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Best Types of Honey Bees for Beekeepers

Finding the best types of honey bees for their hive is the goal of every beekeeper. While all bees share many characteristics, certain breeds or races tend to have special abilities. Limited in part to what is available to purchase, beginner beekeepers want to make the best choice possible.

Every beekeeper wants to fill their hives with a great bee. Well, at least one with the very best characteristics. A type of bee that is healthy, productive and friendly maybe? Yes, that would be perfect.

In the search for the best bees for your beekeeping style, you will be troubled with many decisions. Your climate may play a role as some bees do better in cold regions.

However, the availability of bees to purchase still plays a major role in what you ultimately end up with.

How Many Types of Honey Bees are There?- Bee Species

A normal colony has a queen bee, thousands of worker bees and drones during the warm months.

When we talk about types of honey bees, we are not referring to the individual kinds of bees found in a hive. Rather ,we are referring to species and races of the honey bee.

How many honey bee species are there? At least 7 species of honey bees are found world-wide with many subspecies.

The species that lives in the US is Apis mellifera (or the European Honey bee).

We only have 1 honey bee species in the United States. But, we do have several different types of honey bees known as “races“ also called breeds of bees.

“Honey bees are not native to the United States. They were originally brought over by colonists coming to the new country.”

An easy way to remember this: a dog and a cat are 2 distinctly different “species” – they can not interbreed. But, 2 breeds of dogs (Lab and a Poodle) can mate and produce offspring.

A book such as The Bees in Your Backyard shows the great diversity in the bee world. I use mine to identify the non-honeybees in my bakcyard.

Races of bees can interbreed with each other . In fact, that is how some popular varieties of honey bees came into existence.

Bee breeders are always trying to develop a better bee. Commonly, Italian honey bees can mixed with Carniolan honey bees giving us an Italian-Carni mix.

Most of us beekeepers will have a bee with mixed genetics. The label may say Italian, Carniolan, Russian etc, but the fact is that pure strains of bees are hard to come by and very expensive.

Truthfully, this may be a blessing because quite often in nature – the pure bred animal is not the most healthy. A mix of genetics may be beneficial in bees.

Most of the bees sold in packages and nuc colonies are a genetic mix. This is because most queen bees are open-mated, they mate with any drones in the area.

While the offspring may be predominately one race, their genetics are mixed. This is because of the way bees reproduce. Natural mating takes place in flight.

Best Bees for Beginner Beekeepers

This is a common question asked by new beekeepers. Especially those searching for a bee that is easy to manage.

However, any type of honey bee will sting when they feel threatened. Though, some breeds have a tendency to be more docile than others.

Large package suppliers know that their bees will end up in the hands of a lot of new beekeepers. They tend to breed bees for a degree of calmness.

What is the Best Breed of Honey Bee?

This is one of those beekeeping questions that beekeepers love to argue about. But, let’s not argue – let’s be friends. And besides, no one can prove their point for a certainty.

Each race of bee has admirable characteristics and some that may not be as well suited to your backyard hive.

For instance, some beekeepers have reported good mite control with Africanized Honey bees.

However, having a hive of these highly defensive and dangerous bees in your backyard is not a good idea.

Perhaps there is no best honey bee. But by comparing qualities of different races of bees, you can choose the best bees for your hive.

Since most of us keep a mixed stock. We often call our local bees a wonderful mix of mutt bees.

A little of this and a little of that is a good way to describe the genetic makeup.

Common Types of Bees and Their Attributes

All honey bees share certain characteristics. They gather nectar to make honey and pollen to feed their young.

Honey production, propolis production and winter cluster sizes vary within the different races of bees.

Choosing bees for your hives will require some research. And, I’ll be honest – a bit of pure luck.

Even experienced beekeepers order new bees to increase their number of hives, replace dead colonies or to introduce some new genetics into the apiary.

Races of Honey Bees in North America

Italian Honey Bee-(Apis mellifera ligustica)

Italian bees are popular with beekeepers. Photo Creditt/Ken Thomas via wiki commons.

The scientific name of a honey bee consists of the species name followed by the race.

For Italian bees the proper name is “Apis mellifera ligustica‘ The last word – defines our bee as Italian.

The Italian honey bee is the most common race of bee kept in managed hives. They are known for creating large populations and being good honey producers.

Italians are often golden in color but you can’t rely on color to identify. We do enjoy looking at bee images and bee color gives us a glimpse into their possible genetic background.

Most Italian worker bees will be golden with various shades of black stripes. And, Italian Queen Bees are often a shade darker than the worker bees.

Italian Honey Bee Characteristics

Italian bees originated in Italy and were brought to the US in the mid 1800’s. They are very adaptable to various climates but do not do best in tropical settings.

Having a mild temperament, Italians have earned a favored place in beekeeping culture.

A prolific bee, Italian bees tend to grow into large colonies and are good workers.

They are not as prone to swarming as some of the darker bees and tend to produce beautiful white cappings on finished honeycomb.

However, Italian bees are not without challenges. Their large winter populations cause problems if food reserves are low.

If you live in a region with long Winters, you want to be extra careful with winter food stores.

A large Italian colony without proper food stores faces starvation. The risk is greatest in late Winter/early Spring as the colony begins raising young.

They are also robbers (all bees are) and prone to drifting to other colonies. Some strains of Italians are more swarmy during the productive season.

