Hi All,

I have kept Carniolans for quite a while.  To say that all hives will
swarm is true and false.  Alot depends on the beekeeper and the strain.
The main reason for the carniolans tendancey to swarm is due to their
extremly explosive spring build up.  Here in Ontario I put a third deep
in my hives on about the third week in March.  I have the apistan in
early March.  This allows me to remove it in the middle of April and on
go two drawn supers on the Carniolan and one on the Buckfast.  This is
because it is very common to have bees covering 8 frames top and bottom
in the middle of the day in the carniolan hives while the Buckfast are
considerably smaller.  With all the early supers my buckfast haven't
swarmed yet while I fight with the carniolan every spring.  My first
swarm was May 4 here.  But they are gentle (even the supercedures are
fine and I don't own a beesuit or gloves) and work very hard and when
the buckfast aren't flying they are.
--
Kent Stienburg
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