Russian Bee Characteristics
One of the most important characteristics is mite resistant. The Russian stock that was imported from East Russia was selected in Russia for mite resistance. Russian bees are resistant to both Tracheal and Varroa mites. To ensure that this resistance is maintained, Long Creek Apiaries does not treat for mites only for nosema. In fact, researchers have discovered that there is a direct relationship between treating colonies with hard chemicals such as Apistan or Cumophos and the reduced viability of the sperm produced by treated colony's drones. Matings to these drones can produce queens that are inferior or superceded very soon after introduction. No drone production colonies in our operation have ever been treated with any kind of chemicals. In fact, when our frame replacement program is complete, there will not be any wax left in our operation that has been in treated colonies. In the long term, all woodenware that has contained treated bees will be replaced. Instead of repairing this equipment, it will be replaced with new. We believe that in the long term, genetics is the only solution.
Another characteristic of Russians is they require both nectar and pollen to build up hive population. Russians, like other races, store a pollen reserve. However, the Russians will not use this reserve for colony buildup. They will use it to maintain hive population in times of dearth but only sparingly. Since they are not rearing a large amount of brood, these bees are very frugal. They will winter with a much smaller population but will actually pass up Italians in hive population in the spring when both pollen and nectar become available. The buildup can be so rapid they will become overcrowded and swarm if enough room is not provided. The beekeeper must provide ample room for the queen to lay and for honey storage to prevent swarming.
Of course, everyone wants to know about honey production. There is some variation from bloodline to bloodline but overall the honey production is about the same as Italians. However, this assumes that you are comparing colonies that are healthy and free from mites. If the Italians or other races have a mite infestation, then the production from those colonies can be greatly reduced. Of course, live Russian colonies always produce more honey than dead Italian colonies.
Overall, this bee is a very good bee for both hobby or commercial beekeepers. The savings in treatment costs in today's economy can be significant. Any differences in income from honey production can easily be replaced by the elimination of costly chemicals. Also, some of these chemicals such as formic acid can be very dangerous to handle.
Finally there is a common misconception that the Russian honeybee is a race of bees such as Italian, Carniolan, etc. Russian honeybees imported from Russian are not a race but they are actually a hybrid between Italian, Carniolan, Caucasian, a little German black and whatever bee was in that area. That is why the Russian bee vary in color from yellow (the Italian component) to black (Carniolan, Caucasian, and German black). After introduction into the US, Russian honeybees are maintained from generation to generation using line breeding of a closed population (no mating to outside genetics).
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