Noticed several weeks ago when I released the queen into the nuc she was a solid golden brown color. Didn't know there was such a thing! It's a Cordovan?
Not all but most of her brood are a nice gold color with smallish brown to black stripes. Some are very bright with hardly noticeable stripes and all glow in the sun when they fly to and from the hive. It's an 8-frame garden hive made of Eastern Red Cedar with a natural finish.
I can mow within a foot of the hive with no incident. Of course, I start from the other end of the yard!
Next year I'll expand with some Texas feral bees, putting them in the country. But these are really nice for the back yard. We love to sit in our back yard after work, watching the birds and the bees.
I like the type bee that you just described. I bought four queens from backyard bees last fall and what you described is their description also! Mine are very gentle also. Love em. I also have some dark colored bees from cut outs which are also just as gentle and good producers, they just don?t have that glitter that you described. I am thankful for both. We have something in common as we also like to sit on the screened porch and watch nature.
Phillip
Quote from: Ben Framed on July 13, 2019, 11:01:19 PM
I like the type bee that you just described. I bought four queens from backyard bees last fall and what you described is their description also! Mine are very gentle also. Love em. I also have some dark colored bees from cut outs which are also just as gentle and good producers, they just don?t have that glitter that you described. I am thankful for both. We have something in common as we also like to sit on the screened porch and watch nature.
Phillip
There were five juvenile squirrels in the yard last week that were going crazy chasing each other! Never saw anything like it!
We have those also, ah the energy they have! This morning we had three adult deer on the south yard and a doe and an infant spotted fawn tagging along with (mama) .
Quote from: Ben Framed on July 14, 2019, 06:57:23 PM
We have those also, ah the energy they have! This morning we had three adult deer on the south yard and a doe and an infant spotted fawn tagging along with (mama) .
Awesome!
Cordovan bees are an instant tell.
But I think its just neat you brought up something to talk about. I'll see if I can link some cordovan bees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfD7KRO106I (see how bright the color is? Its not a gold brown but more like gold light light yellow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUbfDis0kZE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1qlovn1V98
I kind of wonder if their genes are getting so mixed we won't be able to tell a Cordovan from an Italian in 10 years.
This one below isn't cordovan but is just fun to see :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7S0PHLHFL4
(Asian hornet scout defense by honey bees.)
Yes, my queen looks like the one in the video and maybe 15% of the bees look like the ones in the first video.
Thanks for the posts, Anonimo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42RAHOT223Y
Thank you!
This picture from a mixed nuc shows the contrast colours fairly well.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190825/f023c4ab5a566ce1645781b1b0977332.jpg)
Good photo HP. Shows 3 different colors to me, yellow Cordovan, typical Italian, and black bees.
I never met a mean Cordovan, probably half my hives, 9 of 18 have Cordovan queens.
Van