To all,
I have dilemma that may be nothing. I have been cut down to one new bee yard and I have two different types of bees (Italian and Russian) on order. Should I go ahead and put the two types of bee together in one yard, at about 6 feet apart from one another. OR should I find another yard. I think I should be alright if I can move them farther apart in this yard. What do y’ll think? (JUST GET OUT AND DO IT)
Hi there Mike. Glad to see you posting. I really have never thought about seperating the bees because of one species or another. I don't think it would matter. I am sure that Wally or Kurt will help out here but in my opinion I am not aware of any reason to seperate them. Good luck with the new hives and keep us posted on any updates you may have!
Since the drones and queens fly up to 2 mile or so to mate, where would you possibly put them where there would not be a hive of another strain within 4 miles?
If you have Russians and would like to benefit from their true resistant nature, then you will have to keep them separate from your Italians.
I have my 10 (now 7) hives of Russians isolated from my other bees.
I think this can be as little as 100 ft. The idea is to eliminate drifting which in turn would allow the mites to continually transfer from bee to bee (hive to hive)
You will not experience the full potentential of the Russians unless they are isolated.
As to the mating issues, I would not be concerned unless you are raising your own queens. I think a smaller bee operation would be better to purchase pure Russian queens rather than to try and raise them.
