Moonbeam or Buckfast ?

DoctorZ · April 20, 2012, 10:23:50 AM

BeeMaster Greetings

Has anyone had any experience with Russell Apiaries' Moonbeam Variety? I'm in Connecticut and I'm looking to get some hardy strains for the use in New England. Russell claims that they developed Moonbeams for use in Northern states but I don't understand that since they're in MS.

My alternate was getting a Buckfast girl from Ferguson in Ontario.

My cunning plan is to raise additional queens from a single Q for my 8 hives though I recognize that my Italian drones will dilute the strain.

Thanks in advance.

G

specialkayme · April 20, 2012, 02:40:02 PM

I have some Moonbeams on order, and I'm excited to try them out.

Don't focus on the "MS" location. Russell has yards all over the place, and he has special programs that work with operations up north to cycle through stock developed for Northern locations. The man knows what he is doing.

DoctorZ · April 20, 2012, 05:54:54 PM

Thanks, sir. Didn't know they had ops in the North.

Keep us advised on how your Moonbeams work out.

g

dronedave22 · April 20, 2012, 10:27:24 PM

Hi DoctorZ I am from Naugatuck,Connecticut. Welcome to the forum Mystic is a beautiful area, good luck with your bees.

DoctorZ · April 21, 2012, 07:36:12 AM

Hi DroneDave:

Thanks for the welcome. How did the winter treat you? I lost 75% of my hives. My second winter.

What variety of bees do you have? I have Italians but I'd like to branch out.

George

dronedave22 · April 21, 2012, 08:27:12 PM

Hi George I am really new at this, no bees yet lol. I am soaking up whatever knowledge I can first. I was interested in the Buckfast myself, but would love to find feral hives around here to add those genetics as well when the time comes. I've been looking at Russell and Weaver's websites. Sorry to hear about your bees figured they would have faired better with the mild winter we had?
DAve

DoctorZ · April 21, 2012, 10:05:21 PM

Dave: thanks for your last post.

On the feral swarm, I built a couple of swarm traps hoping to catch a swarm. I also figured that with 8 hives, one would swarm at some point and so I would try to catch it to retrieve the bees.

Currently grafting some queen cells using the Nicot system. One new Q from a spring package died and so I need to replace her quickly. It's my first attempt but it's another dimension of the hobby to learn about.

Hope you catch a swarm to get into the game. It's lots of fun. They are amazing creatures.

Best,

George