Italians have not shown a marked resistance to disease and pests. It is hoped that other types of honey bees can be breed into the Italian line to improve varroa mite resistance.

Good robbing prevention practices and equalizing colony strength are useful management techniques.

Most Popular Honey Bee

Italian bees are a good choice for beginners. No type or race of honey bee is perfect. But, these bees have been a favorite of beekeepers for many years.

But, the Italian bee has a lot of good characteristics that make them easier for beginning beekeepers to work with and learn from.

Carniolan Honey Bee–(Apis mellifera carnica)

Carniolan bees are very popular in some beekeeping circles. They are a darker bee from the Yugoslavia region. Although, I prefer Italians, Carniolan “Carnis” are my second favorite.

Because different races can inter-breed, I have used Carniolan Queens in my Italian hives in the past! This has become a common practice by package breeders too.

Carniolan Honey Bee Characteristics

The term Carniolan is often shortened to “carnis”. This sub species of bee developed in regions of Slovenia and the northern Balkans.

As a whole, carnis are a darker race of bee. A typical carniolan honey bee will be a darkish grey with bright dark bands.

They have a calm, gentle temperament and are easy to manage. A good race of bee to keep in populated areas where aggressive bees could be a problem.

Coming from a wet, cold region, Carniolans are more likely to forage on cool, wet days. This is a big advantage if you live in a cool damp climate.

Carnis over-winter with a smaller population than Italians. This gives a well-resourced colony a better chance of winter survival.

Carniolans do a good job of adjusting the number of workers in the colony to match available nectar resources. And, they build population quickly when natural nectar becomes available.

However, if you live in an area that has early nectar flows, this can be a problem. Will the colony build up to a large work force in time for the honey flow?

Carnolian bees are more prone to swarming once the nectar flow hits. You may have to watch them closely to make sure they have enough space.

Because it is a darker bee, finding your queen in the hive can be more challenging with Carniolan bees – perhaps buying marked queens would be a good idea.

Buckfast Honey Bees

This type of honey bee is not a race of bee. Buckfast bees are a mix of several different races and strains of bee. They were very popular in the beekeeping community in the past.

Today’s Buckfast Bees are descended from a line of bees developed by Brother Adam.

He was a monk at Buckfast Abby in England. (Brother Adam wished to create a new bee with all the best characteristics.)

Buckfast Bee Characteristics

Buckfast Bees are good honey producers. Their population builds quickly in the Spring. However, they are less prone to swarming that other types of honey bees.

Buckfast Bees show a resistance to tracheal mites. While pure breed Buckfast bees tend to be gentle, if allowed to re-queen themselves-the offspring can be aggressive.

This trait has caused them to fall out of favor with some beekeepers so it is not easy to fine Buckfast bees for sale..

Russian Honey Bees

Russian bees were imported into the US from the Primorsky region of Russia. They are black or dark brown in color.

Russians are well suited for colder weather and show some mite resistance. (But not enough to forego monitoring and treatment!)

Imported into this county in 1997, researchers hoped to use them to breed more mite resistance bees. Bee breeders worked for several years on this program.

Russian Honey Bee Characteristics

Even though they show some resistance, most of the Russian bees are not able to handle varroa without beekeeper intervention.

Like the Carniolans, Russian bees overwinter with a smaller population. They are slower to build up in the spring, waiting for good nectar availability.

Once natural nectar is available, they will explode in population. This tendency causes excessive swarming unless the beekeeper is observant.

Some beekeepers report that Russian bees also tend to be a bit fussy and defensive. As with other bees, this characteristic is likely when the colony is allowed to requeen itself.

Caucasian- (Apis mellifera caucasica)

Caucasian bees are grey to brown in color. They originate from the Caucus region near the Caspian Sea.

Caucasians are generally not as productive as Italians. But coming from a cold region, they will forage on colder days than Italians.

Caucasian Honey Bee Characteristics

Caucasians have a longer tongue than the other types of honey bees. This makes it possible for them to extract nectar from deeper blossoms.

They are considered by many to be the gentlest race of bee. However, they make a lot of propolis. Propolis (bee glue) is used by bees to seal cracks in the hive.

But, sticky propolis also makes hive inspections difficult. I have one colony that must have some Caucasian genetics because it is “sticky inside there”.

Caucasians have some resistance to European Foul Brood. However, they show a higher susceptibility to Nosema.

Finding true Caucasians is difficult unless you are lucky enough to live in a region with Caucasian breeders.

What Kind of Bee do I Have?

Unless you have purchased bees from a special breeder – or you live in a secluded region – you most likely have “mutt bees”.

Most of us do, even when we purchase queens (or a whole colony) from a certain bloodline, the colony will eventually replace the queen. And once again we will have a mixed bloodline.

And maybe that’s okay. Diversity in genetic material can be a good thing in most life forms – why would bees be different?

Final Thoughts on Finding the Best Honey Bees

While there are several varieties of honey bees, the races mentioned in this article are the most common. And, all of these races of bees can be inter-bred to create hybrids.

And since, most of the bees sold have queens that are open mated, chances are you will get a mix.

We are still looking for the perfect type of honey bee. It produces a lot of honey, has a gentle temperament, is resistant to pest and disease and doesn’t swarm unless we want it to.

Let me know if you find some – you are willing to share, right?

Beekeeper Charlotte