In June 2017 Peeblesshire Beekeepers Association (PBKA) purchased two nucleus colonies of native dark Amm bees from Colonsay and set up an isolated apiary outside Peebles. The aim was to increase the number of bees of this strain in the area and to eventually make nucs available to members.

Over 2018 it was found that the location, being remote, meant fewer members were involved than hoped and a previously unknown apiary had been identified 3km away. Then unfortunately, the two members who lived nearby and who were looking after these bees were to be moving away from Peeblesshire, so in November 2018 they were relocated to another member’s apiary, Linda’s, closer to Peebles for overwintering.

By Spring 2019, one of the colonies had died out and an isolated apiary site had not been found. Around this time we heard that Kate Atchley was setting up a native bee apiary in the Cheviots and with her help, three members, Wilma, Linda and David, set out to raise some queens from our remaining colony, to then go and be mated in the Cheviots.

Using the Nicot Cupkit system, a first batch of six queens were raised and introduced into apideas, with all the timings worked out on a spreadsheet version of “Tom’s Table” updated by Roger Patterson and available from Dave Cushman’s website. Our first batch were ready in May, but Kate advised there were insufficient drones available in her new apiary, so we raised a second batch of queens, and in June five apideas went off to the Cheviots where they all mated successfully. The first group of queens we raised were mated locally and will provide pure Amm drones in the area.

In July we collected three apideas, leaving two with Kate and she swapped one of her mated queens in a Lyson MiniPlus nuc, to help mix our bees’ genetics. Our four newly mated queens were spread out, one in each of Wilma and David’s apiaries, two to the PBKA apiary and Linda still had the original Amm colony in her apiary. Sadly two died out over the summer but two are now a good size in nuc boxes, well fed, treated for varroa and ready for winter, along with the original colony.

We have learnt that rearing pure Amm queens has its challenges, brain teasing timings and logistics, but that it is possible even for relative beginners like ourselves to do this, plus it was fun and the reward is that we end the year with three pure Amm colonies where we only started with one. We would certainly encourage others to try this too.

Next year we hope to raise some more native dark queens. We have had an approach from another Scottish Native Honey Bee Society member, who may have a suitable location not far from us for a mating apiary, so we might support that too in our aim to improve the native bee’s presence in Peeblesshire. To be continued . . .

David Ferguson