Carpathian bees - one of the most popular breeds among Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian beekeepers. This variety received good reviews, first of all, for its high productivity, unpretentiousness and endurance. By its main characteristics, the Carpathian bee resembles a Ukrainian one.
How to distinguish from other varieties
Carpathian bee has been bred by beekeepers since ancient times. When and how it was withdrawn is not known for certain. Some scholars consider this bee to be a branch of karnik, others attribute it to one of the varieties of the Ukrainian steppe. Only one thing is certain - these insects have been living in the Carpathians for thousands of years. The breed is most prevalent in western Ukraine, in the steppe and mountain regions.
The gray color of the calf is what, above all, is a Carpathian bee. The photo below demonstrates its somewhat unusual appearance visually. In front of the abdomen of this bee there is a silver edge. The color of the uterus of the Carpathian breed can vary from dark gray to cherry.
This variety received good feedback from beekeepers, including for its long proboscis (6.2-7 mm), which allows you to collect nectar even from legumes. In terms of size, this breed is slightly larger than karnik. 110 mg - the working adult Carpathian bee weighs about this . The uterus of this species is also not too big. Its weight can reach 185-205 mg.
Behavior features
According to most beekeepers, the Carpathian bee is one of the most calm and non-malignant species of all that are bred by humans. During various operations in the hive, these insects do not show any aggression and nervousness. Most beekeepers do not even use smoke exposure when doing such work.
Compared to its relative, carnica, which is also extremely popular, Carpathian bees are less prone to swarming. Even in the absence of a bribe in the very early spring, when young individuals are ready to harvest, the beekeeper usually does not have any problems. There is also no need to use any special equipment when breeding Carpathian bees. These insects are very unpretentious and independent. For successful breeding, it is enough to follow the basic technologies of beekeeping and use the standard set of tools of the beekeeper.
Honey Harvest Features
Willingness to start work in early spring is one of the features that has earned the Carpathian bee huge popularity. Beekeepers relate to its advantages and the ability to collect large amounts of nectar from poor melliferous plants. Even on plants with a low sugar content, this bee does not slow down in productivity. The Carpathian variety also shows good results in terms of collecting nectar in the summer, easily switching from one melliferous plant to another. The signet itself of these bees is dry, a pleasant light color.
The Carpathian bee, which has a good performance profile, differs, however, in a certain tendency to theft. This makes it difficult to inspect families in a no-getty period. Also a minus of the variety is that insects practically do not work in bad weather.
Productivity indicators
According to honey collection, according to most beekeepers, this breed is significantly superior to many others. The average productivity indicator is 40 kg per family per year. At the same time, the honey of Carpathian bees themselves has very good taste characteristics. For some particularly strong families, with good bribes, the yield can be up to 80 kg per year. Propolis these bees produce in very small quantities.
At the same time, bees waxes can do a lot in a short period of time. As beekeepers note, honeycombs Carpathian bees build much faster than most other breeds.
Propagation Features
This breed earned good feedback from beekeepers, including for its ability to quickly replenish the family. The uterus of the Carpathian variety can lay up to 1800-2000 eggs per day only. She does this, unlike many other breeds, very carefully. That is, it distributes the eggs over the honeycombs evenly, without gaps. This greatly facilitates care, since the beekeeper does not need to rearrange the frames as, for example, is recommended in the literature on beekeeping.
Carpathian bees: breed reviews
In addition to high productivity and peacefulness, beekeepers and its high winter hardiness are among the advantages of this variety. The Carpathian bee can tolerate very low temperatures in the cold season without harm to itself. Also, judging by the reviews of the beekeepers, the advantage of these insects is that they are completely not afraid of transportation.
Of course, a small tendency to swarm is also considered an advantage of the breed. Of course, this greatly facilitates the care of bees. During the season, no more than 2% of families from the entire apiary can swarm.
The ability to quickly adapt to changing weather conditions is also why this breed has earned good reviews from beekeepers. Due to this feature, which is not too characteristic for bees in general, the cultivation of carpathians became possible not only in its homeland, in Ukraine, but also in Belarus, Russia and other countries of the world.
In some places, where there is no honey collection, this variety is especially used for pollination of vegetables in greenhouses. In this regard, judging by the reviews, Carpathian bees have also proven themselves very well, because they differ in activity and, thanks to their long proboscis, the ability to pollinate flowers of any shape.
disadvantages
This bee has practically no disadvantages. To some of its shortcomings, in addition to the tendency to theft, beekeepers attribute only the fact that she is not able to independently fight wax moth. Beekeepers have to carefully monitor the hives and, if necessary, take appropriate measures.
Despite the winter hardiness of the breed, most Russian beekeepers advise to breed this species only in the southern regions of our country. Carpathian bee tolerates winters well and does not reduce productivity indicators even in a rather harsh climate. However, for example, in Siberia it becomes much more aggressive and swarm. In this case, the answer to the question of which Carpathian or Central Russian bee is better is simple. Of course, the second variety is more suitable for the cold regions of our country.
Experienced beekeepers recommend that you be extremely careful when buying Carpathian families. The fact is that today there are a lot of fakes on the market. Of course, ordinary, non-pedigree bees cannot produce such good productivity indicators as the Carpathian.
In spring, during the activation of young animals, swarming in these insects does not occur. However, instinct is instinct, and sometimes such problems are caused to beekeepers including Carpathian bees. "Why do insects swarm?" - the answer to this question is simple. Either the bees simply do not have enough space in the hive, and it needs to be expanded, or they are bred in too cold, harsh climates.
Varieties of Carpathians
Breeding work with this breed in the farms of Carpathian is ongoing. In addition, Ukraine creates special conservation areas into which the import of other species of bees is prohibited. For all the time of the breeding work, the breeders of this country bred 10 lines of Carpathians. At the moment, the best-known reviews of beekeepers have earned the extra-Soviet variety.
The Maikop type of Carpathians is also very well characterized by beekeepers. The advantages of these bees include a very long proboscis and a high egg production of the uterus.
How to deal with wax moth
Carpathian bees are not very resistant to this disease. For beekeepers, the moth is perhaps the worst enemy. After all, this is the only insect capable of completely digesting wax and similar products. Female moths lay eggs in all crevices of the hive and in the combs. At the same time, they wrap the entire bee brood in a dense web. As a result, carpathians simply drop infected cells and begin to build new ones.
They fight wax moth with the help of special tick-collecting devices. You can scare away this pest from the hives by spreading brooms of wormwood, mint and ledum around a broom. It is not difficult to prevent the spread of moths to other families by digging a groove around the infected hive and filling it with water.
Thus, despite minor flaws, judging by the reviews of beekeepers, the Carpathian bee can be safely attributed to one of the best breeds today. Breeding these insects is easy. In terms of honey collection, they are much superior to most other breeds. It determines the profitability of apiaries with Carpathian bees and the high rate of reproduction of insects.