Early queens??

[Tatonka]

We're warming up into the high 70's here and the bees are getting pretty active. I still have one AHB hive I need to requeen. Anyone know of an outfit that has queens this early?

Eric
Chandler,
AZ

[Michael Bush]

Kona.

[Clayton Ross]

i am sure this has been ansered before but how is it that the ahb are breeding out the ehb and not visky verskey, i mean it was just a hand full of queens that got out right ? dont that mate with ehb drones ? are there anger genes that more dominate? i just dont under stand how it doest get bread out ageants the millions of ehb drones ?

[Clayton Ross]

dub post sorry

[ February 03, 2006, 11:40 AM: Message edited by: Clayton Ross ]

[Michael Bush]

>i am sure this has been ansered before but how is it that the ahb are breeding out the ehb and not visky verskey, i mean it was just a hand full of queens that got out right ? dont that mate with ehb drones ?

o AHB queens fly at a different time than EHB queens (and EHB drones) so it's a time when there are unlikely to be any EHB drones flying but there are AHB drones flying.

o AHB drones fly during a larger window that takes into account both the AHB queens' flight window and the EHB queens' flight window. So they are likely to mate with the EHB queens.

o The AHB queens emerge sooner and kill the rest of the queen cells in the hive.

o AHB swarm more, which means the COLONY reproduces more.

o AHB have been observed taking over an EHB hive. Like a swarm moving in, killing the existing EHB queen and taking over the EHB hive.

o AHB drones are smaller and faster than EHB drones and more able to catch the queens.

o AHB hives raise proportionately more drones. These drones drift to EHB hives suppressing the drive for EHB hives to rear more drones.

o Beekeepers minimize drone comb to supress the EHB making more drones.

o Beekeepers use large cell foundation which makes large cell bees which build larger drone cells which makes the EHB drones slower and less likely to catch a queen.

o Beekeepers cull out drone comb to try to keep the EHB from rearing drones.

o Some beekeepers use drone magnets (combs of drone comb) to try to prevent Varroa and remove even more drones.

[sqkcrk]

Michael, what about on the genetic level?

AHb queen crossed with EHb drones equals workers with AHb caracteristics, no?

EHb queens crossed with AHb drones equals workers with AHb characteristics, no?

I don't know or fully understand the genotype/ phenotype situation, but isn't that basically how things go with AHb and EHb crosses?

[Tatonka]

Mr. Bush,

Thanks for the Kona tip...

Eric

[Michael Bush]

>AHb queen crossed with EHb drones equals workers with AHb caracteristics, no?

I'm sure they get watered down some.

>EHb queens crossed with AHb drones equals workers with AHb characteristics, no?

I'm sure they get watered down some.

As I understand it, the problem isn't that they don't get watered down some WHEN these croses happen, but that the AHB have several advantages so they don't get watered down often enough. The bees with the most AHB genes usually pass them on at the expense of the EHB bees.

[FordGuy]

If (and I may have heard you say this before Mr. Bush) that feral colonies don't go directly to small cell, then in those areas that have AHB, why not weaken them by keeping them in 5.4 cell so their drones are large like EHB and at leastthat particular advantage will be diminished?