The SBA would be my first stop if I thought AI training was required
They don't do it at the moment but could probably fund 1 person to be trained on a "train the trainers" type program
Stirling Uni where the microscopy training takes place might be able to help with equipment
Am I correct in thinking a reasonable understanding of genetics is required by those operating/making decisions to justify II?
Last edited by Black Comb; 23-10-2013 at 10:14 AM. Reason: Spelling
Probably Black Comb
but if you live in most of UK where open matings will result in hybrid bees an awful lot of effort goes in to getting minimal results
After 50 years of BiBBa it's all still just the same as it was
All the big commercial breeding operations will use AI for the mother queens and line breeding
I'm surprised Drumgerry hasn't popped up because he has the right equipment presumably because he already has decided open mating is not going to work
Last edited by The Drone Ranger; 23-10-2013 at 05:39 PM. Reason: too long
No commercial beekeepers in N. Ireland DR so maybe the likes of me has more chance to make a difference via queen rearing groups.
Yes Jon absolutely agreeOriginally Posted by Jon
As far as I know there are no commercial breeders of AMM bees anywhere
I don't know if that is because they are unpopular except in UK
Possibly it's that there is no pure breeding stock available
Or it could be the ethos that buying a queen is wrong in some way
No-one is going to raise queens for a market that refuses to buy queens on principle
Galtee queens are not given away!
Bickerstaffe used to sell AMM queens which originated in Greece.
Coolmore as well
Amm also gets called Welsh Blacks, German Blacks etc if you google that.
None of this is large scale but there is clearly some supply and demand.
getting back nearer to the topic, Bibba needs to be part of this.
Last edited by Jon; 23-10-2013 at 10:12 PM.
Have you wing morphed any of them though Jon ?(other than galtee)
Here's the three cornerstones of Bibba
1)AMM only
2)Local bees
3)No imports
These are mutually exclusive in almost all of the UK
Not trying to be awkward here in any way
If I wanted to breed a single race then I could choose Carniolan and probably have greater probability of success than with AMM
here's a link if you like reading about this stuff
one or two grumpy comments but mostly informative
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/arc...hp/t-1817.html
Anyone starting with pure Carnica here in NI is very likely to have a very aggressive colony within a couple of generations.
Most of the people with Carnica are beginners who have no contacts and buy bees via the internet.
The situation in parts of Scotland is distorted by commercial beekeepers who have traditionally used Carnica but this year it seems to be Ligustica.
Next year we'll see the results of that mixing of genetics between Ligustica and local stock.
Here now I never suggested anyone should keep anything in Ireland or elsewhere Lol!!
You are right about Angus where I live there is a lot of commercial beekeeping
Scottish beekeeping is very varied though so I only know about one environment which is where I live in farming land
I guess people who live in the the heather areas get lots of late season migratory beekeepers plus the commercial stuff
One friend told me they woke up one morning to find 15 hives in a field on their property boundary about 100yds from their own two hives
This years influx of European Italian bees first crossings will already have happened in the OSR and fruit areas during Spring and Summer
I was a bit concerned, but at the end of the day hybrid bees have a bit of most races anyway, so they just get a bit more of one than another
Life goes on and its easily fixed if necessary
The Bickerstaff AMM bees are mentioned in the link I posted
I would have rather had NZ Italians turn up, their temper is better and they wouldn't have got through the Winter here
Last edited by The Drone Ranger; 23-10-2013 at 11:34 PM. Reason: turn up
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