This is my 4th year. What I learned this year is that you have to treat for mites in the Fall. I am also thinking that Italian bees may be too fragile for a bad New York winter.
My brother started with bees and he swears by feral brown bees. These are descended form the European brown bees that came over with the early settlers. They have been breeding with Italians and Russians and other bees that have been brought in over the years. They are hardy and make it through the winter. They do not produce as much honey as Italians and may not be as gentle. If you can find a local guy with hives from captured swarms, you can try this.
I am going to stick with Italians and try to nurse them through the winter. They are gentle and produce huge amounts of honey. If the winter is mild, they make it easily.
Keith