# What strain are these?



## Oldbee (Sep 25, 2006)

A,.............."black bee"!


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

Black they are! Is there a strain called "black bee"?


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## Oldbee (Sep 25, 2006)

"German black bee" is all I have heard of; sure looks like a honey bee of some kind.


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

Oldbee said:


> "German black bee" is all I have heard of; sure looks like a honey bee of some kind.


No doubt honey bees... im going to run out and get a photo of one NOT dried up.

JoeMcc


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

Could be an old, wore out, dried out, dead, worker bee from any strain/race of _Apis mellifera._ I've seen many that look like that, especially after they drown in syrup, then have their body hair fall off and their bodies dry out. It might also be an entirely different genus of bee, perhaps even one of the leaf-cutter species.

Your bee certainly looks like it could be one of these: http://www.greatsunflower.org/en/osmia-leaf-cutter-bees


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

Here is a photo of it next to what is supposed to be an italian but almost looks buckfast. Im still thinking its some kind of honeybee...maybe a feral which is prob from the german black bee????










JoeMcc


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## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

looks like a leaf cutter bee. Cant say for sure leafecutters are smaller. I would do some bee lining to see where there hive is. There could be a posiblity of them being german black bees


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

riverrat said:


> looks like a leaf cutter bee. Cant say for sure leafecutters are smaller. I would do some bee lining to see where there hive is. There could be a posiblity of them being german black bees


I was thinking that if they were a leaf cutter bee there wouldnt bee hundreds of them....but maybe im wrong. If i get a chance today i will see if i can figure out where they are coming from. Be a fun little trip with my boy.

JoeMcc


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

Old robber bees are known to be blackish and hairless. Feeding from an open station will attract these type bees.

There is also a bee virus, not sure which, that shows a symptom such as this with bees with no hair. If you see shiny black bees inside a hive, I would say that you are dealing with a sick colony with viral issues.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Osmia lignaria

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Other/note109/Osmialarge.JPG


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## purvisgs (Apr 5, 2008)

Yes the first pic to me does look like: Osmia lignaria (mason bee)

but in my experience around here you will be able to tell the difference between mason bee and honey bee based upon: mason bee is significantly larger, body shape seems a bit different, wings have a blue or greenish tint to them..

second pic looks more like all black honeybee to me., no experience with "german black bees", but that would probably be my guess

if you want to waste some time, try beelining them ?


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

purvisgs said:


> Yes the first pic to me does look like: Osmia lignaria (mason bee)
> 
> but in my experience around here you will be able to tell the difference between mason bee and honey bee based upon: mason bee is significantly larger, body shape seems a bit different, wings have a blue or greenish tint to them..
> 
> ...


Its not a mason... i have mason blocks all over the place here and they are done for the year.

JoeMcc


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## chief (Apr 19, 2005)

I agree with BjornBee. They are could be any variety of black bee (German, Carni, or Cacasian) with their hair missing. With robbers their hair gets pulled out by the bees they have been robbing in an attempt to fight them off.


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

I think I found the hive that these are coming from. I will inspect it tomorrow and see If it is. If it is from this particular hive the queen is a cross between a Min Hygenic hybrid and an Italian Hybrid...which = who knows what. It's also not the only color of bee in this hive. I will tell you one thing... they are busting at the seems and are EXTREMELY gentle. The brood is all the way into the corners of the frames.

JoeMcc


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## Riki (Jan 31, 2007)

It's just a honeybee IMO. My bees are all africanized (their color varies a lot) and I find black bees all the time.


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

Riki said:


> It's just a honeybee IMO. My bees are all africanized (their color varies a lot) and I find black bees all the time.


I just hope the Africanized dont make it to the pacific northwest!

I would sure love to have an ANTARCTICA right now... They dont have those here.



Joe


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## JoeMcc (May 15, 2007)

They are from one of my hives. You know... im not 100% sure what the queen is now. I will have to find her and see if I can tell. There is quite a mix in there though...so prob multiple drone lines.

I finally numbered my hives so i can start keeping a log!!!

JoeMcc


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