Polystyrene nucleus box
swarm of bees
bees on comb
We keep bees on the island of Anglesey, north Wales, where they are relatively isolated from other bee populations, making it easier to protect the pure black bee strain and prevent diseases such as European and American foul brood. If you're planning to keep your bees on the island, we can offer a local discount, so please enquire if you think you might be eligible.
The European dark bee (Apis mellifera mellifera) was domesticated in modern times, and taken to North America in colonial times. These small, dark-colored honey bees are sometimes called the German black bee, although they occurred originally from Britain to eastern Central Europe and are actually dark brown in colour!
There are three main subspecies, namely
* mellifera (brown bee)
* lehzeni (heathland bee)
* nigra (black bee),
which have local variants, such as the Pomeranian Brown, the Alps Black, or the Black Scandinavian. All of the subspecies belong to the 'M' lineage of Apis mellifera.
The European dark bee can be distinguished from other subspecies by their stocky body, abundant thoracal and sparse abdominal hair which is brown, and overall dark coloration; in nigra, there is also heavy dark pigmentation of the wings. Overall, when viewed from a distance, they should appear blackish, or in mellifera, rich dark brown. The aggressive feral hybrids with other subspecies can be distinguished by the lighter, yellowish banding on the sides of the abdomen, but this is often difficult. For breeding pure dark bees according to the standard, details of the wing veins are nowadays considered to be the only reliable distinguishing character.
For the technically minded:
The average results for stocks of the highest purity can be in the region of:
Cubital index: 1.48
Discoidal shift: -5.50 degrees
The average results for the majority of native dark bees in this country however are:
Cubital index: 1.72
Discoidal shift: -2.40 degrees
In Carniolan & Italian bees the the averages are:
Cubital index: higher than 2.
Discoidal shift: higher than zero degrees (a plus reading)The dark native honey bee, Apis mellifera mellifera, is defined by having a cubital index of no more than 1.9 and a discoidal shift angle of less than zero degrees (a minus reading).Our bees are generally fairly calm although wearing a full bee suit is highly advisable. We dont breed the bees to be ultra calm as they need to be agressive enough to fend off wasps during the Autumn hungry season. Watch out for hybridisation with other types of bees as these may have a defensive character and have the reputation of stinging people (and other creatures) for no apparent reason. Some colonies are very "runny" on the comb and so excitable that beekeepers consider them difficult to work with. This characteristic is not, however, one that has been traditionally associated with the dark bee breeds, which were previously known for their rather easy handling (though they have never been considered as placid as the Carniolan honey bee).
Their qualities are:
* significant winter hardiness
* low tendency to swarm
* some lines are very gentle
* defensive against invaders i.e. wasps
* careful, maritime brood cycle
* strong drive to collect pollen
* high longevity of the worker bees and queen
* excellent flight strength even in cold weather and light rain
* possibly hardiness against varroa.
Apis mellifera mellifera is no longer a significant commercial subspecies of the Western honey bee, but there are a number of dedicated hobbyist beekeepers that keep these bees in Europe and other parts of the world. Immigrants brought these subspecies into the Americas. Prior to their arrival, the American continent did not have any honey bees. Hybrid descendants of the original colonial black bees may also have survived in North America as feral bees. There are reports by beekeepers that, after the arrival of the Varroa mite on the American continent in 1987, some feral bee colonies survived. The original form is no longer present in North America. A common myth regarding European black bees is that they cannot sting because they do not have a stinger.
In Western Europe, dark bee breeds were the original honey bee stock until creation of the Buckfast bee. This is a hybrid breed whose progeny includes salvaged remnants of the British black bee, nearly extinct by then due to Acarapis woodi (acarine mite). The breeding stocks in Central Europe were nearly destroyed by order of the Nazis, who considered the honey yields not up to modern standards and wanted to "improve" the bee stocks kept in areas under their control.
This led to the creation of more aggressive, high-yield breeds (probably by cross-breeding dark and Buckfast high-yield strains with Carniolan honey bees), which, however, were very susceptible to Varroa mite infection and unpleasant to handle and were dropped from use after World War II, but just as in North America, some feral colonies survive. In the United States, 'M' lineage honey bees have been found in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Missouri, based on DNA sequencing analysis [3]Dedicated breeders and research facilities are today working on preserving and spreading what could be saved from the original stocks. There are only a handful of colonies present in Germany, but larger numbers have survived in Norway (lehzeni), the Alps (nigra) and Poland and Belgium (mellifera).
One of the most recent changes in our bees at our apiary is an apparent resistance to Varroa mite. When I first started bee keeping on our current site 6 years ago, the mites were very common and bees with deformed wing virus were a fairly common sight. Due to other local beekeepers starting to see resistance to the mites, I decided to stop treating the bees over 3 years ago and watch what happened. In this time period I have only seen one single colony badly affected and this year they seem to be pretty much free from infestation. This is great news, but we would never be as bold as to say that the battle against Varroa has been won!
We can offer no guarantees of the genetic qualities of our bees as there are still Buckfast and Carniolon bee colonies on the island. The 'black' or dark brown characteristic is certainly the most prevalent, but quite often colnies can be a golden colour. When we breed bees, we never select for colour as this could well be a recipe for disaster. Although some colonies can be a bit moody for a few weeks, we've never had a problem with persistently agressive bees and we always breed from the strongest colonies, which also tend to be very good honey producers.
We sell most of our bees in the early Spring which gives our customers the assurance that the bees can defend themselves against wasps in the previous Autumn and survive the damp N.W.Wales winter. Most of these colonies will expand rapidly through the seaon and produce a good crop of homey in the same year, so please make sure you have enough supers to hand.
Telephone, email and address is available on application - please ask!
NB. We currently do not sell mated queens other than as a full nucleus as described, but may consider this for the future.
