Beekeeping/Honey Bee Races

< Beekeeping
The latest reviewed version was checked on 6 June 2013. There is 1 pending change
awaiting review.
Jump to: navigation, search

Bee on Blossom

There are several races of the honeybee. Each of these races has different advantages and
disadvantages linked to their original regional background. Each region likely has a differing
climate, topography, resources and predators. Because of difference in background, each race
of honey bees have evolved slightly in a different manner than their cousins allowing them to
better take advantage of their specific situation. Today the Italian Honey Bee is the most
commonly kept honey bee in the United States, conversely the Africanized Honey Bee is the
most feared and illegal to keep in may regions. Fitting somewhere between these two
extremes include many of the other races and the Feral Honey Bee, though technically not a
race in its own, it may be acclimated to the area in which it has been found. The following is a
partial listing of the races of honeybee that may be available to a prospective beekeeper, along
side is a brief amount of information regarding each race and some common advantages and
disadvantages with each.

Contents
 1 Africanized Honey Bee
 2 Buckfast Honey Bee
 3 Carniolan Honey Bee
 4 Caucasian Honey Bee
 5 Cordovan Honey Bee
 6 Feral Honey Bee
 7 Western European Honey Bee
 8 Italian Honey Bee
 9 Midnite Honey Bee
 10 Russian Honey Bee
 11 Starline Honey Bee
 12 Yugo Honey Bee
 13 References

Africanized Honey Bee

Apis mellifera scutellata
The Africanized honey bee, also known as the killer bee. Because of the media attention
received, Africanized bees have been given a bad name. This is not to say that they can’t be
more dangerous than standard honeybees, their representation has simply been blown out of
proportion. There have been several more recent breeding programs that have produced a
more gentle form of this race. This gentler form of bee has even become one of the more
sought after honeybee races in regions of Brazil.

Pros and Cons of the Africanized honey bee

Pros Cons
 Excellent honey  Overly defensive,
producer occasionally dangerous
 Strongly protects hives  Readily swarms or absconds
against predators  Difficult to keep near to
 Resistance to Varroa human habitations and
mites livestock
 Well suited to tropical  Overwinters poorly in
climates temperate climates

Wikipedia has related information at Africanized bee

Buckfast Honey Bee

Apis mellifera: hybrid
The Buckfast hybrid was produced by Brother Adam of the Buckfast Abbey. Brother Adam
crossed a great many races of bees with the British bee in hopes of creating a superior breed.
The results are what is now know as the Buckfast Bee.

Pros and Cons of the Buckfast honey bee

Pros Cons
 Highly Tracheal Mite Tolerant
 Extremely gentle, with low
 Not widely available
sting instinct
 Slow spring build-up
 Resistant to Chalkbrood
 Poor early spring
 Low swarm instinct
pollinators
 Overwinters exceptionally well
 Low amount of
 Well suited to cool, wet
brood during fall
climates
 Less honey or pollen
 Good honey producer
due to erratic spring
 Prolific queens (lay many eggs)
weather conditions
 Frugal - Low amount of brood
during fall (uses less honey
stores during winter)
  Packs brood nest with honey
for good wintering
 Curtails egg laying during
dearths
 Brood rearing ceases during
late fall
 Low incidence of chalkbrood
and wax moths due to good
housecleaning techniques
 Very hygenic
 Build-up rapidly once started
 Produces little propolis/brace
comb[1]
 Does well in cold/wet spring

Wikipedia has related information at Buckfast bee

Carniolan Honey Bee

Apis mellifera carnica

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
 Explosive build up in early  Likely to swarm
spring unless carefully
 Exceptionally gentle and easy managed
to work  If pollen is scarce
 May interrupt brood rearing brood rearing greatly
during times of drought diminishes
 Does not typically propolize
heavily
 Creates less brace and burr
comb
 Crosses well with other
varieties

Caucasian Honey Bee

Apis mellifera caucasica

Pros and Cons of the Caucasian honey bee

Pros Cons
 Purebreds not widely
available in U.S.
 Low swarming instinct
 Slow spring startup
 Large and Strong
 Produces an abundance of
population
propolis, which may be
 Calm when on comb
beneficial to propolis
 Overwinters well by
collectors, but makes the
stopping brood
overall hive more difficult
production in the fall
to work.
 Forages earlier and on
 Makes wet capped comb,
cooler days
which is poor for honey
 Has a longer tongue than
comb sale
most races and can
 Once brought to a level of
thereby take advantage
alarm they are difficult to
or more nectar sources
calm and easily stings.
than most.
 Susceptible to nosema
 Prone to rob

Cordovan Honey Bee

Apis mellifera ?
A genetic trait, usually found in the Italian race, cordovans are used mainly for tracking the
genetic makeup due to the wide variance in color.

