BEES ..an update?

[TenshiB]

My beekeeping "partners" (uncle and brother) and I drove down to Jesup, GA this past Wednesday and picked up 10 three lb packages of some lovely Italians (April 16 2014)! When we got back up to Thomson we began the hiving of these packages and one was sold to a "newbee" and we helped put them into his hive.. 4 packages went to a food plot hidden back in the woods. 2 packages went into two Langs (we build all our own equipment except frames and foundation) on an old man's property who has let us keep a Michael Bush KTB hive out there for over a year. 2 packages also went to hives that we've placed on my boss' property (ironically I work for an Extermination company) and one more went back on the property with the four packages in the food plot--only this last one was hived into another Bush KTB hive!

That, coupled with 4 hives that survived through the winter, puts us up to 13 hives! Next Saturday we'll be traveling to Comer, GA, to pick up 4 or 5 nucs from Mrs. Jennifer Berry.. ALSO I called a man named "Greg" at Z's bees in California and have two Cordovan Italian queens coming so I can give them a fair shake in some hives that need re-queening or splitting..

Anyone have any dealin's with Cordovan queens/bees? Pros and cons, please?

Just paint me excited!   [=!!!

[Vance G]

Your living the dream!   Hope you stay excited and meet success.

[drlonzo]

Cordovan Italian bees are very mild natured bees from what I have read.  They are primarily what CFKoehnen & Sons produce each year.  The Cordovan part is actually just a recessive trait that has to do with the coloration of the bees.  The queens are normally beautiful very light colored queens.  Easy to spot.  Their breed is just like any other Italian breed as far as it's gentleness.  Very prolific and broods up easily when there is either pollen or nectar.  However like any other Italian breed they require larger amounts of honey stores for the winter and they tend not to handle the cold climates real well.

[Joe D]

They are gentle.  I have a mixture of several different bees, a few years ago I got a Cordovan Queen to replace an old queen.  Those offspring are gentle enough that I have opened and removed frames without protective equipment and very little smoke.  They are in a TBH.  They do fine down here.  I have been getting mine from a local beek when he has extra.  I think you will like them.  Good luck



Joe

[10framer]

easy to spot the queen.  i have italian mutts but i have a cordovan queen and another that has the cordovan coloration but small tiger stripes. 
the striped queen is this year's queen so i can't say much about her.  the other one is the only queen in my yard that wasn't open mated there.  the bees are calm, they built up pretty fast and they seem to work as well as my other bees. 
my next round of grafts will come from this queen and her bees will be moved to an outyard assuming they turn out as gentle.  that hive also shows some signs of vsh traits.  they drag out pupae (mostly drone) now and then.
i'm not breeding for the color (but i don't mark my queens it does make finding her easy) but i do like some of that hives other characteristics.  i expect in the end you are going to get "italians" that carry a recessive trait and italians are pretty well suited to the south east.

[johng]

I like Cordovan queens. Almost all the daughter queens I have raise from my breeder queen are Cordovan. The Cordovan is just a color. I have heard that you could make Cordovan Carnolians within one generation so don't put too much on the color of the bees. Now with that said I really do like the Cordovan queens, it makes them much easier to find. I can often spot them on the next frame before I pull it out of the hive.

Sounds like you had a good time with your packages. It is a lot of fun.  :)