Finally the first beehive is completed and ready to be placed on a piece of land nearby. It is also official the honey bees will be picked up the third week of April. We will drive to Stillwater and get our 2 packages of bees and two queens (3 pounds each), put them in the car and drive back home. This is going to be interesting, hearing the buzzing sounds for one hour! Actually the bees are raised in California and then loaded on long bed trucks before being delivered to their destination. It is a long way for them, and also stressful. However, when the honey bees will arrive in Minnesota, it will be Spring.
There are many type of honey bees available for purchase in the U.S, different races and hybrids . I chose the Italians (Apis mellifera ligustica). These a golden in color with very distinctive dark bands. Before arriving with the first colonists by ship to the New World, they came from the Appenine Peninsula in Italy. They are known to produce large brood which help boost the colony growth rapidly. They are also good comb producers, and very gentle. They maintain a big colony in the winter, as a result I will need to leave them with a lot of honey if I want them to survive our harsh winter. These honey bees are moderately resistant to diseases compared to the Russian race but I like their gentleness . The queens will be a strain developed here at the University of Minnesota, called Minnesota Hygienic (more on that topic later). In addition, Italian honey bees is the race I handled during my last entomology class at the University of Minnesota, and it is also a favorite one chosen by my fellow beekeepers. Everyone seems to have had good success, so I shall see. I am very happy that Spring is on its way!
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