Taxonomy is complicated . The categorisation of animals and plants into family , genus , species and so on is subjective and often depends on who does the classifying and when .
This much of the lineage of honeybee is agreed upon . They belong to the genus Apis in the family Apidae . There are four to seven other members of the genus , all but one of Asian origin . Apis melifera , which is native to Europe and Africa , is the one that populated the Americas after being brought here by settlers in the other 17th century .
( Although North America is home to around 4,000 coinage of bees of the Apidae family , it has no autochthonal honeybees . )
A. melifera , our follow honeybee , itself has as many as 20 subspecies , each with its own distinctive characteristic . Does that fathom confusing ? Take center .
It turns out that choose a strain of honeybee is not that hard . And it ’s not nearly as important as selecting a beginning and a method of shipping .
Bee Choosy
It ’s disputable that honeybees in North America are mutts — a premix of trait that do n’t represent any pure subspecies . In their born home ground in the old universe , they developed in isolation , prevented from interbreeding by raw barriers such as mountain range .
They were imported to this rural area in waves . In the beginning , the peculiar subspecies depended on the region from which the colonist who contribute the hives originated . Eventually , importers brought queens in commercially , with various subspecies occur into trend at different time .
At first , there wereA. melifera melifera , the small , dark , German bee . They were good honey producers but were fast-growing and susceptible to disease . The Italians , A. m. ligustica , even practiced producers , possessed a gentle disposition and an attractive , yellow color .
A. m. carnica , usually known as Carniolans , occur from middle Europe . Their habit of cutting back on brood set up during ebbs in nectar menstruum heighten their ability to overwinter successfully in stale climate . But their speedy buildup in the spring required careful management to prevent exit from stream .
Caucasians , A. m. caucascia , were particularly easy but produced inconveniently large quantity of viscous propolis . For various reasons ( mostly because they ’re mean ) , subspecies spell from North Africa , Cyprus and Egypt did n’t get on at all .
learn more : Check out these 5 guideline to surveil when feeding your honeybees .
Blurred Lines
queen mole rat breeder defend democratic varieties , but the others survive on . Swarms established ferine colonies in which indiscriminate mating eventually confuse the distinctions between race . Because ( short of contrived insemination ) it ’s next to impossible to select the drone pipe that a queen mates with , even the commercially maintain subspecies likely underwent some genetical impulsion .
Then , in 1922 , Congress pass by theHoneybee Act . This banned all importing of Apis mellifera in an ( finally unsuccessful ) attempt to forbid the introduction of Asian parasites .
For almost 100 years , the various race of honeybee in this body politic have develop in isolation from their European and African progenitors . The lone elision is the migration , through our southerly border , of a South African race unintentionally released in Brazil .
The Africanized honeybees ( “ killer bee ” in popular parlance ) have lend their factor to the mix in our southern DoS . But that ’s a subject in itself .
With all that enunciate , the choice of stemma for a beekeeper today is between the only two readily available race : Italians and Carniolans . Italians remain the most popular and widely sell , but I ( and others ) personally opt the Carniolans . Of naturally , it is n’t quite that childlike .
Various Varieties
researcher have spawn several mixture , sometimes predict personal credit line , genetically choose for worthy feature . Most ontogeny in the past 20 age occurred in an attempt to produce honeybees immune to varroa speck — one of the greatest challenges facing bees and beekeepers today .
Some famous lines include :
Though these melodic line offer advantage , they are n’t always well uncommitted . apiarist should also know that genetic science associated with desirable trait rapidly dissipate as pullulate and succession take place and new queen mate with drones from other colonies .
The best option is to purchase quality bee , whether Italian or Carnolians , from a reputable seed . The condition under which breeders raised the bees might touch the health of the colony more than their genetic science .
Think of the conflict between buying a frump from a respected breeder and getting one from a puppy mill .
The of the essence ingredient is a honest queen . Because she is the only bee equal to of laying fertile egg , the viability of the settlement depends on her .
You desire a young but well - mated faggot — quality insufferable to ascertain by inspection . That ’s why the repute of the seller is crucial .
you could call for experienced local beekeepers and member of beekeeping associations for advice on where to grease one’s palms . Some chemical group dress bulk purchases for appendage , which reduces price and can hasten cargo ships .
Read more : Should market farmers keep honeybees ? Yes ! Here are 6 reasons why .
On the Move
Your bees ’ transportation method acting matters more in constitute a successful colony than you might think . There are three way for a new beekeeper to acquire bees :
Established hives , and the complications that come with them , can be overwhelming for a new beekeeper .
Nucs ( short for nucleus hive ) are starter colonies . They come in smaller corner with few frame , and they contain about 10,000 bee . Quality nucs have the vantage of having an accept , laying faggot , as well as drawn out comb , some brood and some solid food memory .
regrettably , they are in short supply — produced to ordinate — and have to be contracted for well in advance . Most apiculturist parliamentary law bees by the package . These are wood - framed , screened shipping containers , also holding about 10,000 bee , with a female monarch in a disjoined small container inside the larger package .
Bee Aware
Packages and nucs are usually sold by large commercial-grade trading operations in California and the South . other warm weather and plentiful nectar sources in these sphere enable a buildup of bee and queens . Suppliers then transport bees to other country of the country where saltation is just beginning .
That intend that most new bee originate far from their ultimate destination .
The method acting of transport should be the first consideration for the purchaser . Avoid shipping by mail . Bees adulterate on pallets in a tractor - house trailer or the hold of a woodworking plane can be subjected to extremum of temperature for several days . Some might be deadened on arrival or have less obvious wellness damage resulting in sawn-off life-time .
It ’s better to rank through a local beekeeping provider who handles transport in person and offers a guarantee . Or you could work with a group , rent a vehicle ( if necessary ) and have one or two member manage the move themselves .
If neither of those is possible , express shipping ( though expensive ) is another choice .
Inshort , the most authentic mode to produce bee is to ordinate either Italians or Carnolians from a reputable manufacturer through a local dealer . To paraphrase thestandard response of expect parent , “ It does n’t weigh which it is , as long as they ’re healthy . ”
This article primitively appear in the May / June 2019 issue ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
