WHICH Breed Of Honey Bee Should I Get?! Beekeeping 101

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To continue on with my beginner beekeeping series....today I'm chatting about what is the best breeds of honey bees from my own experience. There are so many options to chose from when you first start beekeeping so hopefully this can help you chose what options will be best for you. If you have any questions at all please free to drop them in the comments! If I get enough questions then I will do a beginner beekeeping Q & A! Thank you so much for being here my fellow beek family :)
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beekeeping, beekeepers, best honey bees, Michigan beekeepers, beekeeping in a northern climate, overwintering bee hives, overwintering beehives in a northern climate, nucleus colony, package of bees, 10 frame deep, how to start beekeeping, beginner beekeeping, varroa mites, how to, honeycomb, day in the life of a beekeeper, equalizing, entrance reducer, robbing screen, breeding queens, breeding program, survival stock, treatment free, brood breaks, frugality test, wintering bees in a cold climate, over wintering nucleus colonies, 5 over 5 nucs, brood nest, cluster size, varroa mites, pollination hives, pumpkin pollination, Michigan queens, Michigan queen breeders, frame feeders, sugar water, sugar water ratio, fall feeding, preparing for winter, motivational, beekeeper problems, beefit beekeeping, how to become a successful beekeeper, reasons not to be a beekeeper, should I be a beekeeper, should I quit beekeeping, getting ready for spring beekeeping, my bees died.

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2 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 94

@elsabadenhorst9746 4 месяца назад

Africa bees are the best !! I have 6 hives in my garden in South Africa and they are the best seceurity system and produse a lot of honey.

@williambates6811 7 месяцев назад

Your Carniolian bees sound more like Italians to me. Italians require more food than other breeds to winter here in Maine.

@rstlr01 7 месяцев назад

Definitely agree with this! We don’t have any pure breed bees here in the US but they definitely sound like they’re leaning more Italian, which would make sense given location.

@davidryle1164 7 месяцев назад

It sounds like you have I talians and Carniolans reversed, honestly.

@davidryle1164 7 месяцев назад

@Lesssssk hello, I run Carniolans exclusively, periodically buying in a A.I. Carniolan breeder queen to keep the lines as pure as I can achieve. Honestly, I can't vouch for Carni X, but I will say that true Carnis are as gentle as you can get. I rarely wear anything beyond a veil and I consider it a rough day if I get four stings.

@lenturtle7954 7 месяцев назад

WHAT YOU SAID my bees are a mix and there arent any vicious bugs in the group carnolian caucasian and Italian and many mixed . I firmly believe high production depends on the way the beekeeper sets the hives up to collect .more than the variety .

@jaredgodwin5956 7 месяцев назад

So true! My experience has been the reverse too.

@Jos-scifiwriter 3 месяца назад

😂 I thought the same thing when she was describing Italians 😂 the worst hive I have ever seen was a queenless Italian. It was vicious. Carnolians in my experience are gentle, amazing honey producers that will fly in overcast and much colder conditions in southern New Zealand than Italians.

@L0RD0ftheSt1ngs 3 месяца назад

Sorry but your description of Carniolan's do not sound at all like carniolain bees. Cariolan traits should be more winter hardy and use less stores. SO I am not sure where your getting your carniolan bees but it sound to me like they are not sure bred carniolan bees your getting. As for saskatraz, those are just a mutt breed they gave a fancy name too and sell for a premium. It is a complete gimmick, they are so cross bed that they can't stabilize the traits.

@martprice7726 7 месяцев назад

I used to import Carniolian Queens and sell them I don’t anymore I really don’t like this breed of bee. I don’t like the way the queen will fly off the frame when you’re doing an inspection and she will disappear and hide even when in full lay she can just fly off. Swarms are usually higher up in trees, because the queens are so flighty. The good side to this breed is the Queen’s mate, very easily because the Queens like to fly. ❤

@Faithbasedhomesteading 7 месяцев назад

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

@gregwaskom552 7 месяцев назад

You have mutts. The only bees close to being pure are Russian if you get it from a member of the Russian queen producers group. Carries from Sue copy or Caucasian from Sue Corey. Only because she imports the drone semon from Europe. Pretty much te rest are mutts. No tre Italian

@DonCoe757 7 месяцев назад

Would clipping the queen help with this flighty problem?

