Been looking for some time for the RIGHT one because they they are not easy to come by or are for sale everywhere. Thats right a Russian NUC

- of BEES, lol. Have wanted to try them for sometime as they should be better adapted to or MN winters. We are more interested in bees for pollinating than honey production so we are looking for something hardier than the southern bee types.

I thought it was a military rifle, lol

You are leading some of us on.

some of the guys near me that have them hate em.
say they are swarm crazy

I have a neighbor half a mile from me with them. At least three times a week from May to July I'm getting a text or call telling me a swarm is heading my way. This is at the same time my italian mutts are done with that nonsense in April.
They wake up way later than mine and swarm well into the dearth.

Even Carl Webb says they're not for everyone.

Me too...LOL

I was overheard at a holiday party telling someone I was looking for a Russian Nuc that had several homeland security/military people in attendance, a lot of heads turned and I had to do some fast clarifying. After explaining I think they would have thought I was a more reasonable person if what I was after was tactical rather than Honeybees.

I know Northern European dark bees have some different habits but they are adapted to being shut up for longer winter periods that I am hearing from those who have them around me are finding very successful at surviving our winters and much shorter summer season. Our blooming season is barely half the year. That is what Dark bees are adapted to. I agree they are not for everyone. We are only planning a hive or two(of the double frame deep horizontal long box design, lots of bee space).

Not a Bee guy, but I thought I read that Mason bees do more pollinating then honey bees do and are easier to raise.

Drakej--Keep us posted on your experience w/ the russians.

Apples to oranges. Mason bees are solitary bees with short flight distances measured in hundreds of yards. Being a native species they are more efficient pollinators of native plants. As for keeping, they really aren't kept in the same manner as honey bees. It's more akin to putting out birdhouses or martin gourds hoping for insect control.

Honey bees are eusocial with colonies numbering in the thousands with ranges measured in miles. As for efficiency honey bees use size and numbers to get the job done.

I'm just getting started with beekeeping and have been trying to decide which bees to go with. I like the fact the Russians seem to be known for their cold weather survival but all the swarm talk has me concerned that I'd be better off starting with Italians.

I have a few hives. They are usually , in the hives from Nov to april. They will come out if weather becomes real warm, for a short cleansing flight, although many of them end up in the snow bank, unable to return. I have noticed a couple of hives , emerge sooner than others. . Mine are mutts, but seem to winter well, If you leave them lots of winter resources, and help them out a bit in the spring. Good luck with your nucs. old243

Buckfast seem to be a good breed also. Good luck.

I have a couple of Saskatraz hives going and they seem to be quite hardy. Has anyone else tried these??

Anything that sounds like a gun gets people jumpy.

^^^ Any Vote is better than not Voting ^^^

I have had excellent results with VSH Italians and am on my second year trial of Minnesota Hygenic queens I got from Louisiana. So far they look good but I will know more in 3 months when I split them.

I will say, I prefer the temperament of the Italians....

That is exactly how I advise new beekeepers here in Georgia. Italians wrote the book, if bees had rules italian stock is the most likely to fit those rules. However, each colony is it's own rule and the variation between races and stocks are all variations on a theme. Usually minor variation especially when you understand that outside of Sue Cobey's closed program there are no pure anything bees in the Americas.

A northern european stock may very well be the best stock for Iowa but as a new keeper don't pay premium price for starter bees until you know you can keep them alive first (but don't pay for cheap garbage stock either). Your best option if available would be local stock from another successful keeper.

Just me but carnies like Palmer in NY raises would be on my radar if cold winters were a concern.

Russian bees are all dark colored, noted for running on the frames and building false swarm cells. I tried them years ago when they were first offered and did not care for them due to the running on frames, difficult to find the queen and trying to guess if it is a false swarm cell or not.

Buckfast bees were some of the best years ago but if you order them from Texas, where they use to be great, they will not guarantee no African genes. The queen you order is good most of the time but as soon at the supersede they get mean as snakes.

I would not recommend Russians to a beginning beekeeper. They are, as said, slow to build up in the spring and the other items.

We are way ahead in the North part of Arkansas this year. Some of my hives have two hand sized areas of brood already. This should be happening in late February. This means a lot of bees will starve to death in the last part of Jan, Feb and first part of March if we have severe periods of cold weather. Honey will be just inches away but they will not break the cluster around the brood to make the move to the honey and will starve.

TrapperKent
45+ years of bee keeping.

A word on Minn Hygienic, it's based on recessive genes and is easily lost when open mating unless the drone stock is controlled for genetics. I really liked the ones I had, probably same LA source, but the traits didn't carry over in my splits. I later confirmed this straight from Spivak herself.

I had a colony of bees from Texas. Let's just say they were very quick to upset!

Chris