Pros and Cons of the Cordovan honey bee

Pros Cons
 Usually found in strains of
Italian honeybees
 Attractive coloration make
queen location less  Consume large amounts
difficult of food in winter
 Superb comb builders  Italian cordevans may
 Very gentle perform poorly under
 Coloration trait is useful under cold wet conditions
in open mating based  The cordevan trait is
breeding programs recessive
 The cordevan trait may be
bred into any race of
honeybee
 Cordovan's ARE currently
 sold in the US

Feral Honey Bee

Apis mellifera ...
Feral honey bees consist of escaped swarms and unmanaged colonies

Pros and Cons of the feral honey bee

Pros Cons
 Not commercially available
(must be captured, or obtained
 Genetically diverse
through interbreeding with
 Often acclimated to
local drones)
the area they are
 Unknown parentage, may be
present in
Africanized
 May be captured for
 Not selected by humans
free
 Feral nesting cavities may
contain American Foulbrood

Western European Honey Bee

Apis mellifera mellifera
The Western European Honey Bee, also known as the dark or black bee, was the first
honeybee imported to the Americas. This distinctly marked bee is brown and black in color
and over winter well.

Pros and Cons of the Western European honey bee

Pros Cons
 Overwinter exceptionally
well
 Decent yield also in poor  Slow Spring build up
years  Not currently sold in
 Good sparetime beekeeping the US
 Needs very moderate food
supplies

Wikipedia has related information at European dark bee

Italian Honey Bee

Apis mellifera ligustica
Italian bees are the most common stock bee, and likely are the race to be found in packages or
as unspecified breeds and queens for sale.

Pros and Cons of the Italian honey bee

Pros Cons

 Good beginner bee

 Readily builds comb
 Continuous brood rearing
 Unparalleled comb
continues after honey flow
builders
ceases
 Only moderate
 More likely to starve during
tendency to swarm
long winters
 Relatively easy and
 Poor flight orientation,
calm to work with
highly prone to drifting
 Lower range propolis
 Aggressive foragers, causing
producer
tendency to rob

Wikipedia has related information at Italian bee

Midnite Honey Bee

Apis mellifera: Hybrid
The Midnite hybrid is a combination of both the Caucasian and Carniolan races.

Pros and Cons of the Midnite honey bee

Pros Cons
 Daughter queens will not resemble
 Very gentle
their mother

Russian Honey Bee

Apis mellifera ?

Pros and Cons of the Russian honey bee

Pros Cons
 Brood rearing is highly
 Resistant to Varroa
dependent on forage availability
Mites
 Increased tendency to swarm
 Resistant to
 Tend to propolize
 Tracheal Mite  Expensive
 Susceptible to Colony Collapse
Disorder
 Susceptible to infection by
Nosema fungus
 more availability
 Aggressive

Starline Honey Bee

Apis mellifera: hybrid
The Starline is an Italian hybrid known for its vigor and strong honey production.

Pros and Cons of the Starline honey bee

Pros Cons
 Good brood
producers
 Creates large honey
 Poor at overwintering due to
crop under correct
large population
conditions
 Offspring queen often do not
 Minimal propolis
have same traits as mother,
buildup
requires annual requeening
 Fast spring build up
 Well suited to clover
honey production

Yugo Honey Bee

Apis mellifera ?

Pros and Cons of the Yugo honey bee

Pros Cons
 Low swarm instinct
 Not widely available
 Overwinters well
in World
 Crosses usually produce
 Honey bee difficult
heterosis (hybrid vigor)
to locate
 Tracheal mite resistant