Chuck asks:
Does that mean on a for par (equal) basis that your Italians should have two
(2)to four (4) frames more bees and brood than your NWCs at the same given
time which is your first real inspection?

My Italians always come out of winter with bigger clusters. Although rare I
also see at times a comparable cluster with other strains.

(1) When is that in reference to say the plum or pear tree bloom in your
area?

A month ahead of fruit bloom.

(2) When do the NWCs catch up to the Italians?

I always prefered the Italians which can be seen by going back to when I
first posted on BEE-L an rereading old posts. As a general rule I can make
an extra super of honey by using Italians. The italian bee has always been
the bee of choice for the majority of commercial beekeepers.

I am not an expert by any means on NWC. Perhaps certain lines do out produce
the Italians. The NWC lines and NWC hybrids I have tried have not. I know
George I. swears by the NWC *but* they are all he has used for decades. I
try many lines. I plan on picking up some queens from a friend in Georgia to
evaluate in hives in Missouri this spring. They are the results of almost a
decade of his queen rearing selection  and crossing with II breeder queens.

(3) What are the differences between the two when your main flow starts and
what is that particular flow?

The following only applies to my area and perhaps your area would produce
different results with the two strains of bees. Our main flow is from
Clover.

Before the main flow NWC will shut down egg laying during blackberry winter.
If you figure a week lost egg laying then and the Italians expolding earlier
in the season combined with a larger cluster in spring you end up with more
foragers at the start of the honey flow with the Italians . With proper
preparing for the main honey flow I can get the most out of about any strain
but the Italians I use are very prolific and respond to stimuli better than
other strains I have used.

I have used a carniolan/Italian cross which I am happy with and installed
around fifty of those last year out of necessity (only queens I could get at
the time) but they can not hold a candle to the Italians I have used for
years as far as honey production and being prolific.

At times I get and try a few queens  from other beekeepers from their queen
shipments. Many queen breeders queens vary greatly from queen to queen. One
is prolific and one is not. One uses a bunch of propolis and the next does
not. One is swarmy and the next is not.

One point which I like about the NWC line is that the queens all are similar
which  means to me that Sue is working hard to constantly improve the stock.
I have seen a big movement to NWC over the last decade. Richard Adee is a
big fan of the NWC and I understand Ohio Queen breeders supply his breeder
queens. Perhaps if I could try a few of *those* queens I would throw rocks
at the production Italians I use.

I will admit that I am spending a great deal of time trying to find a bee
which will tolerate varroa. Hence the Russian project. My honey production
has suffered since I have moved away from using mostly Italians from my
favorite queen breeder. If the Russians do not work out for me then I expect
I will be back using my favorite line of Italians or perhaps Sue will let me
get a few of those NWC queens  she provides to Richard.

To take a quote from my friend George I:

 " There are many queen producers in the U.S. but only a handful of queen
breeders"

George I spent a couple hours doing an interview last week with a beekeeper
of age 101 which is still running over a hundred hives. Look for the story
in an upcoming bee magazine article. USA Today did an article on the old
gentleman last month which I expect many on BEE-L read. The focus of the USA
Today article was on his age however over his beekeeping.
On our return from eating lunch and walk back to the meeting place the old
gentleman leaped a mud puddle to show how agile he still was!
He has a valid drivers license and drives daily.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

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