So, about this restocking .......

[Gscot]

Now DB is correct i am partial to the odd drop of tonic wine but only because it was made and developed by the same monks who developed the Buckfast Queen( It gets drunk by the gallon arround this area)Who would think that naming a Queen bee after a wine.They say that the AMM is the Scottish bee but is it the Irish Scottish AMM or the Scottish Irish AMM or the Italian Scottish AMM or English Irish Scottish AMM.
Times have changed since the dinosaurs -
Another slug of the tonic
Thinking of getting a plan drawn up submitting it for a gov. grant say for £100000 a year for 5 years to develop and distibute a Queen bee to help the honey bee and to reduce the imports .May ask the bee farmers for a starter Queen as they will have tried and tested already --another slug
Going to hand my notice in on mon. at work

[drumgerry]

Aye good luck with that one Gscot. Beginning to regret sticking up for you tbh now.

[Jon]

The idea that there is a Scottish AMM or a Welsh AMM or even an Irish AMM is quite fanciful.
The Jensen and Pedersen paper noted that there is far more variation within AMM populations than between those in different countries.

But AMM is clearly the native bee of all of these places and a few more in Western Europe besides.

[Trog]

Hmm, I beginning to like the sound of this Caledonian Bee. A sort of AMM-plus. Definitely needs the AMM waterproofing and ability to respond instantly to weather conditions, plus easy to handle, but maybe should be a little less laid-back so as to produce decent quantities of honey.

Wait a minute! That's what I have here ...

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi Trog
A quick re-branding exercise and the Mull Caledonian is born
best get a couple of hundred apideas on order

I'm afraid Gsots plan has a few holes
Not least of which is that the bee farmers can't maintain their carniolans either
That's why they have to keep importing
So getting stock from them would be a poor starting point

[gavin]

Completely untested for resistance to Varroa though

[Trog]

Oh, no need to worry about that, Gavin. They're sitting on a major ley line, arranged according to the best principles of feng-fooey, crystals above the crownboards, dreamcatchers that don't look at all like fishing fly casts at every entrance, chakras all nicely karmic and the queens all know they are goddesses. What could possibly go wrong?

[er, this is the biobees forum, right??]

[The Drone Ranger]

fraid not Trog

It seems Gscot has switched to Carniolans with kilts

[Trog]

fraid not Trog

It seems Gscot has switched to Carniolans with kilts

Well, they'll be easy to identify, then. None of yer black/yellow, blackish/yellow bands, yellow/yellow stuff. Has he decided on the tartan and how to get the abdomens a uniform colour? I assume he'll be selecting drones from the local pipe band?

[The Drone Ranger]

Well, they'll be easy to identify, then. None of yer black/yellow, blackish/yellow bands, yellow/yellow stuff. Has he decided on the tartan and how to get the abdomens a uniform colour? I assume he'll be selecting drones from the local pipe band?

Fell about laughing