Re: bees
- To: i*@rt66.com
- Subject: Re: bees
- From: L*@aol.com
- Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 07:24:45 -0500
My beekeeping friends tell me that there are two 'resistant' honey bee
varieties, not the same as the old fashioned Italian honey bee. One is the
non-domesticated Jugoslavian bee, the other is the Buckfast variety from
Great Britain. The Buckfast variety was developed at a Cistercian abbey
after World War I by a monk who wanted a honeybee better able to handle
British weather. The original breeding stock was from Turkey, rather than
Italy, home of Apis meliflora (?), familiar honeybee. The Jugo may be a
different species - I don't have that information.
Neither of these is able to completely resist infestations, but both survive
attacks better. The 'Jugos' apparently take longer to become established
well enough to start harvesting honey, so there will be a lag time in getting
them started.
Information is available from the State Department of Agriculture, at least
in Tennessee, where we have a State Apiarist, Gray Haun.
So there is cautious good news.
Linda Mann lmann76543@aol.com east TN USA
