Hello I am looking for any breeders that may have a black bee that is gentle and can handl mites. I have been searching for the old midnite bee and i think no one sells them any more but if you guys know of some one that could help me please let me know. TOM
I ain't certain what you might be looking for Tom since 'black bees' could mean almost anything. However I have tried a few of the fellow from this listed web site's carnolians which were very nice and as a breed (actually kind of a rediscovered breed of bees) are likely as resistant to mites as anything else you can put your hands on for a fair price. www.honeyrunapiaries.com
you might try micheal bush in nebraska I believe he sells queens that are from the old black german bees But my theory is there is no such thing left as the true black bee. while every once in awhile i see a black bee going in and out of the hive i'm going to start a riot with the comment that. Here it goes. Wait a minute i'm baring the door putting on the helmet and loading the sling shot . there now, ready for war. Here it is " Bees are like the people of this great country. There is no such thing as any strain of bee these days. they are all mutts from open breeding of the importation of different strains of bees. Just like the white man is not native in america but a mix of several different strains of people imported into the country. ( insert smiley of guy hiding behind wall here) :drinks:
Rat, you can take your helmet off around me, i agree :thumbsup: .What they called German Black bees when i started beekeeping in the sixties, were a common bee along the Big Sac river in St. Clair Co. Mo. They were a bee no one wanted to keep (those babies were mean).Their drones mated with my Midnight bees and my uncle and i had to burn two hives of them, they were so mean.With the influx of several beekeepers bringing hundreds of hives into the area (for sumac honey) they have disappeared, i think through interbreeding. We now have a dark three banded bee that's a little bigger than the German Black was with a better attitude but still a little hot.Breeds of bees come and go and were left with mutes that someone takes and and puts a name on it and a new breed is born. After that statement i'd better find me a helmet :mrgreen: Jack
I am curious about these black bees. We have a swarm hive that is much darker and smaller than our Italians. We don't know what they are. They are so small they were able to crawl through the bottom board slits until we blocked it with some wood. This hive is pretty gentle.
I agree with Jack and Iddee, I had several hives of the small black german bees and they were a force to recon with.
my original mentor's bees were German Black bees. Bad to the bone were those girls... they would run you down a half a mile from a yard just to end their little miserable life. Brother Adams made a few comments (in regards to observation he made about the Isle of Wright disease) which should suggest to almost everyone that with the arrival of the trachael mites the German Black bees were likely done.
