>From the Norlandbeekeepers list:
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From:  Dennis Murrell <[log in to unmask]>
Date:  Sun Nov 25, 2001  10:13 pm
Subject:  Re: [Norlandbeekeepers] Russian Bees

Hello Joe and Everyone,

I have raised Russian queens from one Primo from Bernards and four AI
almost primos from Glenns. They have represented most of the Russian
lines( anotated by different colors) available. I noted alot of
difference between the different lines. They are all generally a
conservative breed and brood up early, much to your liking.

One of the lines would maintain supercedure like queen cells throughout
the active brood rearing season even though the queen was performing well
and no efforts other than the cells were made to replace her. When a
queen was lost in one of these hives the bees would construct 25 to 40
queen cells along the bottom edge of most brood frames resulting in
hundreds of queen cells. That's a great characteristic if you are raising
queens.

It appears that these bees may exhibit a greater degree of thelytoky . I
have had chronically queenless hives construct 20 to 30 viable queen
cells along the bottom of a brood frame when only sealed brood was
available in the hive.

When these bees do decide to supercede, they are not easily satisfied and
supercede and supercede and supercede, a tendency I have noted with SMR X
SMR bees also.

Varroa mite resistance was great. The infestation levels never got above
the single digits during the first year. They stayed about the same at
april levels while the rest of the hive levels continued to greatly
increase. I gave a split of Russians to a beekeeper in an isolated
location(no other hives within 6 miles). Treating this hive with powdered
sugar late in the season failed to drop a single varroa mite!

I have written on other lists about my experience with the temperament of
the Russians so I will be brief here. Their defensive behavior was unique
enough to allow me to identify any of my hives with Russian influence.
Head butting, hair pulling, excessive following, and a large defensive
zone(100') precluded these bees for urban or suburban use. They were not
aggressive stingers unless the hive was disturbed, and they are very
easily controlled with smoke.

I initially literally laughed at their defensive behavior, but  I
frequently spent alot of time in the bees raising queens commercially and
it became apparent how annoyingly effective it was. Working bees that
just sting was a relief.
If you work your bees are in a rural location and worked occassionally
their defensive behavior shouldn't be a problem.

I lost half of my Russian hives to trachael mites last winter, althought
others have reported tracheal mite resistance with these bees. I do not
treat my bees for tracheal mites.

These bees are very interesting and have many good characteristics. I am
currently focusing on the SMR bees as my experience indicates they carry
about half the mite load of the Russians and their defensive behavior is
more suited to my temperament.

I am regressing all of my hives to 4.9mm cell size and over 90% of my
Russians drew 4.9 cell size off of 5.4mm cell size at the appropriate
time of the year. The affects of small cell size have been amazing but
that's another subject.

Another very conservative bee that might interest you is the Carniolan
selected by Ohio Queen Breeders and distributed by Koehnen in California.
They are the most conservative bee generally available today resembling
the Carniolans available 30 years ago. I have found a few percent of the
New World Carniolans will also behave like these.

Another source of very conservative bees is Kirk Webster in Vermont. He
is a HIP breeder and has experience with the Russians. He would be a
great person to get in touch with(contact me off the list if your
interested).

Best Wishes
Dennis Murrell





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