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In the
United States, beekeepers work primarily with the
Western Honey bee, otherwise known as Apis
mellifera (there are four species of honeybees
in the world) . There are many BREEDS (or
subspecies if you prefer) within the A.
mellifera family to choose from and work with.
Each better known type is listed below with some
brief notes about their characteristics. We
recommend you research each to find the type you are
interested in BEFORE you purchase. The breeds below
are presented with the most commonly used first.
(The following information was compiled from many
sources but primarily from Wikipedia.com)
Golden Italian
- Apis Mellifera Ligustica
The Italian honeybee is the default bee that
beekeepers use. The Italian is generally
considered the best general-purpose bee, and
thereby is what is most often recommended to the
beginner. Italian bees are also the most common
stock bee, and likely are the race to be found
in packages.
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Pros and Cons of the Italian
Honey Bee |
|
Pros |
Cons |
-
Good beginner bee
- Readily
builds comb
- Light color
worker, with dark queen makes
queen locating easier
- Wonderful
foragers
- Only moderate
tendency to swarm
- Relatively
easy and calm to work with
- Resistant to
European Foul Brood
- Strong
cleaning behavior
- Lower range
propolis producer
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- Brood rearing
continues after honey flow
ceases
- Builds a
great deal of brace and burr
comb
- Highly prone
to drifting
- Head buts
beekeeper as defensive action
- Short
distance foragers, causing
tendency to rob
- Slow spring
buildup
- Susceptible
to Disease
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Carnolian - Apis Mellifera Carnica
The Carniolan honeybee (Apis
mellifera carnica) is a subspecies
of Western honeybee. It originates from
Slovenia, but can now be found also in
Austria, part of Hungary, Romania,
Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Serbia.
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Pros and Cons of the
Carniolan honey bee
|
|
Pros |
Cons |
-
Earlier
morning forager
- Forages on colder and
wetter days than most
other bees
- Overwinters well on
small stores, as queen
stops laying in the fall
- Rapid
build up in early spring
- Exceptionally gentle and
easy to work
- Brood
production is dependant
on availability of
supplies, hence more
food more forages, less
food smaller population
- Less
susceptible to brood
disease
- Creates less brace and
burr comb
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-
Swarms
easily when no expansion
room is available
- If
pollen is scarce brood
rearing greatly
diminishes
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Caucasian - Apis Mellifera Caucasica
The Caucasian honeybee originates from
the high valleys of the Central
Caucasus.
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Pros and Cons of the
Caucasian honey bee
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|
Pros |
Cons |
-
Large and
Strong population
- Calm
when on comb
- Overwinters well by
stopping brood
production in the fall
- Forages earlier and on
cooler days
- Has a
longer tongue than most
races and can thereby
take advantage or more
nectar sources than
most.
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-
Slow
spring startup
- Produces an abundance of
propolis, which may be
beneficial to propolis
collectors, but makes
the overall hive more
difficult to work.
- Makes
wet capped comb, which
is poor for honey comb
sale
- Once
brought to a level of
alarm they are difficult
to calm and easily
stings.
- Susceptible to nosema
- Prone
to rob
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Russian - Apis Mellifera
The Russian honeybee have evolved traits
of natural mite resistance due to heavy
selection pressures. They have lived for
more than 150 years in a region that is
home to the varroa mite and the tracheal
mites (Acarapis woodi).
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Pros and Cons of the
Russian honey bee
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|
Pros |
Cons |
|
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-
Expensive
- More
prone to swarming
(likely every year)
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Buckfast
- Apis Mellifera: hybrid
The Buckfast hybrid was produced by Brother Adam
of the Buckfast Abbey. Brother Adam crossed many
races of bees (mainly Anatolians with Italians
and Carniolans) in hopes of creating a superior
breed. The results are what is now know as the
Buckfast Bee. While the European variety of
Buckfast are considered very gentle, the
American variety is far more defensive. There is
a debate among beekeepers if this defensiveness
is due to breeding for varroa resistance or
partial hybridization with the AHB (Africanized
Honey Bee) of the Buckfast line in America. The
issues are further clouded in that the two
leading American queen breeders are breeding for
varroa resistance and are also located in AHB
territory. AHB are usually considered by most
experts to be more resistant to varroa than the
European Honey Bee.
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Pros and Cons of the
Buckfast honey bee
|
|
Pros |
Cons |
-
Highly Tracheal
Mite Tolerant
- Extremely
gentle, with low sting instinct
- Resistant to
Chalkbrood
- Low swarm
instinct
- Overwinters
well
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-
Builds up slowly
in spring
- Poor early
spring pollinators
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Starline - Apis Mellifera: hybrid
The Starline is an Italian hybrid known for its
vigor and strong honey production.
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Pros and Cons of the
Starline honey bee
|
|
Pros |
Cons |
-
Good brood
producers
- Creates large
honey crop under correct
conditions
- Minimal
propolis buildup
- Fast spring
build up
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-
Poor at
overwintering due to large
population
- Offspring
queen often do not have same
traits as mother, may require
common requeening
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Yugo Honey Bee -Apis mellifera ?
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Pros and COns of the Yugo
honey bee |
|
Pros |
Cons |
-
Low swarm
instinct
- Overwinters
well
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-
Not highly tested
as it is a newer breed
- Long term
keeping effects unknown
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Cordovan
Honey Bee -
Apis Mellifera ?
Closely related to the Italian race, cordovans
are used mainly for tracking the genetic makeup
due to the wide variance in color.
Feral Honey Bees -
Apis Mellifera ... -
While not technically a race in its own, feral
honey bees are more likely to be acclimated to
the area in which they are found.
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Pros and Cons of honey bee
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Pros |
Cons |
-
Likely acclimated
to the area they are present in
- Often free to
acquire
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-
Must be captured
(or allow for known species to
breed with feral drones)
- Unknown
background, may be Africanized
- Not bred to
be disease or mite resistant,
but may hold some resistance to
local conditions
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German Black
Honey Bee - Apis Mellifera Mellifera
The German Black bee, also known as the European
dark bee, was the first honeybee imported to the
Americas. This distinctly marked bee is brown
and black in color and over winter well.
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Pros and Cons of the
Cordovan honey bee
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|
Pros |
Cons |
|
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-
Aggressive
- Slow Spring
build up
- Difficult if
not impossible to buy in the US
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Midnight
Honey Bee - Apis Mellifera: Hybrid
The Midnight hybrid is a combination of both the
Caucasian and Carniolan races.
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