Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: rgennaro on January 06, 2021, 02:02:45 pm

Title: saskatraz, carniolan or italian?
Post by: rgennaro on January 06, 2021, 02:02:45 pm

hello everybody and happy new year

after the sad demise of my first hive last fall (after 2 successful overwinterings) I am going to upgrade to 2 hives. I'll order a nuc from the local people who sell honey at the farmers market who provided me with my first nuc. But for the second hive I want to try something different and order a package of bees. Pre-ordering just opened up and I have a choice of Saskatraz, Carniolan or Italian bees. I have read about the various characteristics and I am inclined to try the Saskatraz but I am worried about them being aggressive ... do people have any experience?
In general I need good wintering ability (it gets cold where I am), and would like something that is less inclined to swarm than what I have had so far ...

thanks
R

Title: Re: saskatraz, carniolan or italian?
Post by: LawyerRick on January 06, 2021, 09:06:12 pm

Put 5 Saskatraz queens in last summer & 4 did really well.  I didn't find them defensive & liked the brood patterns.  Overwintered with 4 Saskatraz queens & all are alive as of today.