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Differences in Races of Bees

Find online presentations on the differences between races of bees, including Africanized Honey Bees, Buckfast, Carniolans, Caucasians, and more. Explore the characteristics, behaviors, and traits of each race. Visit the website for ebooks and additional resources.

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Differences in Races of Bees

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  1. Differences in Races of Bees

  2. Presentations online Before you take copious notes, all these presentations are online here: http://www.bushfarms.com/beespresentations.htm My book is all on my website. Ebooks are available from my website.

  3. Bee Camp http://www.bushfarms.com/beescamp.htm Apprentice: http://www.bushfarms.com/beesapprentice.htm

  4. Bees vary more from colony to colony than from race to race.

  5. Common races in North America • Africanized Honey Bees (AHB) • Buckfast • Carniolans • Caucasians • Midnite • German or English native bees • Italian • Cordovan • Starline • Minnesota Hygienic • VSH (aka SMR aka Harbo) • LUS • Russian

  6. Africanized Honey Bees (AHB) • Look just like Italians but typically smaller due to natural comb • Sometimes extremely defensive • Swarmy • Abscond easily • Maintain small colonies • Hardy • Healthy • Vigorous • Disease and mite resistant • Reproductively advantaged

  7. Buckfast • Marked like “leather colored” Italians • More frugal than Italians • Used to be gentle • Good wintering ability • Good spring buildup • Productive • Tracheal mite resistance • Minimal propolis

  8. Carniolans • Fly in slightly cooler weather • Winter hardy • Quick spring build up (could seem swarmy if not monitored for this or allowed space to brood) • Productive • Winter in small clusters • Shut down brood rearing when there are dearths.

  9. Caucasians • Black bees with silver grey hair • Propolize excessively with a sticky propolis rather than a hard propolis. • Longest tongues • Slower spring buildup • Gentle • Less prone to robbing • Less prone to drifting

  10. Midnite • No longer available • Was a hybrid cross of two lines of Caucasians • Later became a hybrid cross of one line of Caucasians and one line of Carniolans • Hyper expression of Caucasian traits

  11. German or English native bees • These were the typical wild bees from the time of colonization of North America to the 1970s or so. • Do well in damp cold climates. • Tend toward being runny (excitable on the combs) • Swarmy • Otherwise typical traits of the darker bees such as Carniolans

  12. Italian • Reasonably gentle (perhaps not as gentle as Caucasians) • Vigorous • Not frugal • “Brood rearing fools” • Prone to robbing • Prone to drifting • Productive

  13. Cordovan • In theory Cordovan is a color • In reality it is a strain of Italians • Hyper Italian characteristics • Usually very gentle • Occasionally very aggressive

  14. Starline • No longer available • Was an F1 hybrid cross of two distinct lines of Italian bees • Hyper Italian traits.

  15. Minnesota Hygienic • As I understand bred from the remaining lines of the Starlines • Tested and selected for uncapping and removing brood • Otherwise typical Italian traits

  16. VSH (aka SMR aka Harbo) • Started with feral survivors collected and bred by Dr. Harbo • Chosen for suppressed mite reproduction (SMR) • Trait was “fixed” by close inbreeding • When SMR was linked to hygienic behavior, selected for Varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH) • Typical Italian traits for the most part.

  17. LUS Bees (Lusby’s) • A strain of the wild bees that have been living in Arizona for at least a century. • Less defensive than most stories about AHB but more defensive than typical domestic stock. • Has shown ability of laying workers to produce a viable queen. (Thelytoky). • Not prone to absconding or swarming. • Keep large colonies. • Quiet in dearths, hard working in flows. • Well adapted to the Arizona desert.

  18. Russian • A bit defensive, but in odd ways. They tend to head butt a lot while not stinging any more. • They are watchful guards • Don’t tend to be "runny" though sometimes they are. • Swarminess and productivity are a bit more unpredictable. Traits are not well fixed. • Frugality is similar to the Carniolans.

  19. Contact Michael Bush bees at bushfarms dot com www.bushfarms.com www.bushfarms.com/beesraces.htm www.youtube.com/c/MichaelBushBeekeeper www.patreon.com/Michael_Bush Book: The Practical Beekeeper

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