By Waugsberg – eigene Aufnahme – own photograph, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Cathy Isom has covered many different areas of raising and care of bees. In todays program, she tells you about five breed of honeybees, and a little about finding the common breed of honeybee that is right for you. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
When it comes to honeybees, there are more than just one species and domesticated breed for a beekeeper to consider.
The Italian Honeybee may be the best bee for beginners, because this subspecies of the Western honeybee is not an aggressive bee which means it has little interest in swarming. It takes a lot for this honeybee to want to leave its hive.
The best bee for combating varroa mites is The Russian. These honeybees have a handful of unique traits that make them a desirable common honeybee for keepers. However, they can be challenging to come by in some areas, mainly since they were first imported to the United States in the ’90s.
The best bee for Intermediate beekeepers is The Buckfast. This is a hybrid bee developed to overcome mite infestations. However, this honeybee is known to be aggressive both towards humans and other bee colonies.
By Richard Bartz, Munich Makro Freak & Beemaster Hubert Seibring, Munich which gave me advice and a protection suite 😉 My dog caught 6 bee-stings on the nose, i caught 4. – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link
The best bee for cold climates and also known as one of the calmest bees is The Carniolan.
The best bee for pollination is The Caucasian, thanks to its super long tongue that can reach into the deepest flowers for foraging.
I’m Cathy Isom…