Love these Carniolan Bees
One observation that I noticed in April, early in the season, was a great Carniolan trait that I am glad that is still in my breeding stock. Because we had such a cool and wet spring, and bees could not forage a lot of the time; I was busy with other ventures and did not inspect and catch in time to feed these colonies to keep production at 100 percent. These Carniolan bees were slowing down on the egg laying. My mistake made me pleased to see that the Carniolan genetics are still loud and strong in my bee yards. The reasons I like Carniolans over Italians, and the main reason I switched over 35 years ago is, around here in usually late July and August after we have taken off honey, things dry up. The Italian queens keep laying and use up any stores I left after taking the honey off and then I had to feed. The Carniolans shut down and conserve resources.