@martprice7726 7 месяцев назад

@@DonCoe757 yes, the only way to stop them

@microfarmers 3 месяца назад

I'm a new beekeeper, and this video really helps me. Thanks

@Jerry-wc6uh 2 месяца назад

Absolutely awesome learned a lot

@joshtibbs6377 7 месяцев назад

I think everyone is going to have a different experience with any “breed” of apis depending on location, food sources, and the way they are kept. If you split hives they are all mutts unless you can control the drones your queens mate with… good luck lol. I do know that certified Russian breeders have to have a minimum number of hives to receive certification. I’ve heard they are fine temperament wise as long as you requeen with a Russian queen. If they do swarm(and they’re not particularly swarmy) and they mate with a drone in your area…they are straight up horrible! I’ve worked Russian hybrids and it was like someone turned on a faucet of seriously pissed off bees. I’ve been getting some queens out of Louisiana that are vsh/poline . I did see a drop in mite counts. However every time I split I’m mixing in genetics from drones in my area. I will say this….the queens I get back after mating in my area have been absolute rock stars as far as build up go. I’ve also found that if you’re looking for wax machines….catch swarms. I know I know nobody wants swarmy bees but if you need to fill out foundation, swarms can fill out frames fast! Bees that make a lot of propolis tend to have much less problems with disease and pests in my experience. Just my couple cents.

@benjamindejonge3624 8 дней назад

Probably, ENGLISH WEAVERS, the most hygienic bees meaning 100% mite proof and most customised for you Michigan climate, the thing is that your Euro named bees are completely cross breed and very different than the original bees we have here in Europe self.

@lieslhallman6549 3 месяца назад

I got Italian bees for my apiary

@erfrye 7 месяцев назад

Buckfast bee breeder in Texas and Canada.

@TheSonic1685 5 месяцев назад

I agree with william and david, I think you've mixed up your bees. You can get a rough idea by looking at the bees to see how dark or light they are. But the best way to identify is by looking at the queens, Italians are pure gold in colour, and Carniolans are black.

@BlanchardsBees 7 месяцев назад

I'll take Local Mutts all day long🐝🐝

@benjamindejonge3624 18 дней назад

I’m only allowed to keep local bees saying apis melifera iberiensis. They don’t produce much and are a bit spicy, greetings from Ibiza

@johnparlow9755 7 месяцев назад

Totally agree with your insights on local bees and their survivability in cold weather.

@geraltofrivia8529 7 месяцев назад

i think as beekeepers we forget how many feral colonies are in the area, surviving year after year sending out swarms and the preferred % of drones (1/3 or 1/5 can't remember). A couple of small fields and a hollow tree is all it needs to sustain them. It is highly likely that virgins coming into the area will be mating with at least one of the feral drones. All of my bees, are from swarms, although the different queens are readily recognizable.

@Attalla2023 2 месяца назад

Photos of the types of bees. Dark Russian. Yellow Italian etc

@jstokes57 Месяц назад

Unfortunately I'm too elderly to keep bees and live in the city. I do enjoy your presentations and your voice, not to mention your beautiful. Keep up the good work!

@PassionCommunityChur 7 месяцев назад

Hey Emily! Thanks for your videos. I have learned a ton from watching them. Quick question for you.... I had an Italian hive my first hive and they were wonderful. I was able to go to two deeps and a super. I didn't;t take any honey from them. Feed them sugar in the late fall, and also gave them a quilt box. Sadly they died sometime around Christmas. I should say I am from NE Ohio. They never clustered and the queen was still laying. These bees were a nuc from a local bee keeper. I am wondering if I should have done something different to prepare them for winter. When I realized they were gone I opened up the hive found the queen looking like she died laying an egg. I know it could be any reason why they died but mites were low, under 1, and they had plenty of food. Could they have just not known to cluster and if so how do I fix that for this year? Finally I assume it would be fine to use the resources to the new package that I will get towards the end of March? Thanks again!

@heavymechanic2 7 месяцев назад

Hi, I'm in the pointed part of Virginia and have similar conditions. In late summer, I start preparing for winter by feeding pollen patty in small amounts during the dearth to build the population before the fall flow to store food. I use an insulation board under the top cover to reduce condensation (fill the quilt box with insulation). Look at the air leaks between hive boxes, air gaps can freeze your bees, cardboard strips or tape can help. In the past, I nearly lost small colonies from poor fitment of hive bodies, last fall I cut a moving blanket, wrapped it with black plastic and used elastic paracord to wrap the hive and all these are alive. In Nov, I use 2-3 apps of Oxalic Acid Vapor to rid the hive of mites and my over wintering success is really great using sugar bricks if the hive needs more food.. Some tips that may help you with success!

