# Black bees



## mathesonequip (Jul 9, 2012)

looks like moma found some strange stuff.


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Id say black!! Wow, thats the blackest Ive seen yet. Boy she looks old too doesn't she. Good photo Barry. G


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## gjt (Jul 24, 2014)

Beautiful. I seen a Brit strain of black bees. I think it is called Cornish or Cornwall, but they have a lot of light "fur" between the tergums - way way more furry than the above pictured.


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## dleemc1 (Dec 31, 2012)

I got the stock of bee that I have now several years ago from a woman whose husband had passed, I have black bees like that show up often. have no idea where the gene came from but I do know that he had midnight written on top of one of the hives.


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## nlk3233 (May 19, 2014)

Are these bees in your hive? From your own queen?

Otherwise its a good chance they could be a native bee?


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## Barry Digman (May 21, 2003)

They aren't mine, nlk3222. They're in my yard to help clean out some supers.


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Look at this black bee I found in my buckwheat, I wish the picture was better. im like Barry, i dont have any solid black bees in my hives, dont know where it came from. G


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## Barry Digman (May 21, 2003)

My father spoke about "German black bees" in West Virginia where he was born and raised. This would have been from around 1913 through the late 1920's. He hated them, and wasn't supportive of me putting bees anywhere near him. He said those bees were just plain mean. They beelined using a canning jar and flour to dust the bee so they could see it and follow it back to its nest where they would rob the honey.


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Ive heard the same of those old Black german bees. Seems when i would see ferals around our place as few as there were, they were darker but still had distinct patterns. Im going to see if I see anymore black bees this weekend in the buckwheat, they are working it like mad now. G


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## Teal (Jan 30, 2014)

The black bee is beautiful, but the other ones are too. I love this picture!


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

I see a few if I open feed or put out supers to clean up. It makes me wonder because I rarely see any even close to that color in my hives. 
I'll try to get a photo.


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## dleemc1 (Dec 31, 2012)

yes,they are in my hives. not every bee in the hive will be black but in some hives some bees. my bees are mixed I know, but they are the best I have ever had, or my father or grandfarther we have all kept bees I grew up with them. had my first ones as a small kid, I am 64 now


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

It has proven difficult to get a decent photo of one!
I have quite a few hitting a feeder but didn't spot anything this dark in my hive.
This one was nearly as dark as yours but you can see the bands on her abdomen.


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## Beekeeper23 (Mar 5, 2014)

For quite sometime (about half the summer) we noticed bees in our second hive had much more black, black head and black thorax, black and brown bottom end. Are these Russian?


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## Mr. Buzzy Bee (May 22, 2013)

That is the blackest bee that I have seen in a while. I have a few every once in while from my Carni hive who is rule by a very dark black queen. I raised her from her mother who I accidently killed while doing a routine check on hive. She is what I call a late queen since I stoped raising queens for the year. I'm amazing at her laying pattern, 7 frames full of capped brood, I guess when she mated she mated with some drones from my yard and some from feral hives that are on my property. Sorry to brag, but I had to share my queen story. Hoping to raise some daughters from her next year.


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## johns bees (Jan 25, 2009)

I did a cut out for a lady she even gave me a 100.00 dollars when I was done. don't get me wrong I like money as much as the next guy .
but the real prize came in the form of a large black queen . If I had to guess what type of bee she is I would go with Carni.
she put down an awesome brood pattern wall to wall  on 6 frames. she also gives of all black workers i would say one third of the hive is all black.


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

johns bees said:


> I did a cut out for a lady she even gave me a 100.00 dollars when I was done. don't get me wrong I like money as much as the next guy .
> but the real prize came in the form of a large black queen . If I had to guess what type of bee she is I would go with Carni.
> she put down an awesome brood pattern wall to wall on 6 frames. she also gives of all black workers i would say one third of the hive is all black.


Pictures please.......:waiting:......... G


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Biggraham, that's not a honey bee. I would suspect acute paralysis in those black bees but you never know.


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## babybee (Mar 23, 2012)

Just old bees that have robbed on barrels. The other bees seem to groom all the fuzz of of them. See it all the time since we barrel feed.


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

JRG13 said:


> Biggraham, that's not a honey bee. I would suspect acute paralysis in those black bees but you never know.


Not questioning your wisdom, because Im sure you have more experience than I. What was the giveaway for you? G


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

Finally got a couple decent photos


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## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

When the hair on the bee gets worn off they are all black underneath. That black bee looks old and I figure it's worn off its hair. If it were a truly black bee it would be a fuzzy look but black.


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## Redbug (Feb 8, 2014)

Take at look at this:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?302369-Sick-quot-Black-quot-Bees


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## stan.vick (Dec 19, 2010)

dleemc1 said:


> I got the stock of bee that I have now several years ago from a woman whose husband had passed, I have black bees like that show up often. have no idea where the gene came from but I do know that he had midnight written on top of one of the hives.


 He could have had bees from York in Jesup Georgia they were called midnight bees, York is out of business now. They were dark bees but most were not totally black except the drones which tended to be very large and black.


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## franktrujillo (Jan 22, 2009)

alright people it is not sick bees the pure strain of a German black bee has dark wing veins and the honey bee in the photo has that trait and the others with light wings and the black abdomen is just a cross breed or a mutt. remember queens open mated will pick up all different traits from the drones she mates with.as soon as I can ill take pics of some of my bees I have a lot of hives that have workers that look like them. there not dead either they make it thru the winters just fine and I don't treat or feed.


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