Post by Jeremy Kosciuch on May 17, 2010 16:36:19 GMT -5
The thing I have found out about Queens is they are hard to find when you need them the most, especially around these parts. Sure, I could order 100 from Hawaii if I wanted, But being small-time and really into my bees, I can only handle a few hives with the rest of life. And I want QUALITY. Not downing those folks they do a good job and keep the bees going in these hard times. I prefer the more personal approach to queen rearing. I have had a small amount of experience in doing this myself, and it is tricky getting 1 right.
The reason for this tread is simple. I will post people good to deal with and get good results from, and hope anyone with a good experience will do the same. I will post mine first with explanations.
First of all I would like to say the Rossmans in Ga are terrific people. !they have good bees, and they are great to deal with if there is any problem, 3 they are probably the only folks you can get a queen from in October, I tried. Maybe I am wrong, but I couldn't find one anywhere but GA Bees. Good people and good bees is a great mix. Fred has a lot of years with the bees.
For the other two we go a little more scientific and mention Jennifer Berry, her queens are the cutting edge of breeding. Her yard is in NW GA, plannin to make a trip there w my daughter this summer with a load of winter honeysuckle bushes for her. They start bloomin around Christmas or so, and the bees love em on warmer days when they can come out. I have 1 of her queens now and couldn't be happier with the hive, the split and the 2 gal of honey I am getting off of that hive. Great bees, and I have drones galore in that hive and did it on purpose.
Last but def not least I speak of the folks at Zia queenbee in Truchas, N.M. Great people to work with and the queen I got from them is great as well. She did cluster up real small but bounced back in a hurry. She is an Italian based renia, from the southwestern survivor bee project. They fly when it's colder, build fast, and are gentle as the other two, well maybe not quite, but suitless and gloveless bees still. Maybe a little more inclined to buzz around during an inspection is all. I am waiting to see how much the hive contracts when things dry up around here, the summer is worse for the bees than winter here. They do put up a lot from the goldenrod sept and oct though. I think they wil lbe great survivors. They also have Italians for colder climates and you can get both with Carniolan based mothers as well.
Those three folks being mentioned, I will add that with the zia and berry queen, I am not having near the mite problem as with the rossman queen. But that hive was huge got 4 splits and 5 gal of honey in 3 months off that hive.
I plan to continue with Berry and Zia queens, maybe adding in a feral colony here and there, and I am also looking at the Weaver bees, but am unsure of crossing strains, the buckfast has a diverse genetic pool, just about every bee conceivable was used by brother Adam, even african bees. May be just a colony or two I don't know. I really look forward to any suggestions given from here on out.
beenatural101
The reason for this tread is simple. I will post people good to deal with and get good results from, and hope anyone with a good experience will do the same. I will post mine first with explanations.
First of all I would like to say the Rossmans in Ga are terrific people. !they have good bees, and they are great to deal with if there is any problem, 3 they are probably the only folks you can get a queen from in October, I tried. Maybe I am wrong, but I couldn't find one anywhere but GA Bees. Good people and good bees is a great mix. Fred has a lot of years with the bees.
For the other two we go a little more scientific and mention Jennifer Berry, her queens are the cutting edge of breeding. Her yard is in NW GA, plannin to make a trip there w my daughter this summer with a load of winter honeysuckle bushes for her. They start bloomin around Christmas or so, and the bees love em on warmer days when they can come out. I have 1 of her queens now and couldn't be happier with the hive, the split and the 2 gal of honey I am getting off of that hive. Great bees, and I have drones galore in that hive and did it on purpose.
Last but def not least I speak of the folks at Zia queenbee in Truchas, N.M. Great people to work with and the queen I got from them is great as well. She did cluster up real small but bounced back in a hurry. She is an Italian based renia, from the southwestern survivor bee project. They fly when it's colder, build fast, and are gentle as the other two, well maybe not quite, but suitless and gloveless bees still. Maybe a little more inclined to buzz around during an inspection is all. I am waiting to see how much the hive contracts when things dry up around here, the summer is worse for the bees than winter here. They do put up a lot from the goldenrod sept and oct though. I think they wil lbe great survivors. They also have Italians for colder climates and you can get both with Carniolan based mothers as well.
Those three folks being mentioned, I will add that with the zia and berry queen, I am not having near the mite problem as with the rossman queen. But that hive was huge got 4 splits and 5 gal of honey in 3 months off that hive.
I plan to continue with Berry and Zia queens, maybe adding in a feral colony here and there, and I am also looking at the Weaver bees, but am unsure of crossing strains, the buckfast has a diverse genetic pool, just about every bee conceivable was used by brother Adam, even african bees. May be just a colony or two I don't know. I really look forward to any suggestions given from here on out.
beenatural101