Hello Everybody.
My name’s Greg and I’m interested in starting hive this year.
I plan to purchase some bees (probably from Thailand) but was advised not to buy apis mellifera as these are less resistant to predators and may spread disease among the native Lao bee population.
However, some sites in Thailand suggest that apis cerana don’t produce much honey. The (Falang) beekeepers in Thailand seem to have apis mellifera.
My goal is to have an interesting hobby, produce some honey to swap, as well as eventually show the Lao relatives a way to earn extra money without negatively impacting the environment.
I haven’t noticed any bees in the area (6 km out of Pakse) so catching a swarm or relocating a wild hive probably isn’t realistic. I don’t know of any apiarists in the area.
Any feedback would be gratefully received.
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Hi Greg, and welcome to the forum where you will find friendly folks who are ready to help with advice. There is a heap of reading in the forum as well.
If you want your hives to produce honey then apis mellifera is the way to go with the choice of bee to have. What ever the predator you have there they will feed on whatever bee species you have, and it is just a part of bee keeping, so you just have to live with it.
A healthy hive that is well maintained and if you have good hive management in place you should be more concerned about importing a disease into you hive from the native bees rather than the other way around.
I’m sure if you look around in your area for a bee keeper you will find them, check out for a bee equipment supplier around you, they will know of guys in your area and they are a wealth of information about local conditions.
Cheers, Peter
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