Denver Gardening Examiner

How To Find A Bee for Every Keeper

Not all bees are honey bees: the bee family has a large variety of members including bumble bees, mason bees, carpenter bees, cuckoo bees, and leafcutter bees. Not all bees make honey, and some bees are even solitary. Some bees are don’t even have stings!

All honeybees are of the species Apis mellifera. Within this species, there are many breeds, each with their own unique characteristics. Some beekeepers prefer one breed, others another, just as some dog owners prefer labs and others poodles. Which breed is right for you depends on what you are looking for!

While few bees are “true” breeds (most have become crossed with other breeds at some point), some beekeepers carefully control the genetics of their bees to keep their hives as true as possible. Some beekeepers also carefully breed their bees to make hybrids (crosses between breeds). Most beekeepers even prefer to use “naturally hybridized” bees – those that are from feral bees that cross-bred themselves in combinations unknown to the keeper. These bees, whether bred from one’s own hives or caught in the wild, are sometimes more adapted to the local environment than more carefully bred bees. These bees are sometimes sold under the breed name that they most closely resemble.

When buying bees, therefore, it is important to inquire thoroughly with the seller as to how true to type their bees actually are, and if possible examine them yourself.

Genetics and handling both work together to cause an individual hive to be more or less gentle, productive, and otherwise “good” when compared to other hives of the same and of different breeds. More than selecting a breed for its good qualities, it is a better idea when possible to select a hive for its own individual qualities. While it is possible to buy an established hive that you can inspect for temperament, it is more usual that the beekeeper does not meet their hive until the Queen establishes it in their apiary.

Italian: Sometimes called Golden Italian, these are the most popular honeybee. They are best known for their gentle temperament, excellent honey production, and low tendency to swarm. It is also considered one of the least disease resistant bees, especially for mites. They will raise brood regardless of conditions: this can be a benefit by having a quicker start to the season, but can also lead them to exhaust their stores and need supplemental feeding so they don’t starve in the winter. They will also rob other hives of honey when pollen is not highly available.

Carniolan: Carniolan bees are very gentle, and they build up their populations very rapidly in the spring. Because of this, they are more likely to swarm if not given sufficient room for their rapidly growing populations. They build excellent combs but don’t produce as much honey as Italians.

Yugo: This breed over winters well and is not prone to swarming. It is often selected for its disease resistance. This breed was registered with the USDA in the 1990s as an improvement on a Yugoslavian Carniolan breed. Since it is a new breed, it is not highly studied nor highly available. Those that do sell it have often hybridized it with other breeds.

Caucasian: These bees take longer than Italians to build up their population in the spring. They build more propolis than Italians; they also have longer “tongues” (proboscis) so they can gather from flowers that other breeds cannot. They are considered to be more likely to rob other hives and also more likely to sting when handled when compared to many other breeds.

Russian: These bees are considered as gentle as Italians but more disease resistant. They only raise brood when conditions are favorable, which can delay their early pollen collection and thus lower the amount of honey produced; however they are also less likely to starve in the winter because they will keep the population at a sustainable level.

Cordovan: This is not actually a breed, but a genetic trait. It is a recessive gene that most often appears in Italians. It is desired by some because it affects the coloration of the bees, making the queen more easy to locate.

German Black: These bees went feral in America hundreds of years ago after they were introduced to this continent. They are ill-tempered and are not considered very suitable for honey production.

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