I used to think that the goal of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders Association (BIBBA) is primarily about encouraging beekeepers to raise queens from selected breeder-queens, and thus improve the quality of their stock. I don’t think many people would argue against such a noble cause. It’s in the name of the organisation; if you are seeking to improve your bees, or you breed bees, BIBBA should be your happy place. However, I was wrong because it was always also an Apis mellifera mellifera (Amm) conservation group. Their website currently states they are:
“Dedicated to improving and conserving Apis mellifera mellifera, the native honey bee of Britain and Ireland (aka European Dark Bee), and to encourage beekeepers to keep locally adapted honey bees in areas where Amm doesn’t exist.”
Exclusive club?
That immediately excludes a lot of people who are interested in bee improvement and/or are breeders of honey bees. Furthermore, despite mentioning locally adapted bees, the vast majority of the bees described in the aims of BIBBA refer to “native” and “near native” bees. Most members of BIBBA that I have spoken to, or heard speak, make a point of removing any queens from their breeding programmes that have any hint of yellow/ginger banding in the abdomens of their workers. The assumption seems to be that if they select for the colour black, they will end up with near native bees because native bees are also black. Oh, and just to make BIBBA even more of an exclusive club, they have now partnered up with the ‘treatment-free brigade’ (Stephen Martin, Steve Riley et al.) and encourage members to move in this direction.
Why limit bee improvement to one type of bee?
Each to their own, and I have no right to tell anyone else what bees to keep or breed, or how to keep them, but it seems to me that there are some problems with this line of thinking:
1) Many of the strategies for bee improvement are the same, regardless of type of bee, so why limit themselves to just native or near native bees? Many other people are actively working to improve their bees, but they don’t have the shackles of restricting themselves to Amm.
2) The colour of bees can be quite misleading, and bears no relationship to the performance of the bees. Many dark bees are not Amm at all, but have a large slice of Carnica (originating from Slovenia) in their makeup. It’s possible for bees to contain a good portion of Ligustica (Italian) in them but still be dark coloured, although probably not very likely.
3) Whole genome analysis of UK honey bees has shown just what a mixed up bunch of bees we have. I am not aware of any places in England where the 100% pure native bee can be found. Plenty of people seem to think that they keep Amm, but the evidence says otherwise. So, although goals of conserving Amm where it exists is a good idea, it’s a bit like conserving tooth fairies, in most of England at least.
4) I understand that the near native bees that we do have in England tend to live in areas with a fairly harsh climate, such as Northumberland, or in secluded spots. There are, of course, pockets of near native bees dotted about, but you cannot rely on colour to identify such a beast. I don’t know how ‘near’ it has to be in order to be acceptable – would 85% Amm DNA make the cut? Are many beekeepers going to DNA test their bees?
5) In practice, function matters more than parentage. A 75% Amm colony that has been bred through selection for certain traits can behave more like a ‘native bee’ than a 95% Amm colony that hasn’t. This is where all bee breeders can agree; selective breeding by choosing desirable traits leads to bee improvement, regardless of colour.
6) As for going treatment-free, that’s a bandwagon I’m reluctant to jump onto for the foreseeable future. Should Tropilaelaps ever arrive here, and it seems likely that in a few years it will (like varroa and Asian hornets before them), non-treaters will be wiped out in no time. However, people are having a go, and some people even think it results in decent bees – so good luck to them. Decent ain’t good enough for me.
Cornish black bees
Anyway, I recently had a wonderful opportunity to meet some near native bees in the flesh. Jo Widdicombe was kind enough to let me pay him a visit, and he showed me around a few of his colonies at several apiaries on the Rame Peninsula, in Cornwall. He is a lovely guy and was generous with his time – I had great fun speaking with him and looking at his bees. He has, for many years, worked to improve his bees and move them in the direction of the native bee. In his area he is the dominant beekeeper, and, luckily for him, the peninsula is quite cut off from most other bees. Although his queens are open mated, they are generally only mating with drones from Jo’s colonies – quite a rare situation in England.
As we discussed honey bee improvement, it quickly became apparent that we are both doing very similar things, but there are clear differences. Jo started off with a very mixed bag of bees that were prone to stinging and not at all pleasant to work with. Over time, through continual selection, his bees have become both productive and gentle. Oh, and they are black, and he calls them near-native. Judging by their appearance, I am inclined to agree that he accurately describes them, but I’m no expert on Amm. I thought they were lovely bees. They are indeed black, with quite thick fur that looks ginger in the sunlight. They don’t look like carniolans, which I do have much more experience of.
Breeding ‘true’
When one of his queens starts producing workers who have a lighter colouring on one of the bands of the abdomen, he moves those bees out of the area. For him, it has worked, but we don’t all keep our bees on an isolated peninsula. The fact that, even on that relatively isolated spot, yellow colouration occasionally surfaces, shows that they are not ‘pure’.
Jo believes that breeding from his best local stock, and striving to move towards the native bee, means that the bees “breed true”. By this, he means that the daughter queens are like their mother (less variation). That part – the trying to get a nearly pure strain – is one area where Jo and I differ. I focus solely on traits, and don’t mind what type of bee they are, as long as they work for me in my area – which they do.
Continual improvement
Jo explained that the work of the bee-improver is never done, and that there can be phases when things go backwards for a while. He is continually working to select for desirable traits (and colour) so the work is never over. The results have been worth it for him. He sees it as “sustainable” because, over time, he has changed the bees in his area into the type of bee that works for him. He does not buy queens, but does sell a few.
In contrast, I tend to buy one or two inseminated breeder queens every season, from trusted UK-based breeders – people who are very skilled and knowledgable, far more so than me. I raise daughter queens from these prime specimens, and also from my own best queens. I also spend time weeding out rare colonies that crop up with undesirable traits because I don’t want their drones mating with my nice virgin queens. However, in my case, I’m buying breeder queens every year. If I do not requeen regularly, at least every two years, my bees regress to something pretty mediocre because the background bees are not the best.
Both approaches work
Jo would argue that I should try to improve the local bees, and that eventually the effort will have been worthwhile. I disagree because I don’t keep my bees on a nice isolated peninsula. The local bees are a mixed up lot, and nothing is going to change that. To me, in my situation, what I do makes sense because (a) it works and (b) the cost of a couple of inseminated queens is worth it to get good bees, even if they won’t stay good bees if left to swarm and supersede for a few years. Many bee farmers extend that logic to buying in all of their queens, with regular requeening, but that obviously costs a lot more if you have hundreds of colonies.
I do agree with much of what Jo is doing, particularly given his location, but I’m happy doing things my way. We are both actively selecting for desirable traits, although, in my case, some of that is actually done by another breeder. He believes that if everyone followed his example the benefits to all would be huge, but he accepts that it will probably never happen. His methods are certainly low-tech and low-cost.
However you do it, trying to improve your bees is the most interesting and enjoyable part of beekeeping, so please give it a go. Unfortunately, we all have to wait six months before we can do that. Less fun tasks await, such as cleaning up equipment, tidying apiaries and storage sheds, and trying to keep up with the surge in demand for honey and candles from stores getting ready for Christmas.