Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: gottabee on November 25, 2005, 10:02:05 am

Title: Italian or Carniolan ?
Post by: gottabee on November 25, 2005, 10:02:05 am

I am a recent beekeeper. I have five hives, 4 Italian and 1 ferel. I have had good luck but am interested in results Carniolan vs Italian. If you have kept both I would be interested in your comparisions. Can you give me a few pointers?

Also would you keep both Italians and Carniolans in the same yard?

Title: Italian or Carniolan ?
Post by: Michael Bush on November 25, 2005, 12:30:39 pm

Italians are, as Marion Ellis called them one day, "brood rearing fools".  Carniolans are more frugal.  If the weather is decent the Italians are rearing brood.  The Italians overwinter with a bigger cluster than the Carniolans and eat more stores in dearths because they don't have sense to cut back.  The Carnis fly in colder weather, stop rearing brood in a dearth and cut back to a small cluster in the winter and need a lot less stores.

I like them both, but I prefer the Carniolans for my climate.  I'd say in the deep south the Italians would probably do better.

Title: Italian or Carniolan ?
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on November 25, 2005, 03:31:10 pm

In Illinois Italians seem to work for me the best. :)

Title: Italian or Carniolan ?
Post by: Finsky on November 26, 2005, 02:23:32 pm

I kept carniolas 10 years but some year they were awfull to swarm,. I do not like them any more. Italian are god. Italians are many traces, bad ones and good ones. When I took italians again, my average yield jumped 80%.