@JosephBasumatary776 7 месяцев назад

I am glad to watch your channel. I am from India and I am a Beekeeper. Kindly do help me

@redbone5363 4 месяца назад

I love Carniolan so much I found a way to get most of them through winter. Place a screen on top and put an empty super on that, then fill it with cedar shavings, top it off with an insulated top. I have 10 hives near my garden and when I ran Italian, I had to suit up to run a tiller or mower or weed eater anywhere near them. The Carniolan are also better if you have close neighbors. To me the carniolan make beekeeping more pleasurable.

@craizihorse3230 6 месяцев назад

I started last year with a single hive. I started with a Saskatraz queen. She did really well and came out super strong out of wither. No treatment or feeding. I'm in NY. Hope they do really well this year

@jeremyhitchcock9182 5 месяцев назад

I've had great luck with mine.

@jaredgodwin5956 7 месяцев назад

I think you confused the Italians with Carniolans. Everything you’ve said about Carniolans are widely considered to be Italian traits and everything you’ve said about Italians are widely considered to be Carniolan traits. For example, Italians are more productive than Carniolans and Carniolans start and finish preparing for winter before the Italians and are better at it in colder climates. Italians build up in the spring earlier and faster than Carniolans and Carniolans are darker in color (mine are mostly black). Also, Carniolans are known for being conservative with their food stores and Italians are known as the opposite. I don’t know what you had, but it doesn’t sound like they were Carniolans. I suggest getting a few Carniolan queens from BetterBee or the New World Carniolan queens from California (look up NWC queens).

@LeandroZuniga-jm6xc 6 месяцев назад

Most of what she said is misleading.

@craxen1 3 месяца назад

Ive been using carniolans for like 6 years, the variety we can get here is quite pure, but suffers from exactly what she says, poor survival, high mite loads, builds up early, swarms readily, the local districts have had up to 60% losses even with treatment three times with various systems.i got really tired and switched to a italian /buckfast like. They are exactly what she describes as her italians, goes faster in spring than anything, builds boxes/ week with brood and really produce lots of honey, you can split them in three and they just keep going, and so kind to work with, we are talking Swedish climate here, cold but warming winter short season and often rainy July, so may-june is the main part of the season wintering in starts in August

@jaredgodwin5956 3 месяца назад

@@craxen1⁠The United States does not have a pure bred Carniolan program. Instead we have mutts since the United States does not allow honeybee imports anymore. Our best Carniolan program is the New World Carniolan (NWC) program. Long story short, they back-traced the genetics of honeybees from the United States to Canada to as close as they could get to Carniolan genetics. Then they did extensive selective breeding targeting the positive Carniolan traits and characteristics. I suggest you read about the New World Carniolan (NWC) program on their website. It’s really interesting and from personal experience I find that their queens are fantastic.

@Anti-woke774 7 месяцев назад

I have great luck with overwintering carniolans and love them i also have great luck with them and there mite resistance because i started out only adding hygenic bees and in my opinion they are the second best breed for being frugal with there honey stores also have Caucasians they are the most frugal in my opinion but not the best honey producers i have italians i dont like there robbing and attitude on some of them i have cordovans in my opinion nothing is a better brood producer than a cordovan i had a one frame swarm in late September that is in a double deep packed full of bees right now and i robbed four frames of brood from them they are a very mellow bee not the best honey producers because they produce soooo many bees i have had russians and not wearing a bee suit they are definitely not much fun to work the ones i had were not very friendly ive had saskatraz they never made it through a single winter i have buckfast also mixed in my genetics now so now several years into my bee breeding hobby i have mutts with great genetic diversity and all i use is oxalic in the fall and spring every year i pick half a dozen queens or so and graft new queens and add them into the mix i also get new queens now every few years to keep the genetic diversity and assess them for a year or two before i graft from any of the new ones i will say I ordered several queens from little bits honey bees from don the skinny bee man they were the little bits open mated diversified queens they really jumped my breeding forward several years with the breeding they are mixed genetics buckfast,ankle biters,mite maulers,new world carniolans they are a great cross and serious honey producers i only pulled honey from ten of my hives last year and got just over 220 gallons

@Ksenia0707 7 месяцев назад

So happy I found your channel!! Really informative. Thank you!! 🥰

@britoa17 4 месяца назад

Informative misinformation

@muleskinner485 3 месяца назад

Hon you have plenty to learn about bees

@johnmarshall6572 7 месяцев назад

A true Russian bee colony is a Monster! I have run Russians for the past eight years. They winter small and blow up once pollen comes in the hive. I pulled 9 full supers off one of my hives last year!

