What Bees Would You Recommend?

I always recommend ferals or Italians for first timers. Leave enough room between them to set a super and work comfortably.Place them in full sunlight, no shade, if you have hive beetles in your area. Face the entrance south, east, or in between. Elevate the hive 16 in. or more if you have skunks in the area. Electric fence if you have bears.

 

I would research nucleus colonies (nucs).
When I started out I got 2 nucs, put them in my hive bodies, and never looked back.
I never had to feed them thus no robbing. I tried feeding going into my first winter and it was a robbing frenzy. I realize sometimes weather prevents them from building up enough stores for winter so feeding is necessary.
This year I got 81 lbs. of honey from 3 nucs. They all built up to 3 deep hive bodies and the top box is full of capped honey (plenty of stores for winter).
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

I'd say get bees from an apiary that has been operating in your area for a long time. That way you are more likely to end up with a strain that is well adapted to local conditions. If you already have a bunch of drawn comb from your last hive, then packages may do well. If they have to start with nothing, then the packages will take a long time to get going and are not likely to produce a surplus the first year, where nucs might.

 

#1~ nuc colonies as ed suggested.....#2~what pete said.....#3~ carnis......lol: going against the italian suggestion, but my humble opinion in the northern states, you will have better success with carnis for overwintering success.) or #4~ feral bees.

actually, getting one of each, italian and carni, you will learn differences that will go towards your learning experience. lot's of factors contribute to robbing. distance apart? like iddee said, just leave enough room to work comfortably, and other suggestions he mentioned.

like ed said, good luck and keep us posted and don't hesitate to ask any of us why we suggested what we did.:grin:

 

If I was keepin' bees in THE MOTHER LAND then I would be thinking about new world carnolians... is Tarheit still sellin' bees up in Ohio? there should be other choices of folks close by who locally produce either packages or nucs. is cheezer still around? that is two and I am guessing there are likely others.

ps Ohio is a fairly large state so much like Texas 'close by' may well be a relative term.

 

I would follow RB suggestion and get one of each. I also like the idea of looking for local apiaries and seeing what they have.
Good luck!

 

I would order a couple of queens from Mike Palmer [VT] and requeen the hives. You would get very winter hardy queens that are pretty long lived. His bees are mostly Carnis but are well acclimated to northern winters.

 

Pistol hit the nail on the head.

 

I definitely agree with getting local bees! Where are the packages you are ordering from? If you can't get local packages/nucs try to get local queens and re-queen the packages.

Good luck!! :thumbsup:

 

Get bees from an established local apiary that doesn't import packages from the sun belt.

 

I agree with getting local bees. If you have a state inspector give them a call and see who they recommend. Also, your local club. Both helped me this year recommend 1 beekeeper who I'll be going with 2014.

 

My State Inspector wants to buy bees from me

 

The old political adage is: "all politics are local." I think that is especially true with bees. Follow the above advice and find bees as close to you as possible and preferably from a long standing beekeeper. Good luck. Oh, and those wee creatures are fun. They are sometimes frustrating, but they are still fun. They will make your life more relaxing.

 

Hi Spaztck, Glad to see a little set back is not going to deter you from pursuing beekeeping. Persistence pays. You might contact BlueSky Bee Supply in Ravenna, Ohio. I don't know how close they are to you, but they might know of a reputable beekeeper to get nucs from. Their phone # is (330) 297-6655. I recently ordered some glass bottles from them and was pleased with their service. They certainly could recommend a breed of bees to go with. I live a little south of you, in the Kansas City area and we almost all go with Italians. The build up in the spring suits our climate and they over winter just fine here.

 

Contact Blue Sky

Hi Spaztck, Glad to see a little set back is not going to deter you from pursuing beekeeping. Persistence pays. You might contact BlueSky Bee Supply in Ravenna, Ohio. I don't know how close they are to you, but they might know of a reputable beekeeper to get nucs from. Their phone # is (330) 297-6655. I recently ordered some glass bottles from them and was pleased with their service. They certainly could recommend a breed of bees to go with. I live a little south of you, in the Kansas City area and we almost all go with Italians. The build up in the spring suits our climate and they over winter just fine here.

 

Hi Spaztck, Glad to see a small set back hasn't deterred you from beekeeping. You might try contacting BlueSky Bee Supply in Ravenna, Ohio. http://www.blueskybeesupply.com Their phone # is (330) 297-6655. They could give you some advice on where to purchase nucs or packages. I recently purchased some glass bottles from them and their customer service was fine. I live a little south of you in the Kansas City area. Around here we mostly do Italians because the spring build up suits our climate. A few do Carnolians, but those are the long time beekeeps with the bulk of their hives Italian.

 

Hi Spaztck, Glad to see a little set back is not going to deter you from pursuing beekeeping. Persistence pays. You might contact BlueSky Bee Supply in Ravenna, Ohio. I don't know how close they are to you, but they might know of a reputable beekeeper to get nucs from. Their phone # is (330) 297-6655. I recently ordered some glass bottles from them and was pleased with their service. They certainly could recommend a breed of bees to go with. I live a little south of you, in the Kansas City area and we almost all go with Italians. The build up in the spring suits our climate and they over winter just fine here.

 

Hi Spaztck, Glad to see a small set back hasn't deterred you from beekeeping. You might try contacting BlueSky Bee Supply in Ravenna, Ohio. http://www.blueskybeesupply.com Their phone # is (330) 297-6655. They could give you some advice on where to purchase nucs or packages. I recently purchased some glass bottles from them and their customer service was fine. I live a little south of you in the Kansas City area. Around here we mostly do Italians because the spring build up suits our climate. A few do Carnolians, but those are the long time beekeeps with the bulk of their hives Italian.