# Russian bees in the US



## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

I have 4 hives of russians and 2 of italians Iam currently looking for a supplier for next spring to supply either nucs or package russians does anyone have a source


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## betrbekepn (Aug 7, 2006)

http://www.geocities.com/fatbeeman/?200524


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## Boris (Jul 12, 2006)

riverrat,

Russian bees for sale link is here:
http://www.beebehavior.com/russian_bees_sale.php 

Boris

[ October 29, 2006, 06:16 PM: Message edited by: Boris ]


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## Deano (Sep 4, 2004)

THERES A BEE KEEPER IN M.S. THAT SELLS RUSSIANS,H.TUBBS MIZE M.S. 601 733 2313


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## Boris (Jul 12, 2006)

Thank you, Deano.
H.Tubbs is already in my list: http://www.beebehavior.com/key_players.php

Boris


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

Boris, I'll PM you as soon as I can type out some information, perhaps tomorrow. I have russians and I am a state licensed/certified breeder. I am listed on the Glenn Apiary website which you already have listed, as well as others, and can add to your efforts.


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## James Henderson (Jun 20, 2005)

Get in touch with Charlie Harper down here in Cajun Land. Charlie got his Russians from the USDA/ARS Honeybee Breeding Lab here in Baton Rouge. Charlie (certified/official Russian breeder) and the Bee Lab work together testing and breeding the Russians.

Got one nuc last year from Charlie and I'll be getting more in 2007. Extremely gentle bee. Most of them just sit on the frames and look at me when I am working the hives. Don't need to smoke them very much compared to Buckfasts or Italians. Good honey production too with the Russians. 

Charlie also sells Russian breeder queens.

Charlie Harper
Harper's Honey Farm 
421 Louveteau Rd 
Carencro, LA 70520
USA 
Ph: 337/298-6261
labeeman at russianbreeder.com 
http://russianbreeder.com/

See also: 

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=2744

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=6444


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## Wee3Bees Apiary (Feb 21, 2006)

Herbert Tubbs in Mize, MS is one of 7 (6 or 7, I believe) licensed queen breeders in the U. S. that sell the pure russian stock as selected by the USDA Bee Labs in Baton Rouge, LA.

That's what I heard in a beekeeping conference last week. I don't have any Russians, but I believe that I will add some next year.


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## notaclue (Jun 30, 2005)

Kevin Jester is where I get mine. He gets his breeder queens from USDA island. Great guy who gave me some good info. I picked up three packages this past April from him in West Ridge Arkansas. I plan on getting more and maybe queens this next fall. 

http://www.jesterbees.com 

David


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## brent.roberts (Dec 31, 2005)

A Canadian source is Francois Petit who has maintained a line started from the USDA. He is located about 30 miles south of Ottawa, Ontario.

http://www.igs.net/~pilgrimventures/The_Russian_Bee_Project.htm.

I have 9 hives with one swarmed and living nearby.

[ November 07, 2006, 07:21 AM: Message edited by: brent.roberts ]


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## Beekeeper1958 (Sep 25, 2006)

Bjorn,
Are you going to have any Russian queens available for 2007?
I realize it's early but I'd like to narrow my search before I decide.


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## Boris (Jul 12, 2006)

"Bjorn,
Are you going to have any Russian queens available for 2007?
I realize it's early but I'd like to narrow my search before I decide."

This link is for you:
http://www.beebehavior.com/russian_bees_sale.php

Boris


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## summersetretrievers (Mar 4, 2006)

Besides fatbeeman at Dixie Bee does anyone else sell small cell Russian queens or nucs?
Cindy


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## Carl Holcomb (Aug 21, 2006)

Jester Bee Company in West Ridge AR has Russians. Their pricing seem good even with shipping. Does anyone have any opinions about them or their Bees? So far I've found three suppliers including them but their the only one's that ship packages.


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## suprstakr (Feb 10, 2006)

Myron - In east central Missouri sels small cell Russian packages.
573-549-2321


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## Boris (Jul 12, 2006)

New 2006 Annual Report is here:
http://www.beebehavior.com/russian_bees.php

Boris


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## JC (Jun 3, 2006)

Many of the "Russian" queens being sold are Russian hybrids, not pure Russian queens that were mated to pure Russian drones. Be sure to ask your queen supplier if his Russian queens are hybrids! I started off with Russian hybrids, but I soon switched to pure Russian bees. I couldn't be happier!


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## flathead (Nov 1, 2006)

I have two colonies of Charlie Harper Russian and have 10 more nucs order for this spring.