@DonCoe757 7 месяцев назад

What part of the country are you in?

@johnmarshall6572 7 месяцев назад

East coast of VA . Tidewater area!

@Shotgunwizard91 4 месяца назад

i have russian/italian hybrids. i had 2 hives and both left during the winter. i caught a swarm off one of them almost 2 weeks ago. hopefully theyll do good.

@Dude_its_Lyz 7 месяцев назад

I ordered 2 nucs from a guy who is an AI breeder. Thats how he produces his queens and you can choose an AI bred or naturally mated. I chose naturally mated.

@johnparlow9755 7 месяцев назад

I really love this channel. I'm a beekeeper from Green Bay. I have great luck with overwintering carniolans and their honey protection is only exacerbated if you use the Demaree method. Unbelievable production. I haven't had too many problems with mites or beatles.

@whitetailedboss 6 месяцев назад

I’m just north of you and I’m picking up my first two Nucs from Let it bee 🐝 in a couple weeks. Go Packers 🧀

@Jos-scifiwriter 3 месяца назад

Yes absolutely agree from southern New Zealand 👋 give me carnies any day👍🐝

@hootervillehoneybees8664 7 месяцев назад

Wish I had half your energy. I just spent 1.300 on 3 new VSH breeders . One is Italian/Adrian pure VSH. Other 2 are the poll 2.2 .. I ran F1 last year they had no problems dealing with mites.

@LIL-RED-BIRD 7 месяцев назад

I’m trying to get the culls from the university of Guelph honey bee research center 😂.

@pugsabi 7 месяцев назад

Texas bee supply had Golden Cordovans if you ever want to get into them.

@brendawydeven2934 6 месяцев назад

Are those from Randy Oliver?

@miketrevis2047 7 месяцев назад

Disagree on Italian's, very friendly here for 4 years

@khatpaufridaytalks2670 7 месяцев назад

Melifera melifera Caucasian Carniolan Melifera Italica Syrianica

@brucejarrell5707 7 месяцев назад

A Texas gal in Michigan!!! This is outstanding!!!!!

@digitaltracking2140 7 месяцев назад

carnies vs Italians is about 90% wrong. but yeah, how else can you support the 50 million $ package bee industry.

@dcsblessedbees 7 месяцев назад

There is no "best" breed of bee. They are just different, and yet all the same. I have Caucasians coming this Spring with hybrids from a 20+yr breeding program. ATM I am running predominantly Carniolan, I also have 1 Russian queen left and 1 feral swarm colony. My mentor runs mostly a Ukrainian line was brought over decades ago. I had a carni go 3 deeps, a big thing I have found with carni you want to have "living" space and "work" space for them or else they seem to wana swarm a lot.

@heavymechanic2 7 месяцев назад

Ms Emily, I keep a few hives of a native swarm (possibly German) open mated with Italian/Carolinian stock. Also had Sakatraz and OHB Carolinian to share their hygienic gene into my queens. For some reason, grafting OHB bees was a fail every time as the bees even tore down ripe cells.. IMO the Carolinian line brood up later, the Italian are the first to build up.. I saw my bees chasing beetles and rarely see them unless the colony is in a cluster, traps only get a few. Most of my bees come out of FL or CAL and are a mix of the two adapted to the Appalachian mountains in Virginia.

@michaelwalker2091 5 месяцев назад

I can vouch for Saskatraz bees. I fed them all Winter, just to get them to Spring. Slow build up and eventually, like you, had to give them bees from another colony. Very calm but I would rather have a honey producing hot hive than feed a colony six months for no ROI. I do have Buckfast bees. Great over wintering ability, build up fast in the Spring, great honey producers, and yes they will swarm.

@richardvogel1195 7 месяцев назад

I prefer local bees. The absolute funnest part of beekeeping is swarm trapping. It seems the wild/local bees are tough, and fare producers

@angelad1008 6 месяцев назад

My original bees were SOOOO gentle, but I lost that original queen in a swarm. I've been rolling with whatever feral genetics are in the area with each successive generation. They got meaner and more winter-resilient, which I suspect is attributable to a lot of ankle biter drones locally. I leave them alone as much as possible since they're so irritable, but they fit my beekeeping style, except for the stings through my suit and the holes they chewed in my veil...

