> My understanding is that large bee farmers with imported colonies suffered very badly - perhaps Gavin has a view?

I always have a view :-)  There is no simple lesson to be drawn from the UK winter/spring losses or just those closer to me in Scotland.  From what I hear, you can point at operations not too far from here with imported Carniolan stock and heavy losses, and you can point at others with Amm-type stock with heavy losses too.  What probably matters more than anything is the management style of the beekeeper (or of the particular year in Peter's case), or the exact location, rather than the bee race as a main factor.

The 2012-2013 season was particularly difficult in the UK.  It was wet for most of the summer and autumn and locally we had just one 3-day window in the main season as I recall that was suitable for young queens to get airborne and mate.  Some areas were worse and fared worse, some were a little better.  Stocks were also in a bad shape going into winter with fewer young bees and less stores than the ideal.  However, the stocks nearest to the original native type, Apis mellifera mellifera, do fly in poorer weather than the continental types and that must give them an advantage in our poorer seasons, perhaps most clearly for mating.  That may be why the imported stocks, if left to mix with the locals, drift back to something that looks like the original type.  It should also give them an advantage where beekeepers are managing their bees less intensively.

Those who like a vigorous spring build-up and feed copiously when needed like the Carniolans.  Presumably Italians were like that too when they were in vogue.  The majority of hobbyists locally prefer something closer to the native type, although most bees locally are hybridised to some extent.  Buckfast for some reason is way down folk's list of ideal bees. I had one myself several years ago and it dwindled and died out in yet another difficult winter and spring.  My Amm-leaning mongrels made it through last winter satisfactorily. 

Gavin


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