# Bee bloodline recommendations



## Fusion_power (Jan 14, 2005)

Whether you use Italians, Carniolans, Russians, or Caucasians is best decided by looking at your local climate and see which brood cycle matches yours best.

Italians - build huge colonies, overwinter with huge colonies, have a moderate swarming tendency, are adapted to either one long nectar flow or else a spring flow followed by a fall flow. IMO, the disadvantages of Italians for the average small beekeeper outweigh the advantages.

Carniolans - Build huge colonies in spring, overwinter with small to medium size colonies, have a strong swarming tendency, are adapted to a heavy spring flow with little of no fall flow.

Russians - Build moderate to strong colonies, react strongly to pollen dearth by cutting brood rearing, have a very strong swarming tendency, are best adapted to areas with continuous nectar all summer and fall.

Caucasians - Start slowly in spring then build large colonies in the fall, have a moderate to strong swarming tendency, are best adapted to areas with a huge fall flow, are excessive propolis collectors.

Look closely at the Buckfast bees available from Dansk. You might prefer them over the others. http://www.danskfarms.com/

If you want to go treatment free, start with stock that is currently treatment free. Carpenter Apiaries and Beeweaver are two that have stock available. This thread has a listing of treatment free options. http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?262775-Varroa-tolerant-queen-breeders-for-2012

I am currently using queens that are have some Apis Mellifera Mellifera, Buckfast, Italian, and Russian genetics. They are highly mite tolerant and have not been treated for varroa in 8 years.


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## Juhani Lunden (Oct 3, 2013)

Fusion_power said:


> Look closely at the Buckfast bees available from Dansk. You might prefer them over the others. http://www.danskfarms.com/


Here is a list of all breeders: http://perso.fundp.ac.be/~jvandyck/homage/elver/index.html

Some Central European breeders have said to me they find the Danish buckfast breeds "soft". They prefer some more ability to withstand bad conditions.


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## Tyson Kaiser (Nov 28, 2012)

Thanks for the above information. I work with survivor bees, local ferals, but I'm faced with having to import some stock for research purposes. Locally I believe Italian VSH are utilized, with some Carniolan crosses mixed in. I was curious about what people used for themselves in US depending on area and local climate. I'd still like to hear more of what people use _for themselves_.

~Tyson


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I think local survivors are best. They will already be selected for your area.


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