# Thoughts on Weaver queens?



## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

I haven't tried their all-star line, but the other queens they have are alright. They just don't work very well in the north, but you being in the south an all they should work fine for you.


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## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

I like their Buckfast, but the offspring are clearly Africanized and my bees live near people.


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## Pooh (Mar 8, 2007)

One of the hives is in a backyard so I was thinking of requeening it with their BeeSmart line which is suppose to be very calm. Anyone tried this line and could confirm their gentle nature?


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## wfarler (Jul 9, 2003)

*Weaver*

B Weaver or R Weaver? they are different - as I understand it they are cousins but otherwise nothing to do with each other.

I have queens from both. I have had good luck with the non buckfast line from R Weaver, very productive and after several years of letting them supercede they are still not overly agressive.

I bought 5 packages from R Weaver last year no problems.

The SMR line from B Weaver - I purchased 5 queens for splits One absconded but the other four did quite nicely in Nucs. I haven't tested them for Varroa yet since first year is pretty much irrelevant anyway. This year will be the real test. They are easy to work.

Both companies have been good to work with but B Weaver is more expensive. If not for the SMR I would go ahead and buy from R Weaver for the price difference. 

Productivity was hard to measure here since we had 2 years of drought.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Weaver bees is the closest queen supplier so shipping should lessen the stress.

Queen ship well, so distance is irelevant.

There are two Weavers now R. Weaver and B. Weaver. I have done business with both of them and with Weaver before they split.

> What do people feel about the quality of the All-star line

Except for the fear of AHB genetics since I had some phsyco buckfasts from them, I've had Their Buckfasts, and their All Stars for years and they were very good bees.

> and the company as a whole?

Excellent. They always treated me well. Once I got a drone laying queen and they shipped a new one without any questions asked.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

wfarler adds:
B Weaver or R Weaver? they are different - as I understand it they are cousins but otherwise nothing to do with each other.

tecumseh thinks out loud:
perhaps a bit understated, but I guess if you read the sentence in the proper way you could say.... uh, huh.

my loose advice is... do not be confused into thinking that 'the weavers' product are in any way similar or even perhaps comparable... the 'home' facilities do set side by side and that is just about where the comparison ends....

any suggestion that 'weaver stock' is africanized is NOT supported by any evidence that I have seen. genetics should suggest that even the most gentle stock will produce an occasional hot queen. that is just how genetics works. 

peggyjam sezs:
I haven't tried their all-star line, but the other queens they have are alright. They just don't work very well in the north, but you being in the south an all they should work fine for you.

tecumseh replies:
so peggyjam just how many data points have you compared in coming to this startling conclusion? and just how many of the various 'weavers' queen lines have you used in the past?

pure hookum as far as I can discern.


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## Pooh (Mar 8, 2007)

So what is the difference between the two Weavers. If R. Weaver is cheaper but has the same stock then I'm inclined to go that way. But if B. Weaver has better stock then I'll pay the extra. Thanks


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## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

I have only ordered from Binford. They have good customer service and prompt delivery of viable queens.


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## Larkspur (Jun 14, 2006)

*Weaver Buckfast*

Until this spring I would have said avoid Weaver Buckfast like the plague, however, after a VERY rough start - I mean MEAN bees - they are now quite docile and yes its the same queen that overwintered - and man o man at the stores they put up. I cannot wait to see how they do this year. If they do well I think the initial temperment may be worth tolerating.

Steve


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

{any suggestion that 'weaver stock' is africanized is NOT supported by any evidence that I have seen.}

Me either, they were just as fiesty in 1994 (Buckfast) as they are today. My 1st. hive of buckfast used me for target practice but I've had many gentle hives as well over the years. I've been extremely happy with thier queens and service. We have run my former associate, now retired from bees (at least for this week) ran the Starlines.


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## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

tecumseh said:


> wfarler adds:
> peggyjam sezs:
> I haven't tried their all-star line, but the other queens they have are alright. They just don't work very well in the north, but you being in the south an all they should work fine for you.
> 
> ...


Didn't know I had to TRY every queen Weaver produced to come up with the conclusion that they don't work very well up here.........considering I haven't had one queen that I bought from them survive a winter........I would consider that not working to well up here.....BUT gosh Tecumseh....i'll keep your high expectations in mind the next time .............


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

Didn't know I had to TRY every queen Weaver produced to come up with the conclusion that they don't work very well up here.........considering I haven't had one queen that I bought from them survive a winter........I would consider that not working to well up here.....BUT gosh Tecumseh....i'll keep your high expectations in mind the next time 

tecumseh writes:
well peggyjam I see you did not direcly answer my question (# of data points) nor indicated which weaver you might have used in the past. given that most people consider the bee stock in the us of a to be quite diluted and diverse you conclusion in regards to maintaining stock here or there within the us of a is incredible weak. perhaps rather that blame the 'race' of bees for this problem you would be much better advice to look at your own skill level or knowledge base? for myself when I do encounter a real world problem, I most time find it speeds up the process to look first in the mirrow rather than some where else....

pooh sezs:
So what is the difference between the two Weavers. If R. Weaver is cheaper but has the same stock then I'm inclined to go that way. But if B. Weaver has better stock then I'll pay the extra.

tecumseh suggest:
there is an old business addage that; one ususally gets what one pays for... there are exceptions to this addage naturally.

good luck on you new adventure...


