most gentle bee breed?

PapaBear1981 · January 18, 2015, 02:36:16 AM

So here is my question. I am not completely new to beekeeping but at the same time I'm not really all that experienced at it. I still get that little twinge of fear when I open a hive. Anyway I usually get Italians but I was thinking of getting something different this year. I was wanting to get Buckfast but as I have come to understand from reading a few of the posts on here the ones that come from Texas have some AHB in them and can be pretty hot. I cant have that since I have a little farm with kids on it. I just don't want to put anything in jeapordy also considering we put them in the garden and I don't want the family to get nailed just cuz we walk toward the garden. Now saying that I have had Italians that would come out and look at what we were doing in the garden regardless of a mow job or a weed wacker. I was really wanting Russians but I cant find any of them. So I guess my question is do I stick with the Italians? any help on the situation would be appreciated.

BeeMaster2 · January 18, 2015, 04:56:51 AM

Popabear,
For your situation, I recommend you stick with Itiaiian's or Carnolian's. Rusian's tend to be a little more agressive.
Are you putting the hive in the garden to make sure they will pollinate the flowers? If so and you are concerned about them bothering you or family while in there working, I would move them. Bees will find that garden from over 2 miles away. As a matter of fact, when it is too close, they cannot even tell the other bees where it is , just that it is close buy. If it is more than 40 feet, for Itialian's, they will communicate direction and distance.
Jim

rookie2531 · January 18, 2015, 08:51:51 AM

Jim, I never knew that. Maybe that's why I never saw a honey bee in my garden. I was just assuming that there was a better, bigger source and my garden was a waste of time to them.

Popa, I have italians and walked within 3 feet of them every sunny day. I have a gate that I have to go through that is in there path and it is kinda cool that I walk through it with all those bees flying around me. The only time they get aggitated is when i'm in there working there frames, or maybe the real reason is, i'm killing a few.

PapaBear1981 · January 18, 2015, 08:13:58 PM

well they would come out and check see what we were doing but they wouldn't get aggressive toward us. The hive that im building is kinda ornate so I would like it in the garden besides I have a very large garden. I really have no where else to put them because of the way the property is set up...they get morning sun, afternoon shade and in the spring we get some pretty bad wind storms from the north west and the hive would be protected by a large juniper tree that would break the wind for them so its a good spot. I was doing a lot of reading last night and as much as I would like some buckfast bees I think I will stick to some Italians or Carnies. And even with my garden so close I had lost my bees last year and I noticed a considerable difference in the output of my veggies. But anyway thank you for you advice..I think I'll stick with what I know for this year.

BlueBee · January 18, 2015, 09:40:00 PM

I?ve bought carni and Italian queens in the past and mixed those hives with a number of swarms I've caught in town. So I have a mix of mutts at this point. As long as I don't crack open a hive, they've all left me alone. I mow within a couple feet of them all. When I do open a hive, I haven't found the darker bees to be any more gentle than the lighter colored bees so I don't really buy into the myth that the Carniolan breed is the most gentle bees.

Michael Bush · January 18, 2015, 09:53:22 PM

They can all be gentle. They can all be mean.

Joe D · January 18, 2015, 10:16:43 PM

The bees I started with would sometimes get after you 50 feet away from hives. I changed queens to Italian Cordovan, they are really gentle. Two years ago I needed a queen, when back to the fellow I got the Cordovans from. He has two bee yards, one is Cordovans and the other is Russian. He didn't have a Cordovan and only one Russian left, they are just about as gentle as the Cordovan and I think they are building up quicker. Good luck to you with which ever you get.

Joe

biggraham610 · January 18, 2015, 11:52:43 PM

Quote from: Michael Bush on January 18, 2015, 09:53:22 PM
They can all be gentle. They can all be mean.

Well said. G

PapaBear1981 · January 19, 2015, 01:47:41 AM

I've noticed that even within one hive you can get a hot set of bees and then get a more gentile set out of the same queen. Depending on what she was breed with. I had that same Italian Hive have darker bees one summer and then produce almost a bright red. So I understand that no matter what breed it is it can be either hot or not but when the general chariristic of the sub species is to be crazy defense...I gotta go with the others.

BeeMaster2 · January 20, 2015, 01:13:45 PM

I had one hive that, every week, one bee would meet me about 10' from the hive and nail me rigth between my eye brows, week after week.
Do not know why.
Jim

Dallasbeek · January 20, 2015, 01:33:15 PM

Quote from: sawdstmakr on January 20, 2015, 01:13:45 PM
I had one hive that, every week, one bee would meet me about 10' from the hive and nail me rigth between my eye brows, week after week.
Do not know why.
Jim

Musta been a zombie bee

biggraham610 · January 27, 2015, 10:49:45 PM

Quote from: sawdstmakr on January 20, 2015, 01:13:45 PM
I had one hive that, every week, one bee would meet me about 10' from the hive and nail me rigth between my eye brows, week after week.
Do not know why.
Jim

Remember that one I said was getting a pass for now Jim? Well they must be distant relatives......

G

capt44 · January 28, 2015, 10:41:35 AM

Pure breed of Honey Bee? When the Queen is made the genetics from both sides, Queen and Drones play into the breed of bee.
About the only way would be Instermental Insemination and even then you need to know the genetics on both sides.
The honey bees were brought here from Europe by the settlers, the bees swarmed and expanded. They crossed bred to the point where a pure bred bee species is unheard of.
That Italian, Russian, and such may have traits from 3 or 4 generations back.
Good luck on a pure bred honey bee.

jayj200 · January 28, 2015, 05:34:12 PM

Quote from: biggraham610 on January 18, 2015, 11:52:43 PM
Quote from: Michael Bush on January 18, 2015, 09:53:22 PM
They can all be gentle. They can all be mean.

Well said. G

that was not the question
was what is the gentelst breed

mikecva · January 28, 2015, 06:14:55 PM

I found the Italian to be the gentlest unless I p_ss them off, but that can be with any bee. I suggest reading Michael Bush's web pages as there is a lot of info there.

I hope you do not mind the reference Mike. -Mike

Michael Bush · January 29, 2015, 09:13:38 AM

>that was not the question
>was what is the gentelst breed

Sometimes the correct answer to a question is showing that it's the wrong question... there isn't really an answer to that question. My point is I can't predict their gentleness by their breed. I've seen mean Italian bees and nice Italian bees. I've seen mean Buckfast bees and viscous Buckfast bees. I've seen nice Cordovans and mean Cordovans. I've seen nice Carniolans and mean Carniolans. I've seen mean AMM and nice AMM. I've seen nice Russians and mean Russians... I admit, I don't think I ever saw mean Caucasians, but I haven't had many Caucasians...

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesraces.htm

GLOCK · January 29, 2015, 08:56:11 PM

My nice bee's can be mean just depends on the day.

GSF · January 30, 2015, 08:49:22 PM

I'll have to agree, you can't never tell what's on their mind. Sometimes I go out to my yard and it's like they want me to pet them. Other times, well, it must have been something I said.

Joe D · January 30, 2015, 09:38:02 PM

What you fellows have forgotten is that they are females. You may not know what you have done wrong but they do. And they won't forget it.

Joe

biggraham610 · January 31, 2015, 12:15:22 PM

Quote from: Joe D on January 30, 2015, 09:38:02 PM
What you fellows have forgotten is that they are females. You may not know what you have done wrong but they do. And they won't forget it.

Joe

Mystery solved!! G