I bought open mated russian queens/nuc as opposed to the pure russian stock he offers.

Good chance to be pure but cannot be sure. Being sure costs more.

I like the ones I have and will try to raise some queens from them this year. I put a frame of 4.9 two weeks ago and they are building up nicely already. Gentle bees too.


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## notaclue (Jun 30, 2005)

<Jester Bee Company in West Ridge AR has Russians. Their pricing seem good even with shipping. Does anyone have any opinions about them or their Bees?>

Yeah Carl, I have a couple and I, in my inexperienced mind, think they are great! I've had some time with Italians, Russians, mutts and some brown bees (not sure what kind) and the Russians are the easiest for me to work. http://www.jesterbee.com/ 
Kevin Jester had all kinds of info for me. I definitely plan on purchasing more from him. I have seen that others either love or hate them. I also have been told that each bee keeper work their hives differently from another.

Other folks in the area I spoke with said they fed their bees most of the spring and summer through the hard drought we had. I stopped feeding middle of April and they produced honey (#73 combined) with more than enough for a normal winter. I have done a little supplemental feeding two weeks ago but they are now good to go as they have been working something even with freezing temps at night. More so than the mutts or Italians and they have had a good disposition. Can't wait for the next batch.


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## Boris (Jul 12, 2006)

I hope this new information will be useful for some beekeepers:

“Phase IV is the culmination of 14 years of effort. The Russian queen breeding, evaluation and selection has been turned over to the Russian Honey Bee Breeders Association. With input and guidance from the Baton Rouge Bee Lab, the RHBA will continue the breeding and selection program. The Baton Rouge Bee Lab will continue to be a repository of Russian stock, and will work on other aspects of the Russian queen characteristics.” http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=6444

More details about ARS Russian bees are here:
http://www.beebehavior.com/russian_bees.php

Boris


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## leamon (Mar 30, 2006)

*A question please.*

Unless you re-queen every year, won't you soon lose most of the Russian genes, or any other strain as the bees supersede, etc.?
leamon


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## Boris (Jul 12, 2006)

leamon said:


> Unless you re-queen every year, won't you soon lose most of the Russian genes, or any other strain as the bees supersede, etc.?
> leamon


Leamon,

I do not have any beekeepers near my main bee yard. But my bee yards are not located on a remote island, therefore there is a possibility to mate with local feral drones.
On the other hand, there is a possibility that ARS Russian drones from my bee yards will mate with feral queens. 

The annual requeening is a very questionable subject. I will post my ideas in new Topic soon. 

Boris


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## Boris (Jul 12, 2006)

*Feedback on suppliers of Russian bees*

I receive many inquiries for recommendations of breeders of Russian bees. The breeder from whom I used to purchase my bees has gone out of business. However, now there exists the Russian Honeybee Breeders Association: http://www.russianbreeder.org/
I cannot comment on the quality of services and products provided by any of the Association’s members, but I think it would be useful if forum participants who have made purchases from these and other breeders provided their feedback here. This information will help us make future choices regarding Russian bee suppliers.

Boris


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## Camp9 (Feb 7, 2006)

Boris said:


> I hope this new information will be useful for some beekeepers:
> 
> “Phase IV is the culmination of 14 years of effort. The Russian queen breeding, evaluation and selection has been turned over to the Russian Honey Bee Breeders Association. With input and guidance from the Baton Rouge Bee Lab, the RHBA will continue the breeding and selection program. The Baton Rouge Bee Lab will continue to be a repository of Russian stock, and will work on other aspects of the Russian queen characteristics.” http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=6444
> 
> ...


Can you request breeding stock from them like you can with some of the other USDA reository's in the country? 

Camp


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## NeilV (Nov 18, 2006)

I purchased Russian Queens from Hubert Tubbs of Mize, MS last year. He was a good person to deal with and the queens were excellent.


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## longrangedog (Jun 24, 2007)

I second the Hubert Tubbs comment. I bought 4 nucs from him last year and have been very pleased. Hubert has been involved with Russian bees from the begining of the USDA program. Carl Webb in east Georgia also sells Russian queens and the ones I bought from him have done well.


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## Morris (Oct 12, 2004)

*Russians*

I agree. Hubert Tubbs delivered when he promised. Even with a payment mixup on my end, I got his queens when I needed them. They built up rapidly as advertised. Mite count was lower than my other hives too.


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## Boris (Jul 12, 2006)

1. Neilv, Langrangedog and Morris,

thank you for your reply. More feedbacks on suppliers of Russian bees are welcomed.

