5 frame nuc - Kona Italians

[Cindi]

I saw a breeder offering nucs for sale, being imported from Hawaii.  Spoke to him and ordered (4) five frame nucs, they will be ready for pick up on May 5.

I am looking for advice on what kind of build up I can expect from these nucs over the summer.  The honey flow in my area continues once it has begun until late fall.  There is no dearth.  Advices will be welcomed.  Best of the greatest day.  Cindi

[tig]

 all my queens are from Kona queens in hawaii [except for those aggressive australian queens which are only 6 in number out of my 100 plus colonies].  they are very dependent on pollen so if your area has a good pollen source, you will find they build up very quickly.  they are very prolific layers and have excellent brood patterns and give large yields of honey plus they aren't aggressive.  they are, however. prone to swarming....

[Brian D. Bray]

Remember that the Kona bees from Hawaii are from a tropical climate, it may take a year or 2 for the Hawaiian bees to aclimatize to the PNW.  I would expect them to build up and produce satisfactorily but the big concern is winter loss.  they are not used to such cool temperatures during the winter.  I would plan on saving a super or 2 full of capped honey to feed during the winter or on feeding late and refeeding early.

[Cindi]

Brian, thank you for advice.  I had some advice and my iintention is to requeen these Hawaiian queens with local queens at the end of summer.  That way I know that the queens will be winter hardy.  I understand that the Hawiian queens may not survive the cold winter.

That was why I liked the Carniolan pacakges that were imported from Australia the past two years.  Carniolan are great for overwintering in cold climate, in small cluster, consuming little food.  It is too bad that this breed cannot be imported as packages from Australia because of the small hive beetle issue.  Although my understanding is that the queens may still be imported though from Australia, but only the queens.  Please correct if I am wrong.

Best day.  Cindi

[TwT]

Cindi, which queens are you getting from kona, probably Italians but you could get the Carniolan line, Kona has 2 breeds and thing is Kona is on Sue Coby's page as a distributor of her News, now there might not be pure yet but the do import drone semen..... if you ask the guy you are getting them from you might be able to request the Carny's... just a thought because he is just getting the queens and installing them in nucs for you, he might be getting a few of each, never know!!!!!!

http://www.konaqueen.com/

[Cindi]

Ted, he said Kona Italian to me.  But right, I will give him a call tomorrow and see if there is a choice of breed.  Good idea, thanks.  I wonder though why he would not have given me a choice if he is importing both breeds.  I'll call tomorrow, as my preference would be the Carniolan, should it be there.  Best of a great day.  Cindi

[Billy The Beekeeper]

I have one hive of Italians and once my package gets to me ill have a hive of Russians :!! Does anyone know where a nectar flow callender is for Indiana? I checked various sites includin state and didnt find one so can some help me out plz?      thanks                             

[KONASDAD]

My understanding is Hawaii has no mites. If true, these bees will have no hygenic behaviour to defend against mites and may struggle more than bees from another producer. Just a thought.

[Mici]

doubt it, European honey bees have just as "little" experience with mites, in nature, everything goes evolutional, so does the defence against the mites, so this..what? 100 years is a very short period comparing to millions of years of their development. my guess is that it's close to insignifficant.

[KONASDAD]

why did US bees die off after mite arrived? An individual beek  can't wait for darwinism to help out in one generation of queens. I suspect, but dont know, these bees will struggle more than a queen that has experienced mites in recent generations. Just a tought.

[Mici]

An individual beek  can't wait for darwinism to help out in one generation of queens. I suspect, but dont know, these bees will struggle more than a queen that has experienced mites in recent generations. Just a tought.

exactly, that's why i think hawaian queens will do just as good, with PROPER, PROPER not chemical full beekeeping they should do just as good like their "inland veteran queens". maybe a little inferior, but like i said..with PROPER bee-managment...

[Brian D. Bray]

Carniolians bred in warm climates are not cold hardy.  No bee subspecies raised in a warm or tropical climate is cold hardy.  You get cold hardy bees by rearing them in cold weather conditions.  This is one of the many reasons northern US beekeepers have a large winter loss of bees purchased from the southern states.  If you want cold weather bees I would suggest you consider Wilderness Apiary in Port Angeles, WA.  Their bees are raised on a isolated area of the Olympic Pennisula and are native to the weather conditions of the PNW.
 I have not yet gotten any queens from them, but when I do, that is where and why I'm getting them there.

[Cindi]

Carniolians bred in warm climates are not cold hardy.  No bee subspecies raised in a warm or tropical climate is cold hardy.  You get cold hardy bees by rearing them in cold weather conditions.  This is one of the many reasons northern US beekeepers have a large winter loss of bees purchased from the southern states.  If you want cold weather bees I would suggest you consider Wilderness Apiary in Port Angeles, WA.  Their bees are raised on a isolated area of the Olympic Pennisula and are native to the weather conditions of the PNW.
 I have not yet gotten any queens from them, but when I do, that is where and why I'm getting them there.

Good to know, and makes good sense.  Something that I understand now is that in our Vancouver Lower Mainland our winters are so mild that we should not worry about the high need for a breed that can withstand hard cold winters conditions.  We just are not that cold.  Best of the great day.  Cindi

[reinbeau]

Carniolians bred in warm climates are not cold hardy.  No bee subspecies raised in a warm or tropical climate is cold hardy.  You get cold hardy bees by rearing them in cold weather conditions.  This is one of the many reasons northern US beekeepers have a large winter loss of bees purchased from the southern states.  If you want cold weather bees I would suggest you consider Wilderness Apiary in Port Angeles, WA.  Their bees are raised on a isolated area of the Olympic Pennisula and are native to the weather conditions of the PNW.
 I have not yet gotten any queens from them, but when I do, that is where and why I'm getting them there.

We've got three nucs coming from a Maine supplier for our Maine home, and if we lose the package bees we've got coming for down here, I'll be buying bees from him again next year.  I believe in northern bred bees for us up here, it just makes sense.

[Michael Bush]

I've had Italians from Beeworks that were raised in Ontario and they were very "cold hardy".  The race may be a contributing factor but breeding seems to be a bigger factor.