One or more bees

The word «bee» actually refers to a very large group of insects containing more than 20 000 species (listed!), including 1000 located in France. Bees all have nectar and pollen in common. But the different species differ in their lifestyles: some are domesticated, others are wild (more than 18,000 wild species in the world, including more than 830 in France!), some are solitary, some produce honey abundantly, others produce little or no honey...

The honey bee category consists of many breeds. Some are pure, coming directly from natural evolution, others have been selected by man by crosses (hybridization). These breeds differ in several ways, such as hair growth, the way they nest, the types of plants they grow, their adaptation to the climate…
Today, in French beeyards, there are five majority breeds of bees: the black bee (Apis Mellifera Mellifera), the Italian bee (Apis Mellifera Ligustica), the Caucasian bee (Apis Mellifera Caucastica), the Carnolian bee (Apis Mellifera Carnica) and the Buckfast bee (hybrid).
The black bee is the only one that historically comes from our regions: it is a very ancient endemic species of Northern and Northwest Europe.

In addition, within the «black bee» race, there are several nuances that vary according to the climate and the local flora: black bees from Auvergne, Brittany, Cévennes, Champagne, Corsica, Highlands, Île-de-France, Landes, Languedoc, Loiret, Normandy, Provence, Savoie…

The other breeds are all species imported or created by hybridization, and therefore do not benefit, by definition, from the long natural selection that makes the black bee so adapted and adaptable to our geo-climatic context. Because of its strong winter hardiness, its defensive character against predators and parasites, its spawning cycle measured according to the state of available resources, abundant harvests and its good longevity, The black bee is an ideal breed to practice natural beekeeping in our latitudes. We will return in detail in Module 3 to the major issue of its conservation today.

.Swarm sale

All honey bee varieties are derived from the genus Apis. In Asian countries, there are no fewer than eight different species. There is only one species present in Europe and Africa, it is the apis mellifera which extends from Asia Minor to all of Europe and Africa. The honey bee category consists of many breeds. Some are pure, coming directly from natural evolution, others have been selected by man by crosses (hybridization). These breeds differ in several ways, such as hair growth, the way they nest, the types of plants they grow, their adaptation to the climate…

Today, in French beeyards, there are five majority breeds of bees: the black bee (Apis Mellifera Mellifera), the Italian bee (Apis Mellifera Ligustica), the Caucasian bee (Apis Mellifera Caucastica), the Carnolian bee (Apis Mellifera Carnica) and the Buckfast bee (hybrid). The black bee is the only one that historically comes from our regions: it is a very ancient endemic species of Northern and Northwest Europe. In addition, within the «black bee» race, there are several nuances that vary according to the climate and the local flora: black bees from Auvergne, Brittany, Cévennes, Champagne, Corsica, Highlands, Île-de-France, Landes, Languedoc, Loiret, Normandy, Provence, Savoie… The other breeds are all species imported or created by hybridization, and therefore do not benefit, by definition, from the long natural selection that makes the black bee so adapted and adaptable to our geo-climatic context.

At the species creation level, Europe and Africa have been colonized by the bee Apis Mellifera, about 100,000 years old. The species has divided into a vaingtaine of breeds particularly well acclimatized to their biodiversities. They have different morphology and manners.

the European honeybee

During the last glaciation, the glaciers formed a dam pushing the apis mellifera to the limits of the Mediterranean. Bees have adapted by creating distinct and separate populations. It was certainly during this period that the types of bees developed placing the Apis Mellifera Mellifera in the south of France and the Apis Mellifera Ligustica in Italy, the Apis Mellifera on the Iberian peninsula and the Apis Mellifera Carnica in the Balkans.(See photo). It is important and necessary to keep in mind this natural distribution of bees, because creation has placed each type of bee in very specific regions. They have their own peculiarities according to their biodiversity. Man has disrupted this balance by mass importing non-native bees at the expense of our local black bees. My struggle and my commitment every day is to try to restore some of that balance. That is why I have focused on the selection and breeding of our endemic black bee.Swarm Booking