Native Bee Breeder

[neilr]

Thought you may all like to know of this chap's website. He is passionate and serious about maintaining indigenous stock and true genetic lines.

He is also the only breeder I can find online selling Queens. This is to EVERYBODY and not a select few although he reminds us that the Queeens are for breeding, not solely for honey foraging colonies .His waiting list is now quite large it could be next year before any more Queens become available but it was nice to see such a well informed website.

http://www.bees.me.uk

[Jon]

This is to EVERYBODY and not a select few although he reminds us that the Queeens are for breeding, not solely for honey foraging colonies .
http://www.bees.me.uk

Very expensive though at £85 per queen.
Not sure if everybody would be prepared to pay so much.
I think the best way to get a native queen is through some of the BKAs. Not all have a breeding programme but there a few that do.
I don't know where your best bet is in Scotland, as I am in NI, but locally Dromore provide AMM queens in nucs to beginners and I am hoping to get a similar group going in my own BKA. (Belfast)

[neilr]

Hi Jon, I agree they're a bit pricey. Our local association (EMBA) Edinburgh, can provide around six nucs to beginners. I'm unsure as to how pure the Amm stock is. Does Dromore instrumentally inseminate or leave to nature? Good luck in Belfast, all the best,
Neil

[Jon]

Hi Neil
They use a mating apiary out at Mervyn Eddie's garden. He has some Galtee queens. The local Bibba rep. Alan Jones has some Galtee stock as well so his apiary is a possibility for taking an apidea or two. We have one member in the Belfast BKA who cad do AI.
There are a few Buckfast aficionados here so decent mating is never guaranteed. There are also new beekeepers who have bought nucs from the commercial suppliers and these are generally Carnica. One individual advertises them as 'Irish Carnica' You couldn't make it up.
My BKA has over 40 on the waiting list for bees and Dromore has even more.The problem is not so much the queens as getting enough bees to make up dozens of nucs.

[neilr]

Ha Ha Irish Carnica, that really made me laugh.

I can see that even one member able to carry out AI is enough for Queen production but inevitably it will take several members with colonies from the same stock to populate nucs. So a long term breeding programme with dedicated members is the only way for it to succeed. I believe that here in Edinburgh we have an association apiary capable of only producing up to six nucs. Beginners and older members alike all vying for one. It will become increasingly difficult for newcomers to obtain nucs as preference could go to older members with a proven track record of care and breeding.
Once I believed it would be easy to produce a nuc or two but with the costs, time and care involved who could blame anyone for being reluctant to pass on to a novice to what may become an untimely demise for the bees.

Especially more so if a true Amm Queen were to cost £85.00 and a seasons brood.