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Offline Knucs

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #20 on: December 05, 2016, 12:00:03 am »
Lee, what do you think of Ferguson up in Ontario, Canada?

Perhaps Perry knows of this apiary & their reputation...

http://fergusonapiaries.on.ca/queens-buckfast-stock/shipping-and-pricing
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Offline Perry

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #21 on: December 05, 2016, 09:28:50 am »
Ferguson Apiaries is a well know breeder of Buckfast bees. He is advanced in age and a daughter is helping out quite a bit now. They are well regarded, even by some fairly well known names in the states.
My friend Adam and I bought 10 queens from him several years ago to try them out (5 each). All I can remember is they were unremarkable, but we are talking such a small number as far as comparison purposes goes a true comparison wouldn't be fair.
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Offline Lburou

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #22 on: December 05, 2016, 11:35:49 am »
I have heard of the availability of those Canadian Buckfast bees, but never been willing to pay the additional import costs.  Thanks for the report Perry, it may save me some money and trouble. 

Bees can recognize another bee that is not closely related to them, and in such cases are slow to accept that bee if she is a new queen.  I had some Minnesota Hygienic bees and they were absolutely hostile to the introduced two RWeaver Buckfast queens.  To the point they allowed one queen to lay TWO eggs, then killed her.  They made two queen cells from those eggs.  Those cells were constructed like emergency cells and were actually horizontal, touching the adjacent frame.  I unintentionally destroyed the cells when I moved the frame as I inspected for queen acceptance.  It took two more tries to requeen those bees.  The other queen swarmed the next spring.  My sample is small too Perry, but the outcome was clear enough that I don't want to try it again.  Didn't like the hygienic bees either, too much propolis and a bit nasty.    :)

The thought was that the Buckfast bee was developed in/for England, and may have a tremendous upside in that part of the world.  A strong scientific effort has been undertaken to keep several strains of Buckfast bees in Western Europe.  One of those queens would be worth trying if you live in England.  Just saying...    :)
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Offline Barbarian

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #23 on: December 05, 2016, 03:23:08 pm »
Lee .... Brother Adam developed the Buckfast bee in England. You would expect that this bee would be commonly used in England ...... this is not so. It is easier to obtain other types of Queens  ...... Italians, Carnies, Irish, Greeks ..........

Listening to the local grapevine, there can be problems with introduction of a new Queen of a different strain. If the Q is accepted, you can get the immediate result you required BUT there can be unexpected unwanted features. These features may take a generation or two to show up.

At present, the National Bee Unit and the British BKA are encouraging beekeepers to use local native strains and avoid imported stock.
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Offline Lburou

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #24 on: December 05, 2016, 04:23:32 pm »
That says a lot, thank you for clearing that up for us.  :)
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Offline Mikey N.C.

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #25 on: December 11, 2016, 02:00:30 pm »
Me and a few other beeks here are new to this hobby we know quite a few other beeks that are at a 10 mile distance with different genetics.  We were thanking of possibility do a drone frame swap this spring to diversify drone geneswith feral and hive bees. Is that a good idea ?
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Offline Lburou

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #26 on: December 11, 2016, 02:04:39 pm »
Quote from: Mikey N.C. on December 11, 2016, 02:00:30 pm
Me and a few other beeks here are new to this hobby we know quite a few other beeks that are at a 10 mile distance with different genetics.  We were thanking of possibility do a drone frame swap this spring to diversify drone genes with feral and hive bees. Is that a good idea ?
If the genes are a net improvement, yes.  If not, no.  I suspect they are already mixing.  A queen has been documented flying up to 11 miles to mate.  Drones less than that.  :)
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Offline iddee

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #27 on: December 11, 2016, 02:06:49 pm »
At 10 mile, not needed. Drones from their hives will be in your hives anyway. Drones "barhop" from hive to hive during the summer and may end up many miles from their birth place.
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Offline Mikey N.C.

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #28 on: December 11, 2016, 02:34:51 pm »
Iddee , hope you ate feeig betye.  We have 6 hives of Wayne's. Was worried when if we can split next yr. Whats going to happen to new queens genetic.?
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Offline iddee

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #29 on: December 11, 2016, 04:38:47 pm »
Mikey, how about editing your post. I ain't ate nuttin'.
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Offline Mikey N.C.

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #30 on: December 11, 2016, 06:00:10 pm »
Hope you are feeling better.
Don't have a clue how that happened.?
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Offline iddee

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #31 on: December 11, 2016, 06:10:04 pm »
Wayne's bees have never been drone controlled. The resistance seems to travel with the queens.
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“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
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Offline Knucs

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #32 on: December 11, 2016, 11:58:31 pm »
Speaking of drones bar hopping, a beek from Terrace, BC told me of a study where marked drones were found, like 100 miles away!
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Offline Perry

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #33 on: December 12, 2016, 07:06:47 am »
I heard about a study done in Beaverlodge Alberta where they strung virgin queens out every mile, and then released a bunch of drones at mile zero. Drones found the queens at mile 20!
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Offline Knucs

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Re: locally adapted?
« Reply #34 on: December 12, 2016, 09:24:04 pm »
Must be the same study Perry,  and just like a fish story, things get bigger with time. Lol
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