Friendliest / Friendly Bees?

[maverick]

Ive been beekeeping for more than ten years. Started with a Buckfast package from B Weaver. Trying to find a friendlier more productive variety I later on I ordered an All-American queens from R Weaver, then all-star from a different breeder (only to discover that its all-American and they buy from R Weaver). In the past few years the bees have been absolutely nasty despite introducing NWC queens.
somehow I'm becoming more allergic to multiple stings. I'm wondering what do you guys recommend as friendly to handle and productive variety and why do you like it and whom do you recommend me buying from?
We don't need to worry about winter hardiness since I'm in southern California.

Thank you so much in advance for your suggestions.

[beeweaver]

Maverick, BeeWeaver here... what is going on, happy to help. You should be able to work your bees comfortably and reside by them without issue. If not, and you have a BeeWeaver Queen heading that colony, let's make it right.
~laura

[bhfury]

Maverick, BeeWeaver here...let's make it right. ~laura

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Cordovan bees are supposed to be very gentle. Do a search on posts by Joseph Clemens here on Beesource; As I recall he lives in Arizona in an Africanized bee territory and has some success keeping his bees gentle by focusing on Cordovan bees. Pure cordovan bees are so yellow that if they get superceded and you see dark bees in a previously Cordovan hive you have a visual indicator that it happened.

[muskratcreekhoney]

Make double-dog sure that they are not getting nightly visitors.

[maverick]

Hi Laura:
Thank you so much for your response. In now way I was disparaging BeeWeaver or voicing any dissatisfaction.
To the contrary, I actually was ordering from you guys for several years until I wanted to experiment with " the friendliest / most productive" queen out there. I had nothing but pleasant experience with you guys.

Adrian: I was told that Cordovan are extremely friendly to a fault of not resisting mites. though I'd love to give them a try soon. Ive been chemical/medication free for the past six seasons and counting on staying that way.

[beeweaver]

Thank you Maverick. Have a great season and enjoy your beekeeping endeavor... 6 seasons chemical free, not many beekeepers can say that.

[Stonefly7]

Maverick,

Are you wearing gear when you work your bees? There's a good discussion on what we perceive as mean bees on the "General Forum". I also have the Buckfast genes, and yes they can be aggressive. But mean is when they hit you getting out of the truck, not opening a hive.

But for me aggressive = huge production. They are bees! The German Blacks we used to work were more aggressive,

But like you, we have been treatment free for years. That is one of the many attributes of the Buckfast gene. I save $ on treatments, and am able to put that back into the operation.

I hope you are able to find the gentleness you want, and still be healthy and treatment free. Keep us in the loop.

Kind regards

[NeilV]

Fat/Beeman on Beesource sells queens that produce really gentle hives. He is treatment-free, and the bees are more of a Carni/Russian sort of bee.

Pendell's Apiary in California sells very gentle, very productive Cordovan Italians.

[maverick]

Stonefly7,
actually part of the problem is that family members are getting stung 150 feet away from the hives for no apperent reason. My father was stung near his eye picking peach nearly 170 feet away with no one working the hives. his face looked terribly swollen and droopy ).
as for me I wear three layers including socks when I open the hives; I can't take a gamble. and even with smoke some just keep smacking against the Vail and that was supposedly NWC workers.

[Michael Bush]

http://bushfarms.com/beesrequeeninghot.htm

If they are stinging people who are not near the hives, requeen. Sooner is better than later as they will only get stronger.

[Stonefly7]

Ditto Michael if that's the case. Mine will boil out at me, but the grandkids can be 50 ft away and not bothered.

I would draw the line as well. My yards are not near population. Good luck,and get new stock asap, don't wait.

Kind regards,

[Beeman410]

I agree.. if people are getting hit 150' away especially when no ones working the hive, re-queen asap, that ol girls gotta go...

then again, like someone else said, make sure their not getting raided at nite...
I have a trail camera setup just for that purpose.

[PDG honey]

3 banded Italians. Russell apiaries has them and they are quit nice. I have a few hives of that line at my house, no more than 30 feet away from my front door. Chose them for there gentleness. 1st generation russian/italian can be very aggresive. The 6th generation isn't that bad. AMM are very mean as well.

[maverick]

Michael Bush,
Thank you for the link. I'm in awe of your website.
its quite informative for a hobbyist like me to read such detailed recommendations from a pro. tank you for taking the time.
as for requeening, this why I requeened last year using NWC queens, yet the hives remained aggressive throughout the summer not to mention several unusual incidents of honey robbing like swarms. I've seen in in small numbers but not like the instances I had last year.

Musckratcreekhoney & Beeman,410
Thank you for comment. I actually know for a fact that they aren't "getting raided at night " but thanks for the reminder. the only content visitors I had few years ago were ants. then I discovered tree tanglefoot. painted on the sides around the stone that I use as a stand it will catch any thieves. I also think it prevents ants from caring diseases from one hive to the next. at least that's my hope


PDG Honey,
Honestly I've never encountered that name/ variaty before. Who is a selling of those queens?
Thank you.

[Michael Bush]

If it's only one hive it could be that it's still genetics and you just had bad luck again. If it's several hives, then it seems more likely that you should investigate other causes. Skunks harassing the hives or kids throwing rocks at the hives can cause them to be overly defensive. Look for wet piles of dead bees (skunks) or scratches on the entrances (skunks) or dents in the hives (rocks from kids).

[dalboel]

"Let the bees tell you"- Quote: Brother Adam
www.buckfast.biz

[thomas]

Do not mention Bees from B.Weaver i have a hive of them that was given to me from a guy that said they turned mean. The original queen is still in the hive but you can not work them without having so many bees coming at you and they will meet you when you walk into the bee yard she is a great layer but they are so mean. I have heard so much about the buckfast that when he asked me to take this hive i was glad but now i regret getting these hot bees but a lesson learned never get hives that are mean as snakes i have very gentle hives here but this hive is to mean you cannot walk around the yard in peace i would suggest getting cordovans or carni's.


thomas

[dalboel]

Must have been random mated. Maybee Italian drones

[rrussell6870]

You mean Russian/Italian right?