[bhfury]

I know this might seem like an ambiguous question, but which Italian bee stock is best for almond pollination and who sells it? If you have time to elaborate on "why" the choice is the best I would appreciate it.

Thanks for the help.

 

[alpha6]

From my experiences I am moving away from Italians and to all Carnis for Almonds. If you are there to feed them, Italians will do fine however I find that Carnis shut down quicker when the flow stops in the fall, use less stores over the critical months before almonds and are quick to build up going into almonds. Just my two cents. I am sure that Italians work very well for some and can have very large populations going into almonds but for myself, our area and how I manage the hives the Carnis are the best choice for the way I operate.

 

[Beeslave]

I can't give the answer to what line of Italians are best but I am doing the opposite of Alpha. I am going away from the carni's to all italians. For the WI flows I found that the carni's shut down to easy and the last 3 yrs it has been my Italians that have done the best for honey production and populations for almonds. I've had good success with the Parks line Italians. This year I added some Aurea's(Latshaw line) and Parks/Wooten. The Parks line were my best producers last year for honey and the strongest hives in the almonds.