Central Russian bee is one of the most popular and widespread breeds. This variety has formed in rather severe conditions of the European part of our country. Among the undoubted advantages of the Central Russian bee, beekeepers include endurance, high productivity and excellent winter hardiness.
general description
The main distinguishing feature of the breed is the large size of the bees. By this indicator, the Central Russian variety is second only to the Italian one. One-day bees of this breed weigh about 100 mg, the fetal uterus - 200-210 mg. The proboscis of working individuals has a length of 5.9-6.3 mm. The uterus of the Central Russian bee is able to lay up to 2000, and sometimes up to 2500 eggs per day, making only short breaks for lunch about every half hour. The body color of Central Russian bees is dark gray.
Behavior features
The advantages of Central Russian bees are just a huge amount. To date, this breed is rightfully considered one of the best. But these insects have one small drawback. It is desirable to start them only for experienced beekeepers. The fact is that the Central Russian bee is extremely vicious. In addition, this species does not protect its own nests too well from attacks by other insects.
Central Russian bees are not inclined to theft. They carry honey first in a store extension or in the upper case. Further, the working individuals collect it in brood. Honey of Central Russian bees has an attractive light color. Nest these insects in moderation.
Honey Harvest Features
In the winter hut, the Central Russian bee (photos of these insects are presented in the article) can stay for 6-7 months and can easily withstand a flightless period. The insect collection rates for these insects are very high throughout the warm season. In the spring, the uterus begins to work quite late - usually after a flyby. In inclement weather, bees of this species do not collect nectar.
From poor honey collections to good working individuals of this breed, they switch slowly. It is also considered some of the flaw of the variety. But at the same time, Central Russian bees make good use of both monofleur and polyfleur honey collections. Moreover, during the season, workers collect nectar at the same time from no more than 4-5 species of flowers.
In productivity, this variety is superior to most others. The gross yield of honey with proper care for families is about 25-30 kg. In some regions of Siberia, the Central Russian bee can collect up to 40 kg of this valuable product.
Among the undoubted advantages of the breed, among other things, beekeepers attribute the ability not to lose in productivity even in the worst years. In such periods, the Central Russian family can collect all the honey (both feed and commodity) literally in 7-10 days.
Breeding
With artificial breeding, the Central Russian family usually grows a limited number of queens (most often up to 20 individuals). Cases of quiet change and cohabitation in one hive of two queens are extremely rare. The uterus of this breed is very malicious to each other. After the conclusion, they fight to the death until the strongest wins.
In the absence of a uterus, Central Russian bees do not become tinder for a very long time. During the collection of honey by working individuals, the queen of the hive quits the laying of eggs. The uterus of the Central Russian variety, as already mentioned, is extremely prolific. In this regard, the breed is also second only to Italian bees.
The tendency to swarm in the Central Russian variety is very high. Almost 50% of all apiary families come to this state in the spring. In addition, it can be very difficult for a beekeeper to restrain swarming. Most of the tricks used by beekeepers in such cases do not help. It is often possible to switch the bees into working condition only by ripping off all the mother liquors, except for one, after the swarm first emerges.
Where better to breed
Most often, this species is found in areas with harsh climatic conditions. In terms of resistance to low temperatures and endurance, the Central Russian bee is superior to all other breeds known today. Usually this variety is bred in the Urals, Siberia and in the north of the European part of Russia. In particular, there are many apiaries with such bees in Bashkortostan.
Being brought to the southern regions - to the Caucasus or to Central Asia - the Central Russian variety, unfortunately, is rapidly weakening. Moreover, in such warm areas, these bees usually do not collect more than 12-17 kg of honey. It often even happens that by the end of the season families cease to exist at all. Sometimes Central Russian bees are crossed with other southern pampered breeds. The result is quite strong and hardy crossbreeding families. But only in the first generation.
Breeding Features
A not-so-complicated content technology is what distinguishes the Central Russian bee. Its characteristic was given above in all details. As you can see, the difficulties in its content lie, mainly, only in increased aggressiveness.
Wintering with these bees usually takes place calmly and well. In order for the family to go strong and full of honey in the spring, the beekeeper needs to follow only general recommendations for keeping bees in the cold season.
Central Russian families do not need much food for winter. Usually 1-1.2 kg is enough per hive. Central Russian bees put honey in a store extension and brood. It is not worth pumping it out immediately from these two parts, otherwise you can leave the brood without food for the winter. Central Russian bees are aggressive, but when pumping honey this fortune of their nature, fortunately, usually does not show.
Breed problems
Unfortunately, at the moment, the popularity of the Central Russian bee has begun to decline gradually. The main causes of this phenomenon are considered the evil nature of insects (they cannot be kept in summer cottages) and a tendency to swarm.
Unfortunately, breeding work on breeding non-aggressive varieties of Central Russian bees in our country is not carried out. But the tendency to swarm to the shortcomings of this breed is far from all beekeepers. In any case, this feature of the Central Russian bee is often used including for its popularization and distribution. After all, the productivity of this breed is really good. In addition, the Central Russian bee is one of the few varieties available for breeding in Siberia and the Northern Urals.
How to breed Central Russian bees: the method of swarm maintenance
To obtain new highly productive strong families of this variety in experimental apiaries, a special experimental technology was recently developed. According to this technique, the planned swarming of Central Russian bees should be carried out in compliance with the following recommendations:
in winter, it is supposed to use only high-quality feed reserves (and in an amount of at least 3 kg when wintering on the street);
when assembling the hive for the winter on nesting frames, you should place a horizontal full-time frame on the slats;
during the audit, you need to put a pepper cake on the upper bars of the frames;
active sedimentation of frames with wax in spring should not be used.
Beehives in the apiary should be located in summers to the east. 2-3 days after swarming, the mother family should be moved half a meter. In this case, the letka should be rotated 90 degrees. A hive with a new swarm is installed on the vacant space.
Disease resistance
In this regard, this variety is also considered one of the best. In terms of resistance to diseases, it surpasses many other popular breeds, such as buckfast or Carpathian. The Central Russian bee is not afraid of a wax moth, rot, is not subject to nosematosis, ascospherosis, etc.
Reviews about the breed of beekeepers
On the whole, the Central Russian variety among the beekeepers earned a good reputation. Beekeepers attribute its high advantages to the high energy of summer (and therefore the ability to take bribes over very long distances) and, of course, excellent productivity and unpretentiousness.
Experienced beekeepers recommend working with this variety of bees exclusively with a smoker. In addition, it is believed that hives with Central Russian bees should not be opened without special need. Otherwise, it will hardly be possible to avoid trouble in the form of bites. When working with a Central Russian bee, it is also advisable to use special gloves. Actually, the movements of the beekeeper themselves, when performing any manipulations in the hive, should be calm and smooth.
Conclusion
Despite everything, the Central Russian variety continues to be one of the most promising today, especially for breeding in the cold regions of our country. However, it is still worthwhile to acquire such bees only to experienced beekeepers who know their job well. The workers of the Central Russian breed, although unpretentious, are very fond of being well looked after. If the beekeeper feels insecure, the insects will quickly notice this and begin to behave very aggressively - they will bite at the first opportunity. In general, beginner beekeepers should not choose for their honey farm such a variety of bees as Central Russian. Carpathian, Caucasian and peace-loving bakfast (for warm areas) in this case will most likely fit much better.