New BIBBA website

[Jon]

Harrison ford is behaving like a hybrid.

[gavin]

Exactly. I'll bet that he eats more as well.

[Trog]

Even AMM fight back if pushed too far

As indeed do quiet little wrens

[The Drone Ranger]

http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/sh...er-pollination
Even AMM supporters recommend Carniolans from time to time
Imports not an issue
Naughty Gavin , very naughty
Now before we all jump out of our various prams let's have a think
Is there an alternative to Commercial migratory Carnie bees or not ?

[gavin]

Of course there is, and you'll find that carnies are not as prevalent as you think. One bee farmer has been requeening his recent imports with his own selected strain (which is not of any particular race). One lost virtually all of his carnie imports along with his other bees (and may now have something else). Another told me that his carnie imports suffered more than his other stock in the following winter.

If Soft Fruit wants to try pollinating on that scale with just bees from hobbyists then he'll fail, so I was being honest.

All that talk of frugal Ammish/Amish shouldn't be taken too literally. Amm was and prob still is a very variable entity. Jon describes fast building types in NI and I'm sure that the original bee in the arable East of Scotland could be like that too.

Maybe Soft Fruit would like to go native anyway, and gain brownie points (and marketing advantage) for any (fruit) contracts he may have?

Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

[Jon]

Jon describes fast building types in NI and I'm sure that the original bee in the arable East of Scotland could be like that too.

The ones I was describing are headed by queens which originated in Waterford and Tipperary but they built up very quickly in NI and remain large colonies, still on double brood.
AMM has a historic range from Ireland in the west to the Urals in the East and you would have found huge variation in there - from bees which build up slowly to peak on the heather to faster building types. I mentioned earlier in the thread that one guy who runs 150 colonies in Waterford had a lot of them supered by 7th April. That is an early build up.

Maybe Soft Fruit would like to go native anyway...

Reminds me of one of the more bizarre statements in the Bibba magazine which claimed that northern flora need northern bees to ensure their survival!!!

[The Drone Ranger]

I was glad it wasn't me telling the truth then
I wouldn't point anyone in the direction of migratory beekeepers or bee farmers
No matter what bees they have and especially if they are importers
It's a reality check for me to see how flexible the policies on local bees and hybrids are
Crikey I'll be off to Colonsay with some of mine next

This is a bigger operation with 36 bumble bee hives I gather
http://www.countrysideonline.co.uk/t...ttish-climate/

[gavin]

DR, there are no policies, only personal preference.

Why the downer on migratory beekeepers? It is an ancient practice to shift your stock to the hills in summer, as old as agriculture itself. All kinds of beekeepers do it, large and small. The Robson family of Chain Bridge Honey Farm for example, and they are near native beekeepers who don't import.

This is a bigger operation with 36 bumble bee hives I gather
http://www.countrysideonline.co.uk/t...ttish-climate/

Did you see how well their £120,000 investment in blueberry bushes was going? Not sure how much of this is down to frosted blossom and how much inadequate pollination.

'Now without plastic protection in an exceptionally cold, sun-free spring the flowers on some of Calum’s blueberry bushes have aborted and gone brown. Others are in what he calls a coma. ‘It is one thing having a cool climate but we do need some sunshine!’ 2013 will be the second consecutive season when he will have very few, if any, blueberries.'

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi Gavin
I am fairly consistent I think
I thought your personal preference was to recommend only buying local bees
Also I though you were in favour of breeding back to AMM
I don't see how that is consistent with commercial beekeepers moving bees round the country
I suspect if there was less moving around of bees there would be less importation, hybridisation, disease risks etc
Would it make good sense for commercial bees to be moved from Berwick on Tweed to Aberdeen on mass ie Chain Bridge

[greengumbo]

DR, there are no policies, only personal preference.

Why the downer on migratory beekeepers? It is an ancient practice to shift your stock to the hills in summer, as old as agriculture itself. All kinds of beekeepers do it, large and small. The Robson family of Chain Bridge Honey Farm for example, and they are near native beekeepers who don't import.



Did you see how well their £120,000 investment in blueberry bushes was going? Not sure how much of this is down to frosted blossom and how much inadequate pollination.

'Now without plastic protection in an exceptionally cold, sun-free spring the flowers on some of Calum’s blueberry bushes have aborted and gone brown. Others are in what he calls a coma. ‘It is one thing having a cool climate but we do need some sunshine!’ 2013 will be the second consecutive season when he will have very few, if any, blueberries.'

Woohoo ! I have all of 3 blueberries ripening so might be ahead of the game Whether the redwings and fieldfares will beat me to them is another story.