Aggression Level

[Vincent Roberts]

Looking for some current info, particularly helpful if you purchased
any USDA Russian Stock in the past couple of years.

There are several things concerning Russians that seem to be
propogated on the Internet - Winter in small colonies, slow to grow
numbers, the Queen stops laying when pollen is not present, etc

The one thing I am concerned about (not having had any Bees Russian
or otherwise) is the aggression level of current Russian stock. I
know in some cases the Queen will have something to do with this.
Since my hives will be located within 60' of my house, where my
children will be running, where I have to mow - dogs, cats present,
etc. what can you'all tell me of your experience?

Thanks

[ScottB]

I've had Russians for three years and have found them to be fairly
gentle bees. My Russians are not "pure" in that I have raised two
generations of queens since I bought my original nucs but they've
always been easy to handle. And I brought one hive to my house (small
city lot) last year to pollinate my garden and nobody even knew
(including my family with two young kids). The hive was within 10' of
my house hidden with some scrap lumber. So, based on my experience, I
would say you have no reason to worry. In three years, I have never
used any chemical treatments on my bees. And one last thing, I got a
great honey crop last year from the Tulip Poplar when other beekeepers
seemed to be struggling. I really like my "localized" Russian stock.

Scott

On Feb 15, 6:25 pm, Vincent Roberts <vi...@forthenrycustomknives.com>
wrote:

[Vincent Roberts]

Thanks very much Scott, good first hand info.

I appreciate it.
Vince

> > Thanks- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[M.S.]

In looking around for someone to buy from, the common word used is they are "different" I've seen that they like to propolise, swarm, build fast when the flow is there and conserve when it isn't, winter well, like to butt heads or bounce off/with the beekeeper but do not sting. first generation russian/italian are testy second are not - and not to think they're a treatment free bee. On russianbreeder.org they say they're not a Varroa free bee, to use treaments once or twice a year with soft chemicals

I would suggest to ask whom ever you're going to get them from about temperament and other questions you might have, they vary from person to person or hive to hive. Maybe ScottB. can help you out there.

This is what little I know so far about russians. I will be getting two maybe three hives going myself this year. Won't know for sure until I have them myself

[Tony Kruse]

I have had a couple of Russian hives. This will be my third year.
They are a little more aggressive and I take a little more care when I
go into them. I don't wear gloves and usually wear short sleeves in
hot weather. I have had the occasional solitary bee chase me down
with little warning. Once I was 20 feet away harvesting tomatoes and
one flew straight over from the hive and stung me on the forehead
without warning. Not sure why. Occasionally, I hill have a bee
follow me while gardening or back to the house after investigating the
hive.

I made a mistake of removing a robbing screen late in the afternoon
just before dusk. It was an overcast day and just removing the
robbing screen (not going into the hive) I was stung 5 times before I
gave up and when back inside the house. This was not a common event,
but significant.

I had a hive of Italian bees that were extremely gentle. I could go
into the hive without protective gear, without a veil, no smoking and
the bees remained very gentle and stayed busy on the frames as I
investigated them.

So I do see a difference in their temperament. My Italians did not
survive an infestation of varroa. I do not treat my bees. My Russian
colony seems to hold up OK to mites without treatments.

I will continue to have Russians, I just take more care with them.

Tony

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[mac]

I won't place a hive of russians in my yard, I have another location
to place them away from people near a creek.

> --http://www.apis.mehttp://twitter.com/apisdotme

[ChrisV]

Just reading the comments. Everyone I know who has Russians loves them
and won't go back to Italians. If you want to call two people who have
them the info is below.

Ray Revis: Pure Russian Breeder in NC. He will tell you all that you
need to know and loves his Russian Bees. Phone Number can be found on
his website WWW.RevisRussians.com

Darren Orr: who is with Orr Bee Supply has also had Russians for a
number of years now and swears by them. He sells bee supplies and his
pricing is great!! He can be found at WWW.OrrBeeSupply.com

> --http://www.apis.mehttp://twitter.com/apisdotme

[Vince Roberts]

Thanks Chris and everyone else.

 

I have been in Contact with both Darren and Mr. Revis so I am just firming up my decision (and trying to learn as well).

 

Thanks again.

Vince

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[ScottB]

I forgot to mention that I got my two original Russian nucs from Ray
Revis in Marion. Ray is a really great person and loves his bees. He
can also connect you with Reel Bee Supply, an affordable supplier of
hives and equipment near Marion. Regarding temperament of the bees, I
have only ever had Russians so I don't have much to compare. I do wear
a veil but not gloves and I get an occasional sting usually when I am
robbing honey. If you go to Ray's place in Marion, you will see 50-100
hives/nucs of Russians in his backyard in what is essentially a
residential neighborhood. When I picked up my nucs, we just strolled
through the yard without any protection. He seems to have good
relations with his neighbors, all of who can clearly see his hives.

Scott

On Feb 16, 4:18 pm, Vince Roberts <vi...@forthenrycustomknives.com>
wrote:

> Thanks Chris and everyone else.
>
> I have been in Contact with both Darren and Mr. Revis so I am just firming
> up my decision (and trying to learn as well).
>
> Thanks again.
> Vince
>
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 3:32 PM, ChrisV <chrisvoedi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Just reading the comments. Everyone I know who has Russians loves them
> > and won't go back to Italians. If you want to call two people who have
> > them the info is below.
>
> > Ray Revis: Pure Russian Breeder in NC. He will tell you all that you
> > need to know and loves his Russian Bees. Phone Number can be found on

> > his website WWW.RevisRussians.com <http://www.revisrussians.com/>

>
> > Darren Orr: who is with Orr Bee Supply has also had Russians for a
> > number of years now and swears by them. He sells bee supplies and his

> > pricing is great!! He can be found at WWW.OrrBeeSupply.com<http://www.orrbeesupply.com/>

> > > > russian-bees...@googlegroups.com<russian-bees%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>

> > > > For more options, visit this group at
> > > >http://groups.google.com/group/russian-bees?hl=en?hl=en
>
> > > --http://www.apis.mehttp://twitter.com/apisdotme
>
> > > Russian Bee discussion group:http://groups.google.com/group/russian-bees
>
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > Groups "Russian Bees" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to russia...@googlegroups.com
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to

> > russian-bees...@googlegroups.com<russian-bees%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>