Wisconsin Life

We have Russian honeybees that originated from the Primorsky region of Russia. The U.S.D.A. went over to that region in 1996 to bring them back. They studied them for 14 years. There's a very limited supply in the United States with only 15 Russian bee breeders. So that's what makes us unique. If you're purchasing Russian honeybees and you haven't purchased them from a Russian bee breeder, they're probably not 100% Russian. They have been mixed with something else. And they're not going to carry the genetic markers and the qualities that Russians have. The Russians know the balance of their hive. So if the workers from the field are not bringing in enough pollen or nectar, that queen knows it and she's going to shut down her egg production. So during a dearth what the beekeeper sees in the hive, "Oh, I have spotty brood. "I don't like Russians because I have spotty brood." Well, guess what? That Russian bee is actually smarter than what you might think. Because she doesn't have enough resources to feed the amount of brood in her hive. And what's interesting is that per month a hive will consume a 100 pounds of honey just feeding its brood. So you take a queen out for 10 days, your honey will soar in that hive, cause they'll keep bringing in the honey, but they won't be feeding it out. The smoke is masking the alarm pheromone. It smells like bananas. So when you smell bananas, you know you'd better smoke.