Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 33

Thread: Irish Amm

  1. #21
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Belfast, N. Ireland
    Posts
    5,122
    Blog Entries
    94

    Default

    Phil, I never remove the attendants and I have introduced hundreds of queens with attendants present. It makes no difference.
    The problem with removing them is that a lot of people panic and let the queen out by mistake. Or they decapitate her with the sliding part of the cage!
    The cage should be introduced with the fondant at the bottom.

  2. #22
    Senior Member busybeephilip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Comber, N. Ireland
    Posts
    581
    Blog Entries
    2

    Default

    Jon, I suppose I'm just old school, I was taught that having the attendants present can cause to hive bees to reject the queen. Another beekeeping myth to add to your collection !

  3. #23
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Belfast, N. Ireland
    Posts
    5,122
    Blog Entries
    94

    Default

    It is a myth. Makes no difference. Easier to leave the attendants in situ.

  4. #24
    Senior Member prakel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Jurassic Coast.
    Posts
    1,480

    Default

    I've just copied the following sentence from a post Jon made in another thread:

    It is a bit of a myth that Amm makes a frugal and tiny colony as a lot of the Galtee stock makes a big powerful colony. The queen I got last years heads a double brood box colony and is a prolific layer.

    http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/sh...eason-swarming
    Hoping for some further insight into the size these colonies reach -I know that this is a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question but it's something which I'd find quite interesting. A double brood national has a larger brood area than both the dadant and the 13 comb BS boxes that I use. Although I've come across plenty of references to amm in continental dadants it's been quite hard to pin down a clear description of how well they fit a hive of that capacity.
    Last edited by prakel; 12-08-2014 at 06:49 PM.

  5. #25
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Belfast, N. Ireland
    Posts
    5,122
    Blog Entries
    94

    Default

    They don't fill the entire double box with brood but they definitely need more than a single brood, maybe the equivalent of 15 or 16 frames rather than 10 or 11.

  6. #26
    Senior Member prakel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Jurassic Coast.
    Posts
    1,480

    Default

    Close to a dadant brood then. That's where our 13 frame BS boxes fall down, they're caught somewhere in the middle between not enough comb area or too much if ran as doubles.

  7. #27
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Belfast, N. Ireland
    Posts
    5,122
    Blog Entries
    94

    Default

    Not all of them need the extra space. Some are quite content in an 11 frame national.
    I think giving the extra space really reduces the swarming urge.

  8. #28

    Default

    I was going to say something about choosing attendants but first can anyone tell me if the queen in this picture could be AMM
    The more observant may notice she was DOA
    Actually she arrived still able to move but being trampled by 7 or 8 workers in the cage
    These attendants!!! appeared to have only their own interests a heart and couldn't give a monkeys about feeding her
    The moral of the story is don't buy a pig in a poke
    Or beware of Greeks bearing the latest fashions
    Photo below

    Sent from my LIFETAB_S1034X using Tapatalk
    Last edited by The Drone Ranger; 03-06-2017 at 11:36 AM.

  9. #29

    Default

    Last edited by The Drone Ranger; 03-06-2017 at 11:34 AM. Reason: Repeat post

  10. #30
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Ardnamurchan & Fife
    Posts
    1,693

    Default

    Gavin has written a guide to identifying Amm (PDF). It doesn't distinguish between worker and queen colouration.
    However, I'm sure she's too pale. The Amm I've had were a whole lot darker than that.

    And a whole lot more alive

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •