For those new to the business or unsure of what bees look like what I think we should post pics of as many breeds as we can.
Quote from: contactme_11 on August 12, 2008, 12:49:53 AM
For those new to the business or unsure of what bees look like what I think we should post pics of as many breeds as we can.
I recently read that there are more species of bees than there are animals and birds put together. Looks like it'll be a llllooooonnnnnggggg list.
I agree with the pictures of the most poplar bees. I have been seeing some solid black bees that has no stripes on them and are about the same size as my italian bees (no idea what kind they are)
Quote from: Big John on August 12, 2008, 10:36:08 AM
I agree with the pictures of the most poplar bees. I have been seeing some solid black bees that has no stripes on them and are about the same size as my italian bees (no idea what kind they are)
My guess is german.
Italian honey bee
(http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2222/italianbeetk0.jpg)
Russian honey bees
(http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/8606/russianbeeqx2.jpg)
German honey bee
(http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/3776/germanbeeeq8.jpg)
Thanks for the pic. the bee I have been seeing is a German honey bee . The German bees seam to go to a lot of plants that the Italian bees don't, (will have to find out who has them, I have not seen or heard of anybody having hives close to me in a long time.)
Quote from: Big John on August 13, 2008, 08:44:54 AM
Thanks for the pic. the bee I have been seeing is a German honey bee . The German bees seam to go to a lot of plants that the Italian bees don't, (will have to find out who has them, I have not seen or heard of anybody having hives close to me in a long time.)
Don't forget, they could be as much as 2 miles away from you.
Buckfast honey bees
(http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/3631/buckfastbeeus0.jpg)
carniolan honey bee
(http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/4875/carniolanhoneybeepv4.jpg)
Quote from: contactme_11 on August 12, 2008, 05:49:49 PM
German honey bee
This picture of a black bee is not technically a honeybee (apis m.) as we know it, and not the same as the old German black honeybee breed. Update: I found it...it is actually a Vally Carpenter Bee http://bugguide.net/node/view/13232/bgimage . Love bugguide.net!
It is a type of solitary bee (sweat bees, japanese hornfaced bees, etc). Solitary bees will typically visit flowers that don't interest apis mellifera honeybees. I'm not sure, but I don't think that solitary bees will travel as far as honeybees.
There are a lot of types of solitary bees....
Honeybees typically have the same characteristics, and colors can differ, but can differ within breeds as well. Italians can be dark, can carniolans can be light. Russians look like carniolans and Italians look like buckfasts. Caucasians can be really light, but so can Italians.
You can't tell a bee by its colors.
Rick
QuoteYou can't tell a bee by its colors.
I totally agree. I have "italians" that look like midnights.
Quote from: Scadsobees on August 13, 2008, 09:56:32 AM
Quote from: contactme_11 on August 12, 2008, 05:49:49 PM
German honey bee
This picture of a black bee is not technically a honeybee (apis m.) as we know it, and not the same as the old German black honeybee breed. Update: I found it...it is actually a Vally Carpenter Bee http://bugguide.net/node/view/13232/bgimage . Love bugguide.net!
Corrected the pic, sorry.
Quote from: contactme_11 on August 13, 2008, 02:21:01 PM
Quote from: Scadsobees on August 13, 2008, 09:56:32 AM
Quote from: contactme_11 on August 12, 2008, 05:49:49 PM
German honey bee
This picture of a black bee is not technically a honeybee (apis m.) as we know it, and not the same as the old German black honeybee breed. Update: I found it...it is actually a Vally Carpenter Bee http://bugguide.net/node/view/13232/bgimage . Love bugguide.net!
Corrected the pic, sorry.
My great-grandfather brought some Black German honey bees with him from Pennsylvania when he came out to Washington in the 19-oughts. His family were all beekeepers and his grandfather reportedly brought some bees with him from Germany, the Family name was originally Schimdt but they changed it to Smith once they got to the States. There may still be some remanents of the
Apis, m. m. in and around PA, KY, TN, WV, etc, as they were the most popular and prevelant in that area of the US.
QuoteMy great-grandfather brought some Black German honey bees with him from Pennsylvania when he came out to Washington in the 19-oughts. His family were all beekeepers and his grandfather reportedly brought some bees with him from Germany, the Family name was originally Schimdt but they changed it to Smith once they got to the States. There may still be some remanents of the Apis, m. m. in and around PA, KY, TN, WV, etc, as they were the most popular and prevelant in that area of the US.
Might be long lost relatives of mine. :roll:
I'll have to keep an eye out and see if I notice any. I was feeding a hive earlier this year and there was some robbing going on. The bees doing the robbing were very black. Definitely honey bees but not any that came from my hives. They weren't as fuzzy as the one pictured here. I've never seen Midnights up close but I would be inclined to think they had some Midnight genes. Who knows. Maybe they had German honey bee genes too. Only DNA would tell for sure I guess.
I've been told that Italians were introduced in this area (Piedmont NC) in the 1920's. Before that the only honey bees that people knew were the black Germans that settlers brought from Germany via Pennsylvania in the mid 1700's. Maybe our grandfathers had bees from the same stock, Brian.