Italian and Carnie Mix

I just purchased some bee’s and the guy just told me they are a mix after I paid for them. Then he told me that they are a bit larger than the Italian bee, that they can’t fit thru the excluder. So my question is can I buy an excluder that is a bit larger?

I got Carnies and Italians, they fit fine. They are probably not mixed though, or they all are anyway. Never heard of this before, so I am waiting to read the answers you are getting.
I mean, aren’t the bees pretty useless if you can’t manage them using a QX?

Well if yours fit just fine, mine should fit… I guess that guy doesn’t like QX. L0L Thanks Webclan.

1 Like

Hi Chris, that sounds strange to me. I agree with @Webclan. My bees are a real mixture & they all fit through a QX. You could be right about him not liking QX’s. As far as I know, QX gaps are all the same worldwide. You’ll find different sizes in foundation.

It’s a bit off putting if he’s going to give you a bum steer. It makes you not want to take notice of anything else he tells you.

3 Likes

Interesting though, maybe Chris misunderstood and the supplier really said foundation? Somewhere I read bees are bred to use larger (?) foundation, and maybe they would do better foundationless for a while to build their own accustomed size cell till they are adapted. Or get larger cell foundation, which I wouldn’t do.

My bees use foundation cells as a guide, but they still do whatever they want with it. They can still make bigger drone cells. They can still chew holes in it. Plus the bees get smaller over time anyway as the cocoons build up in the brood comb. :wink:

1 Like

I’m convinced my bees are the same mix as yours, or at the very least the Queen mated with drones of different species, as I’m noticing darker bees which to my knowledge coincides more with Carnolians than Italians.

I’ve had no issues with my QX and bees passing through.

When I bought my Nuc I was told they were Italians, and to my knowledge we can only get Italians where I live…so I read at least.

Interesting all the same.

Thank you all for your responses. This is day two, I want to open it up and look inside so bad… So i did, L0L all looks well so far.

1 Like