Queens

I got these three Saskatraz beauties yesterday.
I'm going to try to get them and a swarm I caught last week transferred to their own hives/nucs today.

Details, please. Where did you get them and how much? Know little to nothing about the breed. Most we have are "mutts". Are there ladies better? Thanks.

I got these from OH Bees. Supposedly more resistant to varroa, tracheal and brood disease and excellent honey production.

You can read all about them here (scroll to bottom of page)-- Saskatraz Queens

Here is info on the Saskatraz project -- Saskatraz Project

Thanks, I will take a look at the information.

Sweet Dustin. Let me know how they do. I'm seriously thinking about a couple myself. Fur got me reading about those and I am curious to see how they do this far south.

Well I requeened a hive with one and started two nucs with the others so I should have some feedback in a couple of weeks.

I think you'll really like them Dustin. I'm a year in to the Saskatraz queens. They built up very well this spring and are more docile than my mutts.

The offspring from these queens will only be half breed Saskatraz stock since they are open mated to mostly Italian drones. If you'll get a couple more later in the year (hopefully from a different Sask line) you could use the ones you have now as drone colonies next spring, use eggs from the other Sask queens and get them up to 75% purity and keep increasing every year if you keep breeding them. Just stick 2 drone combs into the Sask hives in February and they'll pump out 1000's of drones. Even if you don't cross them back to Sask line queens, you'll still wind up with 50% lineage if you use one of your queens for eggs for grafts.

I think they are the best commercially available "breed" of bee for my area. The timing of everything that they've done has been very close to that of the mutt bees that are acclimated to this area. They shut down brood rearing when they need to and build up quickly in the spring.

I did, what I suggested using them as drone colonies and breeding to offspring of my best honey production queen. The offspring of those bees has the best brood patterns I've ever seen. I pulled a frame from a nuc last week that was solid brood. I'm talking about every cell, top to bottom, side to side, was capped brood. No honey, nectar or pollen. I've seen some good brood patterns before, but that one takes the cake.

Lappes bee supply also sells the Sask queens. They get them from OHB too, but you can get one at a time, or 3 or whatever you want. Buying 3 gets you free shipping. I did buy one shipment direct from OHB last year but that was when I got 10 at one time.

Dustin,

How are the Saskatraz bees doing?

Wade I haven't had a chance to check on them in a few days. I may try today if I get a moment.