Mongrels; AMM; a Carnie-Buckfast cross (which arrived as a swarm and are lovely); and 2 genetic lines of pure Carniolan which were imported last year.
Excuse the ignorance again but what does AMM stand for?
Apis Mellifera Mellifera - which is a bit of a mouthful, so is often abbreviated to AMM. These are the bees native to Britain, Germany and much of Western Europe. They're sometimes known as the German Black Bee, or the British Black Bee. These would have been the first bees imported into America with the early Pilgrims - as in those days, these would have been the only bees available in Western Europe. Carniolan, Italian and other bees were introduced much later. AMM have a reputation for being hardy, but bad tempered, especially when crossed with other types of bee.
I had planned to breed AMM, as there is a small but growing market for native bees - however, the alleged 'breeding stock' I bought turned out to be worse bees (behaviour-wise) than the existing mongrels they were intended to replace. So much for 'Plan A' ...
So - I decided to breed Carniolans instead, for the beginner market ... but no sooner had I ordered (and paid for) two genetic lines of Carnies, than a swarm of (believed to be) Carniolan-Buckfast bees turned up unannounced, and which have turned out to be one of the nicest crosses of bee I've yet encountered. Which is odd, because according to some experts, this cross should be extremely nasty. This cross has now been bred through 4 generations with local drones, and are staying more-or-less true to their original pleasant nature. As you guys so often say, "go figure".
LJ
