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Sam Comfort colonies

4K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  Clayton Huestis 
#1 ·
Here’s 2 pics of 2 separate comfort colonies (sam’s vsh Carniolan). Both were over wintered as singles. They have been getting Laurie Millers sugar bricks since March 7th. I’m just hitting them with pollen sub. The temp outside was 37 F and was 6:45 pm when the picture was taken. We have no natural pollen coming in yet here. Just a plug for Sam as there are some nice looking bees.
 

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#3 ·
SP they recieved 3 rounds of oav. As routine treatment, I didn’t have time to monitor mite levels like I normally would have. They expressed great vsh uncapping at purple eye stage. I will say sam’s bees are very very local for me. They have strong TF traits. I you can see from the pics these bees can survive a zone 4 mans winter.
 
#5 ·
Here’s a pic of the comfort colony from above. Key things to note is I have changed to a 9 frame per box broodnest. Also frame 9 was just added as it was a division board feeder. These bees are extreme pollen hoarders. These bees are a bit friskier then some so should be worked with smoke. And they hate cell phones for what ever reads.
 

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#9 ·
I've moved on from Sam's queens. All have been "absorbed". Some showed resistant traits. Some were ravished by mites. I cannot comment on his current stock. Sam's breeding philosophy is a bit different than mine. Currently I'm interested in vsh carniolan and primorsky stock ( I don't use the term russian, russia is a big place with many types of bees). Things I like to select for: strong winter abilities. Honey. Dark drones. White cappi gs. Varroa resistance. My last big mistake was adding Canadian buckfast. Major spike in robbing. I had robbing very very low. Now I have to start over. Every decision in selection has its pros and cons. After all these years I've found that mixing 20 different race/ strains of bees is usually a bad idea. I've gotten off topic...
 
#11 ·
After all these years I've found that mixing 20 different race/ strains of bees is usually a bad idea.
True as much.

Mixing up is OK once.
After that it is best to no longer rock the boat and let the genetics play out - that takes time.
There is plenty in that pot as is.

People keep bringing the "fresh blood" across the continent is something I don't get.
Counter-productive.
 
#14 ·
Ruthie in the last 2 decades I haven't used robber screens ever. Production, winter nucs, and mating nuc could all be in the same yard with almost never an issue. After adding buckfast, robbing increased where the mating nucs are sometimes demolished. I hate robbing in my bees. I have tried for years to maintain very low robbing. I'm certain with italian bees thing would be out of control. No italian bees here for 30 years. The buckfast line were great bees. I wouldn't have crossed them into my stock if they were not great bees. Brood= awesome. Honey production= excellent. Mite resistance = poor. I could almost complete ignore robbing except for harvest. Now I have to pay attention. I'll PM you the breeder. He is a great breeder. I would never discredit or ruin his reputation. It just I personally have a low tolerance for robbing behavior. Most would consider it well below normal.
 
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