BeeWeaver is now accepting orders for package bees, April 2013

[mmmooretx]

Hi Andrew...I am new this year with one hive and lost all my bee's in september (did harvest some honey)...I ordered a package from Weaver of Buckfast; what kind did you order from them? I think I will order another package for 2013. I live in the Catskills NY so our weather might be similar....Deb

If they are Buckfest they are more than likely R Weaver bees. B. Weaver bees are hybrid Italian. Apparently there was a family split, reason unknown. Both have apiaries in Navisota TX, and B. Weaver also has apiaries in Austin TX (main office). Laura Weaver has written me that their bees have done well in the Northern states too. The R Weaver bees will probably do well too, but I do not know what they are breeding for there.
Best of luck!

[sfisher]

Andrew keep us posted on the experiment. How did you loose one of the hives? When you say they were fiesty, did you mean while they were being inspected, or otherwise. Thanks Steve

[Mtedcarr4]

I have had good performance out of the queens i got from them. Yes they are expensive too . While the hive is gone (bees are not fireproof) I can & will say they are good bees . there bees are a combination of there previous lines .,All American (Italian) ,Buckfast , SMaRt line (SMR)

[sfisher]

Tried to delete post but it wouldnt let me.

[mcwalsh]

We bought a nuc from BeeWeaver last year that failed miserably. Came with mature SHB in it - possibly infested with larvae too. That said, the nuc never really got off the ground properly because we had the driest summer ever here in TX in 2011.

This year we got one from BeeWeaver (have to like local sources for live animals, eh?) and one from CF Koehnen & Sons in CA. BeeWeaver had a fair few drones in the package. CF Koehnen had sent the bees through some kind of sorter, so we only had worker girls.

The BeeWeaver bees are A LOT more testy than the CA bees. The CA bees were a little slower to fill out the frames and didn't end up swarming. They are also a lot lighter in color and MUCH more gentle all around. But they bearded up the outside of the hive all summer long in the heat whereas the BeeWeaver hives seemed more resistant. Also note that those Bee Weaver bees swarmed because they'd gone crazy and totally filled in the hives much faster than we'd realized.

Laura Weaver is one of BeeWeaver's best assets -- really came through for us in a pinch when we had that swarm event and needed to requeen! SO, customer service is great.

We'll see how winters go for the various genetics . . .

[Andrew Dewey]

How did you loose one of the hives? When you say they were fiesty, did you mean while they were being inspected, or otherwise. Thanks Steve

Laying worker or drone layer discovered late in the season and with too small a worker population to requeen. As for "fiesty" - that characteristic shows on occasion when inspecting, but is hard to predict. I warned our state inspector that he might want to use gloves and the bees were great (and I felt like a paranoid fool.)

[Cloverdale]

:>)

[sfisher]

Andrew could you pm me your state inspector's email address, if you have it? Thanks Steve