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Thread: So, about this restocking .......

  1. #11

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    Gscot - there's no reason if you're interested you can't produce your own queens. Any beekeeper can do that with a bit of effort on whatever scale they want to. And with a bit of help it's possible to source native stock if you're proactive about it.

    What doesn't help the likes of Drone Ranger or Gavin in their parts of Scotland is large scale imports of non-native stock to flood the area with drones. Which is exactly what commercial beekeepers do as a matter of course and will do on an even grander scale with this latest scheme.

  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gscot View Post
    A Queen breeding program with proven hardy queens what ever the breed suitable to Scotland. as you say no pure AMM left I recon the bee farmers have tried and tested to find the best for them(crosses) I see most of you guys breed your own queens but will not have any for sale, Even the B man is struggling to supply.What we need is available queens for sale to the hobby beekeeper Would help to stop imported queens
    Lots of agreement with that sentiment regards availability of queens
    The queens I am raising may or may not be good doers with the right health and temperament
    In a breeding program consistency is the most important aspect
    Queen breeders try to develop a strain of bees with all the best attributes
    That needs some kind of controlled mating conditions or AI
    What I am doing this year is only intended to provide the right drones next year
    If beekeepers in a locality co-operate better results can be achieved, but not control of mating in areas where migratory beekeeping represents a very large proportion of the total bee population
    The breeding program therefor would need to be located somewhere where mating is less random

  3. #13

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    Why dont we get together and develop a new Queen a Scottish Queen -Could have a poll to select a name I would go for The Caledonian myself
    Would have to get an artificial inseminater to get it started. Going to learn to develop queens after I chuck working not got a lot of time at the moment.

  4. #14

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    Gscot - we've already got a Scottish strain. It's Apis Mellifera Mellifera. No need in my opinion to call it anything else. And getting anything organised country-wide is a challenge to say the least. Especially when our national body doesn't take a proper stance on imports and we have the commercial beekeepers working at odds with everyone else. For myself I've decided to do what I believe in, as regards native bee breeding, alone although I'm happy to work with interested local individuals. Until things properly change that is.

  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gscot View Post
    Why dont we get together and develop a new Queen a Scottish Queen -Could have a poll to select a name I would go for The Caledonian myself
    Would have to get an artificial inseminater to get it started. Going to learn to develop queens after I chuck working not got a lot of time at the moment.
    Do you live downwind from a distillery by any chance?

  6. #16

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    Haha DB! I thought that was aimed at me because I actually do! Tamdhu is next door.

  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gscot View Post
    Why dont we get together and develop a new Queen a Scottish Queen -Could have a poll to select a name I would go for The Caledonian myself
    Would have to get an artificial inseminater to get it started. Going to learn to develop queens after I chuck working not got a lot of time at the moment.
    I like the plan
    You would need to settle on a race as Drumgerry says AMM seems to have most support
    The Caledonian strain sounds good though
    The reason for local breeding programs is that until you control the local drone population, you can put a fantastic queen in your hive ,but unless you keep buying new ones of that strain then the next generation will cross with the available drones
    That's why until importation stops you can't even stabilise the local crossed population far less drive forward a single race breeding program
    You can select the productive well behaved queens to use as breeders though

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by drumgerry View Post
    Haha DB! I thought that was aimed at me because I actually do! Tamdhu is next door.
    No actually it was directed at Gscot. The lad is obviously possessed of keen business acumen and I thought if he was able to get a few bottles of "Wrick de hoose juus" on a regular basis we could rename it "Tonic Wine" and make a tidy profit. He is already on the ball with the bees, varroa has eliminated all the native black bees in Scotland and now as he clearly sees, there is a void which needs to be filled with a hybrid carefully developed from the best strains of bee in the world. Think of the fun to be had travelling widely and at someone else's expense to find them. He has already decided on a name "The Caledonian Bee" - that is superior to anything England ever produced. It sounds like the name of a ferry boat, so there is the possibility of sponsorship at the local river crossing.
    It will be important to make it clear to beekeepers who purchase these bees that to maintain the purity of this carefully developed strain, queens will have to be bought in as required. There is no consideration to be given to their mongrel offspring if they mate with local drone types. A guaranteed income from queen sales and you can live anywhere in the world you wish, I like it.
    P.S. Gscot, I just reread your post, you say you need an artificial inseminator; I'm yer man. I've done a bit myself, minor point of order but in bees it is called instrumental insemination and in cattle it is called artificial insemination. They are quite different creatures, although to be fair this would pass unnoticed by many who favour the hybrid strains.
    Last edited by Dark Bee; 13-07-2013 at 03:19 PM.

  9. #19

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    Maybe a bit harsh on Gscot DB. He's maybe not to know all the background of which you and many others on the forum are aware. Nice summary of what Bro Adam did with Buckies btw!

  10. #20

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    Gscot is enthusiastic I like that
    The same problem for buckfast as AMM
    You can't easily maintain the qualities because of random crossing
    I am pessimistic about future prospects
    But I have a lovely big black beauty started laying so not totally without hope
    My first Caledonian ??

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