Which of the Five Common Breed of Honeybees is Best for You? - (2024)

FAQs

Which of the Five Common Breed of Honeybees is Best for You? -? ›

Italian honey bees are heavily favored by new beekeepers for their gentleness and by commercial beekeepers for their high honey production. They're a great choice for beginning beekeepers as they are less prone to swarm than other breeds.

Italian bees are the most popular bees to order in North America. They are known for being gentle and good honey producers. They are typically reared in the south and have difficulty in colder climates, as they need to consume extra food to compensate for not forming a tight cluster the way other honey bee types do.

Italian bees produce brilliant white cappings, which are ideal for producing comb honey. Caucasian bees are sometimes described as the gentlest of all honey bees.

Carniolan Bees are extremely docile and take a lot of irritation to be agitated enough to sting. Most notably, the Carniolan Bee has one of the longest tongues at 6.5 to 6.7 mm, which helps it pollinate crops like clover, meaning more sources of nutrition for the colony than other strains of honey bee stock.

Of all the five top honey bee breeds for your bee farm, the Western honey bee is likely the best option for beginners. They tend to create large colonies. Also, they're less aggressive than other breeds of honey bees and can regularly produce a large honey haul. Furthermore, they're resilient in human environments.

According to Mariah, clover honey is seen as the gold standard of honey because this plant is so abundant. It has a clean, mild, and sweet taste, with a typically light amber color (depending on where this was harvested).

Because Carniolans begin foraging earlier, they are a good choice if your winter sets in early and you need to give your bees as much time as possible to forage. Just also know that you'll most likely need to feed them longer in the spring than Italians because they begin foraging sooner.

Carpenter bees are fairly docile and one of the least aggressive stinging insects.

The research demonstrates that devon cattle mature more quickly then other breeds and are more fertile. Their naturally docile demeanor results in behaviors that make for great mothers.

The main honey-producing bees of this group generally belong to the genera Scaptotrigona, Tetragonisca, Melipona and Austroplebeia, although there are other genera containing species that produce some usable honey.

What is the biggest enemy of the honey bee? ›

All type of ants are among the most common predators of honey bees in tropical and subtropical areas. They are highly social insects and will attack the hives en masse, taking virtually everything in them: dead or alive adult bees, the brood and honey.

The American bumblebee is the largest and gentlest of bees—and a pollination champ!

There are no less than 450 types of honeybees . Italian 's seem to be known as the least aggressive , and if the hive is not suffering any loses and has a healthy queen , and enough space to expand the hive , they are too busy to care about anything but caring for the hives needs to grow .

The Carniolan honey bee (Apis mellifera carnica) is a subspecies of Western honey bee. The best bee for cold climates and also known as one of the calmest bees is The Carniolan. The best bee for pollination is The Caucasian, thanks to its super long tongue that can reach into the deepest flowers for foraging.

Mason Bees, also known as Orchard or Blue Orchard Bees, are one of the 4,000 species of bees found in North America. They are easy to raise, gentle, inexpensive, educational, and great for the environment. Mason Bees are incredible pollinators that will do wonders for your fruit crops and gardens.

Though honeybees get all the credit, native pollen bees do the bulk of the pollination chores in many gardens, parks, and forests. Unlike the highly social honeybees, nearly all pollen bees live solitary lives. Most native pollen bees work more efficiently than honeybees at pollinating flowers.

Easily recognized and the most popular hive is the Langstroth. Known as the Father of Modern Beekeeping, Rev. Langstroth invented the Langstroth hive in 1851 after discovering what is referred to as bee space (see above), which allows beekeepers to manipulate frames without destroying comb and harming bees.

A honey bee colony typically consists of three kinds of adult bees: workers, drones, and a queen. Several thousand worker bees cooperate in nest building, food collection, and brood rearing. Each member has a definite task to perform, related to its adult age.

Rock bee (Apis dorsata)

Rock bees are ferocious and difficult to rear. They produce about 36 Kg honey per comb per year. These bees are the largest among the bees described.