@brianschrombeck7313 7 месяцев назад

Agreed........my Carniolans over winter way better than Italian. Unless they mate with local bees.......in my experience

@Tuner9069 5 месяцев назад

My personal experience is that Minnesota Hygienics are the best. They're not only Hygienic but also calm.

@brendawydeven2934 6 месяцев назад

I got Caucasians and Carniolan mix. Seems to do better in Wisconsin in cold damp weather. Sue Cobey lines.

@warrenoutley5413 6 месяцев назад

I had Russians they produced good but they were the meanest bees I’ve ever had they made Italians seem very nice .

@yourgreymattermatters 3 месяца назад

First season newbee over here! Been down many Wabbit holes searching for too-dos and not-toos and you're cool to watch & learn from. Your seamless way of 'doin the knowledge dump' is great!..I grabbed 2 packages of Saskamatraz for my first so thanks for scaring the beegeezas outta me! 😎 So far So good, their mellow disposition maybe a little too, Mellow. they are slow at comb! but seem to be getting a little more "inquisitive" and spunky with continued feeding to date. One colony notably further along than the other yet both still faster than a friends of the same purchased same place, same day. I have been told Im foolish for feeding this time of year. My gals are beginning the race in the outside lane having New deeps and supers to draw vs friends drawn comb boxes and one colony that already bolted (Saskatraz) having bought his 2 pckgs the same day. Now watch I'll wake up and my gals are all at Ohare getting clearance for take off! They are definitely pumped up more with the feed and blowing through it with comb crews rate of progression noticably increased! I'll let ya know how things turn out. Thanks 4- Beeing you!

@beefitbeekeeping 3 месяца назад

You are not foolish feeding this time of year! Where I am currently located, all of our nectar and pollen sources just shut off from all of the rain we’ve been getting so even in forced to feed and our pollen parties on so that they stay at the size I need for them to also build out comb. It sounds like you are doing great! And I can’t wait to hear more ☺️♥️

@sonofthunder. 7 месяцев назад

Cordovan

@David_Talks. 5 месяцев назад

I’ve got Nuc of golden cordovans coming this week. 👏 I’ve heard they are super gentle

@rickydavis5422 7 месяцев назад

How did you introduce the Italian bees to the Saskatraz in order to build the hive? Newspaper method?

@P_S_I_H 7 месяцев назад

Карника на карнику не похожа, они должны быть 100% серые.

@LeandroZuniga-jm6xc 6 месяцев назад

Bad idea to start with packages, you start with nucs

@kellycarpenter9350 7 месяцев назад

sas flys in colder weather . ! maybe .

@brucecummings3238 5 месяцев назад

Very good video thanks

@adaminman1081 7 месяцев назад

What kind of right hand drive vehicle are you using? I drive one for work but rarely see anything but left hand drive vehicles.

@ScottPurcell 7 месяцев назад

Her video is mirrored. You can tell by the text on her shirt.

@adaminman1081 7 месяцев назад

Gotcha. Thanks.

@KajunHomestead 7 месяцев назад

👍👍👍

@saliglmm2579 7 месяцев назад

🇲🇦👍👍

@pat7777100 5 месяцев назад

You're not babbling. How do you think we learn? We learn more from a person that talks like you. Than these other people Can. you actually show us stuff? You have a great channel. Thank you for all your hard work. Keep it up I know people learn a lot from you. Thank you very much I do

@wadebarnes6720 7 месяцев назад

I seen something today I ain't never seen a swarm of bees come in today.

@beefitbeekeeping 7 месяцев назад

Ha! What?! Where are you located?!

@wadebarnes6720 7 месяцев назад

@@beefitbeekeeping South Carolina in the middle of the state they are logging about a mile from the house maybe they pushed down a bee tree. If not this is the earliest swarm ever here that I know

@JacobToler-fe9ku 7 месяцев назад

Do yo sell any

@beefitbeekeeping 7 месяцев назад

Yes I do! I have pre orders up on my website beefitbeekeeping.com/product/2024-overwintered-michigan-nucs/

@saliglmm2579 7 месяцев назад

Salam 📞🙋

@P_S_I_H 7 месяцев назад

может кто-то из читающих знает about You for You для украинцев? для меня, я хочу переехать в сш чтоб быть пчеловодом, буду рад любой информации, спс or snks