2. Interesting and updated information is here:http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?ACCN_NO=407275&showpars=true&fy=2008

Boris


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## mgmoore7 (Jul 6, 2007)

Just a comment about Russion queens:
I have had a hard time requeening with Russian queens. They cost too much to have requeening issues so I will not be buying them again.


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## Bud Dingler (Feb 8, 2008)

*requeening*

russian queens have a different pheromone scent then other strains. 

requeening a non russian hive with a mated russian queen would require a slower release like a push in cage. 

i have gotten around the whole issue buy grafting cells from a breeder queen and installing queen cells into nucs made up with non russian bees and mating in isolated yards with established russian hives 

if you want to stay high purity Russian you want to
keep your bees 6 miles away from other non russian colonies and also introduce known purity genetics into these apiaries by purchasing mated queens or grafting from a known russian queen all purchased form Russian Breeder association members.

The russian breeder association is managed by charlie harper and is a small group. the standards are high and I would not have any concerns about the purity. Only this group will have access to USDA genetics. 

In general a beekeeper cant just buy a mated russian queen toss it into a split and run them like Italians and mutts you can get everywhere.


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## mgmoore7 (Jul 6, 2007)

Thanks for stating very nicely what I found. I only got Russians because I did not specify the breed from a local supplier. I learned my lesson.


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## Bud Dingler (Feb 8, 2008)

you're in FL so of interest to you is a study and reports that russian bees keep the small hive (roach) beetle at bay better then other strains. 

we don;t have much of a problem with hive roaches here fortunately.


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## DOrr (Dec 8, 2008)

I live in NC and my russians have fought off everything. I think we found three hive beetles all last year in our three hives. These guys are great, we've never had to treat our bees with chemicals. I'm definately sold on the russian strain!


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## Camp9 (Feb 7, 2006)

Bud Dingler said:


> russian queens have a different pheromone scent then other strains.
> 
> .


How about the other way around, requeening a russian hive with non russian? 

Camp


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## REDTRACTOR1 (Dec 10, 2003)

*Russian Bees*

Darren,
Did you get your russians from Ray Revis? He lives real close to you and is a member of the Russian Queen Breeders Association.


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## REDTRACTOR1 (Dec 10, 2003)

*Russian Bees*

Camp9,
It would be the same way. You would have to take more time introducing the queen. But why would you want to do that?
Thanks Dwight


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## Boris (Jul 12, 2006)

Bud Dingler said:


> russian queens have a different pheromone scent then other strains.
> requeening a non russian hive with a mated russian queen would require a slower release like a push in cage...


This is very good advice.


In addition:
"Tired of the new queens, for which you just plunked down $10, being precipitously murdered by worker bees that don't appreciate what you are trying to do for them? This handy Introduction Cage has legs that anchor it to a drawn comb. The queen and her attendants are released into it, but they cannot be reached by the workers of the colony you are requeening. When you observe that she is laying in the cells inside the cage, she can be united with her new hive, and her acceptance is almost guaranteed, assumming that the new hive was queenless. (Ship Wt: 1 lb.)"
From: http://www.betterbee.com/products.asp?dept=644

Boris


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## Camp9 (Feb 7, 2006)

REDTRACTOR1 said:


> Camp9,
> It would be the same way. You would have to take more time introducing the queen. But why would you want to do that?
> Thanks Dwight


 I'm just a sucker when someone has a new line of bees to try, for me that's part of the fun of farming. Even when I find something that works, I still have to try the new stuff to see if it's better than what I have. 

Camp


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## longrangedog (Jun 24, 2007)

I introduced 6 russian queens to Italian bees last summer with 100% success. I have bought queens and packages from Hubert Tubbs and Carl Webb, both charter members of the Russian Honeybee Breeders. Mr Tubbs is a Cooperator who participated in the original evaluations. I quizzed them both on the widespread belief that Russian queens were more difficult to introduce to an Italian hive than an Italian queen. They both said that was not true. The technique they used was to kill the old queen and add the new Russian queen (they usually did both at the same time) without removing the plug or cap. Wait 4 to 5 days and check the bees to see if they were feeding the queen or acting aggressively towards her. If they were feeding her and not acting aggressively (which was almost always the case) the plug or cap should then be removed. Check in a week or ten days for eggs. If they were aggressive wait 3 more days and check again before removing the plug or cap. They both said leave the attendants in the introduction cage. As I stated earlier I had 6 of 6 accepted (none of them have been superceeded as of last week). This is considerably better than my past experience with acceptance or superceedure of a variety of queens from half a dozen suppliers. I'm a believer!!


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