Hi there everyone! Mabuhay!
I'm new to beekeeping, in fact, my very first nuc will arrive on Friday so technically, I'm not yet a beekeeper. Anyway, I decided to register here because I would love to learn different things about beekeeping which only experienced beekeepers like you guys can teach. I've noticed that there are so many interesting information in this international forum for beekeepers.
Welcome to the forum and where in the Philippines are you located?
Thank you Allen!
I'm from Zamboanga City.
Welcome to the site!
Welcome! I can't wait to hear your stories and learn more of the Philippines!
Scott
Thank you for welcoming me. I appreciate it. I shall try to update this thread with my bee activities.
I just got my nuc a while ago. I'm so thrilled! :-D The bees were friendly. I didn't even have to wear my bee suit when I opened the nuc. I tried feeding one bee with sugar syrup on my fingertip and I actually felt that tiny probosis sucking the droplet of sugar syrup on my finger. It was easy to identify the queen because she had a bright green pigment on her and it has the number 15 on it.
Does the color green and the number 15 have any significance or is it just for the sake of easy queen detection?
Normally green is used on queens from years ending 4 or 9. If they followed the colors your queen is a 2009 model. If not, they got the green paint marker on sale after 2009. But it probably aint painted if it has a number 15 on it. Ask them.
Thanks AllenF for the info.
I finally got stung. I hurts like hell. :'(
I was able to collect specimens of Apis Cerana (Asian Honeybee). They were foraging in a flowery vine (I don't know the name of the plant) near the office of the carrier where I received the package containing my bee smoker. I found that it's actually smaller in size than the Italian honeybees that I have now. The Apis cerana is almost as big as a fly.
I like the appearance of the apis cerana; there are none here and (hopefully) none coming - the Australians are having a difficult time with them.
Welcome by the way.
I did read about the Australian government's effort in trying to control the population of Apis cerana since it was discovered in Australia because it is believed to be a natural host of mites which can kill Apis mellifera. Kindly correct me if I'm wrong about this info.
Anyway, I was actually very careful not to mingle the specimens of Apis cerana in my mellifera hive. I only had 3 specimens of cerana and their now dead or rather I suffocated them when I placed them in a locked jar without air holes. :-D
Like you I also find Apis cerana to be quite interesting because their really like a miniature version of Apis mellifera having similar features even the yellow and black colored abdomen.