Got New Hives / Russian Honey Bees Today

16 years ago

A friend brought out some more bees this morning. Had a California strain here last year, but for some reason they were always grumpy and really didn't produce well here. Many colonies in California have been africanized.

Hoping the Russian strain will do much better.

Took these photos about ten minutes after they were opened up and was very pleased with them so far. They made a trip from McAlester before being brought here. Being closed up for a day makes them a little on the grumpy side as you can see from the photos. But I got withing about 25 feet of the hives and they didn't come after me.

{{gwi:1095218}}

{{gwi:1095220}}

I had just started mowing that area but will save the rest for later to let them get settled in before testing their patience.

randy

Here is a link that might be useful: Russian Honey Bees

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Comments (7)

susanlynne48
16 years ago
Utterly fascinating, Randy! With the problems with the CCD, I hope you have good luck with keeping yours around. We really need those honey bees!

Susan
0
rjj1
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi Susan,

I've not heard that CCD is a problem here in Oklahoma, but that doesn't mean the bee keepers shouldn't take precautions and protect their investment.

Went back and mowed around them about 3:30 yesterday afternoon and never had one get in my face, so I'm very pleased. They are very docile so far in spite of the big change coming here.

The California strain would always get in my face whenever I got within 10 feet of the hive. Had to dress the part to mow around them. They were kept on the back of the property away from the house. These new bees are within 100 feet of the house.

I sat out by the hives toward the later part of the afternoon and they were going in all directions scouting the area.

randy
0
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The bird houses were very inexpenive kits that had small precut wood and fiberboard as piece parts. The small round opening was originally for a chickadee size. I blocked the holes and added some seperate compartments about 3x3 inches each, before putting on the small roof. A wad of plain cotton was added to each partition and small 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch diameter holes were drilled to enter into each seperate compartment. I knew that these were used, as a woodpecker had detected something and tried to peck big holes around the tiny openings, but didn't succeed. I also have a 6x6 inch chunk of wood that I drilled many various sized holed about 5 inches deep all over the four sides. Its way up on a pole with a metal trash can cover acting as a roof. Not sure if all the areas are activly supporting bees, but I also have a large mason been house that has 6 inch long tubes that are 5/16 inch in diameter, and are grouped together. They have liners inside each tube and these get replaced once per year, after the bees used the tubes. There are about 100 tubes per nest. The mason bee lays several eggs in the tubes and adds food, then plugs up the opening with mud. They hibernate and then wake up the following spring and eat the food, while opening up the end of the tubes. They are the earliest bees, earlier than even any other pollinating insect. They are noticably gone once the warmer weather is here, about mid April. By then, some of my fruit trees have been flowering already, and have been pollinated. Adding any moisture or sugar to the cotton can cause it to mold. The bumble bees treat the cotton like a bird would do for building a nest.
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
16 years ago
Randy,

I think it is wonderful that you have the Russian bees. It is my understanding that they tend to be much hardier than our native bees.

I have been reading a lot about CCD lately, and was not really surprised to learn that it is NOT being reported in hives that are maintained completely organically. I have thought for some time that CCD might be a result of the overfeeding and unnatural feeding/management of the thousands of commercial bee hives that are shuttled from field to field, esp. in California but in other agricultural areas as well. I also read that the theft of beehives from commercial fields in California is a huge problem right now.....thieves can load up $50,000 worth of bees in no time and drive off with them in the dark of the night.

I'm glad your new bees are docile so far. I hope they stay happy.

Dawn
0
Macmex
16 years ago
Hey Randy! Congrats on the bees! I hope they are good and docile for you.

Two years ago I purchased a hive from a fellow in Tulsa. I went, thinking that I was just purchasing the hive and frames, etc. But discovered that he was selling me the bees too, which was great. Anyway, they fit all the description of Russian Blacks. But were they ever testy! I ended up requeening.

Anyway, that's not to say that all Russian Blacks are hot. I've heard that there is a lot of variability with them, and someone may be making good strides in selection.

I currently have a hive of Italians and a hive of Buckfasts. Both seem reasonably calm.

When we lived in Mexico we had bees and ended up with Africanized bees much of the time. I would have to requeen almost every year in order to keep them managable. Would bring in two queens a year, from Texas and raise more from them. Half Africans were okay. Three quarter Africans were HOT!

When I got that hive in 2006, and discovered their temperament, I initially wondered if they were mixed with Africans. But they were not as vehement when they attacked. So, I did research on strains of bees being used in the USA currently. Appearance wise, they matched the Russian Black.

George
Tahlequah, OK
0
susanlynne48
16 years ago
You guys are doing great work and I applaud you!

Susan
0
scottokla
16 years ago
I have 2 acres of crimson clover in full bloom and am hoping for the thousands of honey bees to show up like last year, but I have not seen them yet. I have not looked closely in the morning yet though. Maybe they are there and I just don't see them from the car or in the evening.

I hope to become more informed about beekeeping in the next year or two, so I may have some questions for you guys in the near future.

Scott
0
rjj1
Original Author
16 years ago
Dawn,

I've always wondered about that. Giving bees a permanent home and a diverse natural environment to live in only makes sense. Moving them from one crop to another over and over like they were a piece of machinery is not logical. In my way of thinking there is stress from being moved and stress in humans cause illness.

I also couldn't eat just one item for weeks and then start eating one other item for weeks. Just about anything and everything that is blooming here has bees on it. Diverse diet makes for happy campers.

Thanks George. I'm very pleased so far with them. As long as I can mow and keep that area clean, I'll be happy. I always run the weedeater under the hives in the rain. Cuts down the stress for everybody. :-)

Susan, I don't work the hives, just provide a permanent home for them. The beekeeper takes care of the bees and I get a percentage of the honey. I love having them here though. Some of my favorite all time photos are of honeybees.

randy
0

Got New Hives / Russian Honey Bees Today

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Got New Hives / Russian Honey Bees Today

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