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## bleakley (Jun 13, 2004)

*Pooh*,

Since you are looking for a nearby supplier, you may want to contact these folks: http://ziaqueenbeecompany.com/. They are just nort of Santa Fe.


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## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

tecumseh said:


> tecumseh writes:
> well peggyjam I see you did not direcly answer my question (# of data points) nor indicated which weaver you might have used in the past. given that most people consider the bee stock in the us of a to be quite diluted and diverse you conclusion in regards to maintaining stock here or there within the us of a is incredible weak. perhaps rather that blame the 'race' of bees for this problem you would be much better advice to look at your own skill level or knowledge base? for myself when I do encounter a real world problem, I most time find it speeds up the process to look first in the mirrow rather than some where else....
> 
> 
> ...


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

thanks for the direct answer peggyjam in regards to numbers and source.

statistic (or probablities if you gambled) would suggest that much more confidence can be attached to a statement when the numbers (data points) are larger. so (to provide some real world analogy) greater confidence can be attached to your observation based upon 45 data points (15 + 30) than if you were talking about 1 purchased queen.


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## BMogardo (Feb 2, 2004)

*Weaver Queens*

I have been using R Weaver Buckfast queens for 5 years and they have the best wintering survivor rate of any of the queens I have tried. I'm out here on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Our winters are not particularly cold but we we get alot of cold, damp weather. They give me a good to great crop every year. In fact, 2 summers ago I got 9 shallows of honey from a R. Weaver Buckfast Queen. I too have had some pretty nasty queens, but R. Weaver has always replaced her with a new one at no charge. But like any queen, when their good, there very good and when their mean, they're just no fun to be around.


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## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

I have no idea why I had such lousey luck with the Buckfast queens, they just never seemed to take hold. But we do have nasty winter weather when we have it. The only Buckfast coloney I had this year did fine until mid feb, when they died with a full super of honey on them, after a warm spell that would have let them get to fresh stores, with no brood going that I could detect.....so I don't understand what happened to them. They were a booming hive last fall.


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## russbee (Mar 6, 2007)

I used weaver all stars and buckfast queens in the past. Tha all stars were good honey producers and reasonably easy to work with. There didn't overwinter well. Buckfast were more aggressive than the allstars and they to had some difficulty with overwintering. I suppose if you live in a area wear you don't have long or really cold winters you could use those queens with more success.


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## Korny's Korner (Mar 25, 2007)

I have used both but believe buckfast winter the best also Weavers are reliable. That is important. York was a good company but now gone. I have lost hundreds of dollars withless then honest Apiaries in the early 90s. Sad because they had a good bee.
It's funny that lots of feral swarms I catch look like the buckfast and are gentle most of the time


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## Maine_Beekeeper (Mar 19, 2006)

*fussy beeks*

'round these parts you meet a person named Peggjam and get even close to calling by name Peggyjam or Peggy-anything else and you're looking for a fight.
be nice Techumseh - we got nothing against the southern bees or beeks.
B Weaver sure does have the marketing collateral down. Catalog could be framed as art.
-E.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

maine beekeeper sezs:
be nice Techumseh - we got nothing against the southern bees or beeks

tecumseh replies:
well 'us' southern beekeeper got notin' againist u yankee bee keepers as long as we can just convince ya' to just go back home at an appropriate time. southerner are sharing kind of folk... don't ya' know? most would invite ya' to come and eat when there is not so much on the table as it is.... we ungrudgeling share territory with northern beekeepers who's skills and weather don't permit maintaining numbers at whatever location they may call home. most northern bee keepers will hardly get set down here before they start bad mouthing the locals and the locals ways. meanwhile we are constantly confronted with this misinformed 'notions' by bee keepers,of this or that stripe, who seem to have very limited understanding or information about bees, races of bees, or the history of bee races in america. and yes Mainebeekeeper some are so uninformed that they do believe that all the Weavers in Navasota, Texas are exactly the same....

so mainebeekeeper.. I will always make an attempt to be nice and friendly in a southern kind of way, but I am still quite perplexed as to why getting some basic factual (that means based on fact and not some loosely formed notion) information is much like pulling teeth.

yep I do think that you are quite correct in regards to BWeaver marketing/advertising expertise.... which I suspect??? is a reflection of Danny's wife's talents.


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

I have nothing but positive things to say about B. Weaver's bees and their customer service. Both are productive and gentle!

Excellent, excellent, excellent.

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## livetrappingbymatt (Jan 13, 2006)

*buckfast queens*

have tried both weavers buckfast,each season with differant results. once had 90 hives and a partner, with mostly buckfast queens,some wintered we lost some.
have cut back to only a few hives and have used jester's (2),buckeye bee (10) kona ( 10) local cells ( 10) as micheal says all work if you let them!
personally i'll keep looking for that perfect queen.
bob


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

*They've change over the decades*

I have used them for 30 years. But the B Weaver ones I got in 6/06 contain some vicious stock . I dealt with the meanest on Sunday, several stinging bees clung to the side of my veil, and others followed me 100' back into my garage. Several stings to my hands . Came through the winter going gangbusters, had drawn out a lot of comb, and had at least ten queen cells and made for two hefty divides plus the remaining divide.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

sounds like you got the good, the bad and the ugly all in one order OD....

ps... I am highly enjoying your old magazine collection.


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