I just read David Green's response to Scott Kline's post about his
aggressive hive, and was most interested, because David mentions Black Bees
inb his post.
I opened all three of my hives yesterday, two to remove Apistan and one to
insert Apistan. I was most surprised to observe in one of the hives quite a
few black bees mixed in with the Italians. These bees had abdomens that
were quite black, I think with grayish rings. Their abdomens seemed also to
be shaped a bit differently, terminating more pointedly, for lack of a
better descriptor. I don't know if these are the traditional black bees of
which Dave spoke, but I'd love to know.
Anyone know of a net-accessible photo of black bees?
I didn't want to leave the hive open for long, because of the weather, so
there was no time to search for the queen. I din't notice any unusual
aggressiveness, but it was chilly, I didn't muck about much with the hive,
and the blacks comprised only maybe about 20% of the bees I saw.
This hive was started with a few frames of brood from another and a new
queen back in the spring. All my bees and queens came from Calvert
Apiaries, and have been uniformly golden and gentle Italians.
So . . . How did I get Blacks? I'm not aware of any other bees kept within
5 miles (though I could have missed a hive in someone's backyard). I don't
recall seeing any honeybees in my yard last year, before I got my hives. Of
course, a feral swarm could have settled within range and my hive may have
superceded their queen, or replaced her if I accidentally squashed her.
But, Is it possible that the black coloring is something recessive in the
population that just happened to emerge here?
Finally, given that the queen, even if a supercedure, was Italian, and that
the black traits are coming from drones in the area, and that queens mate
with more than one drone, will I have a mixed bunch of bees in that hive
'til the next queen?
Thanks,
Greg
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Greg Hankins Mt. Gilead, NC
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