wrote
+-------------------------------+
###From: Andreas Kasenides <[log in to unmask]>
###Subject: Bees with an attitute (was: gloves)
###Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 16:34:16 +0200
###
###Well it seems that my bees (Cypriot bees) have an attitute
###problem that needs to be corrected!!!!
###
###I should though mention that all my current hives originated from
###the same swarm that I found occupying some abandoned equipment
###some two years ago. I did notice a small difference between this breed
###and what I thought was normal behavior: 1) slightly more aggresive than
###usual 2) they do continue to work not only during heavy overcast but also
###during light rain and I noticed that some of them kept moving outside
###during medium rainfall. Is this normal? And I may be wrong but it seems
###that they are superior to what I have experienced up to now in honey
###gathering. I will need a couple of more seasons to verify this (favorable
###weather conditions last year).
+-------------------------------+
Hi Andreas,
Cyproit bees are part of the gene pool in California, as
they once were reared here from direct importations in the early
1900's, then legal. In the late 40's as a child I attended the
California State Fair. What caught my eye were the glass hives with
different breeds of bees. One of these was the Cyproit, that I remember
as being a very attractive large dark bee with gray hairs, but that
was many years ago, and I am sure many generations below the Cyriot
bees you know.
When it was popular to make direct importations of bees from every
corner of the world, the different breeds were compared and tested
after importation. The bees from the Cyprus were judged to be the most
aggressive when compared to the bees from Italy, Africa, Russia, and
even India. It was interesting that in all tests there were individual
local bees that were judged to be even more aggressive.<G> Because of
the color of Cyprioit bees at least one beekeepers kept them going on
his central California bee farm near Modesto California until at least
WW-II. The African bees were discarded as breeding stock as they were
not found to be good for anything at the time.
As for bees foraging in wet weather, this is common to all bees
I have worked with, maybe more so to the darker ones, but not limited
to them. If there is something attractive in the field bees will attempt
to work if the air temp is high enough. In the costal sections of
central California many bees are lost during the spring when they work
the eucalyptus trees and other early flowers and are chilled and don't
make it back to the hives. In some locations this is so bad that the
hives will go weeks without gaining population with 10 of more big
frames of brood, some hatching every day. I have worked bees in a good
sage flow in the Big Sur area of Monterey county during early summer
when it was so foggy we were soaking wet, and the only dry clothing we
had were the backs of our coveralls that were covered with bees flying
in from the sage and landing on our backs in such numbers that their own
absorbed heat would dry and warm our backs. Hives that swarmed in this
area would NEVER catch a mated queen. The worker bees would go out for a
good go at sucking up the sage nectar, the hives would fill up chuck a
block, swarm 100%, but the drones would not leave the hives for sex. Who
said bees had human traits!
ttul Andy-
|
