July 9, 2016

Major Honey Bee Strains

When ordering bees for the first time new beekeepers may be faced with the decision of which strain or race of bee to order. Honey bees in the United States and most of Europe are a heterogeneous blend of several strains, originating from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Currently, there are three major strains, Italians, Caucasians and Carniolans. These current day strains are of course not the same as the original ones they were named after, having under gone considerable interbreeding and selection.

It is however still worth looking at the characteristics of these three main honey bee strains and identify the advantages and disadvantages of each.  As you become more experienced  you may wish to experiment with queens and bee packages from different specialist queen breeders and suppliers to learn more about the behaviour and relative productivity of each strain under your local conditions. However do not expect any one strain of bee to have read the text books and behave completely as expected.

Italian Honey Bees

Italians are the most popular honey bee strain in the United States and Western Europe. The Italian bee is lightish yellow or brown with alternating stripes of brown and black on the abdomen. The workers with three abdominal bands are sometimes called leather-coloured Italians and the queens with five bands are sometimes called goldens or cordovan queens.

Italian honey bees tend to start brood rearing early in the spring and continue until late autumn, which results in a large population throughout the active season. Large colonies can collect a considerable amount of nectar in a relatively short period, but they also require more honey for maintenance during  Autumn/Winter than do the darker bee strains. Most strains of Italian bees are considered to be quiet and gentle on the combs.

The disadvantages of Italian Honey Bees include weaker orientation to their hives compared to other strains, which results in more bees drifting from one colony to another and may also be responsible for their stronger inclination to robbing, which in turn can also facilitate the spread of disease. The Italians are however considered good housekeepers and are comparatively resistant to European foulbrood (EFB)—which was the major reason for their initial popularity.

The lighter colour of the Italian queen makes finding her in the hive easier compared to queens of the other two races. Italian honey bees also produce brilliant white honey cappings, which is ideal for producing comb honey.

 

Caucasian Honey Bees

Caucasian honey bees are usually described as being the gentlest of all honey bees. They are dark brown to black in colour, with greyish bands on the abdomen. They tend to construct a lot of excess comb and also use large amounts of propolis to fasten combs and reduce the size of the entrance. Some of the newer strains, however have been bred to use less propolis. Because they propolise excessively, they are not considered suitable for producing comb honey.

Caucasians are inclined to drifting and robbing but not excessive swarming. Colonies normally do not reach full strength before midsummer and they conserve their honey stores somewhat better than the Italians do. They also forage at somewhat lower temperatures and in less favourable weather conditions than do Italian bees. They have also been found to display some resistance to EFB.

 

Carniolan Honey Bees

Carniolans are dark bees, similar to Caucasians in appearance, except they often have brown spots or bands on their abdomen. These bees overwinter as small clusters but increase rapidly in the spring after the first pollen becomes available, as a result, they are prone to excessive swarming .

However due to their small overwintering cluster size, they are very economical in their food consumption, even under unfavourable climatic conditions and generally overwinter well. They are also not inclined to robbing, have a good sense of orientation and are quiet on the combs.  

 

More on Hybrid and Honey Bee Strains