Books on Russians

[TheMasonicHive]

Hey everyone,


I read a lot about the Russian strain of bees on here, and it seems pretty well accepted that they aren't very user friendly for beginners.

I'm still intrigued by them and when I get my third hive next year, I'm thinking of experimenting with them.

I get the impression that many beeks use Carnolians or Italians and have a hard time transitioning to the Russians, but I also get the impression that you need to use different hive management methods to properly handle them.

I was curious if anyone has kept them with great success, and if there are any books out there that specifically deal with the differences in the Russians and how they should be properly maintained in order to make them more user friendly.

Thank you!

[Kathyp]

the very first hive i had was russians and they were great.  some people find them a little hot, but it might depend on where you get them. mine were not. they wintered well, and they got active early. 

[TheMasonicHive]

Kathy,

I would really appreciate some elaboration on this issue, and I have a few questions.

1)  How do you introduce Russians?  Seems like everything I see are nucs or queens...never packages.

2)  Am I being effective if I simply introduce a Russian Queen to my Italians?

3)  I'm in Michigan, and I really can't find anything out there about how I can get really good Russian stock in my area.

Thanks!

[beek4018]

I ordered a package for my first hive and it came with Italians and a Russian queen, So, I'll have some sort of hybrid.

So far I'm on all Italians (as it's too early for the Russian brood to start hatching.

But the queen has been a machine. Nice brood pattern, and lots of it.

I'll keep you posted when the Russians start arriving in a week or so.

[TheMasonicHive]

Do most people use purebred Russians and what advantage will this have over me having Russian/Italian Hybrids?

Seems to me that having the hybrids won't present a substantial enough difference that would make it worth the investment, but I could be totally wrong, and would love to be told that I'm wrong.