The Lexington Farmers' Market opens on Saturday, April 12th, 2008
Abigail's LLC accepts
PayPal
or
HONEY BEES HONEY TYPES WORKING BEES
ORDER Hymenoptera
FAMILY Apidae
SPECIES Apis dorsata giant honeybee
Apis florea dwarf honeybee
Apis cerana eastern honeybee
Apis mellifera western honeybee ***Red print denotes Abigail's bees
RACES OF APIS MELLIFERA
German black bees - Apis mellifera mellifera
Caucasian bees - Apis mellifera caucasica
Africanized bees - Apis mellifera scutellata
Italian bees - Apis mellifera ligustica
Originally from the Italian peninsula and is the most popular honeybee. Italian bees are yellow in color and relative gentle. They are easily provoked to rob a weaker colony and sometimes exhaust honey stores in winter.
Carnolian bees - Apis mellifera carnica
Very gentle honeybees. Now just experimenting with them. Have always used Italians before.
Abigail's is a small apiary that pays special attention to quality.
We have started a new policy of trying to purchase Kentucky-bred queens and swarms for hive or queen replacement. This will cut down on possible disease/pests transported from other states. While this may not be possible always, Abigail's is establishing firm connections with honeybee breeders throughout Kentucky. As this is a new industry for Kentucky, patience is often required as breeders solve a multitude of problems such as working around mites or the newly acquired hive beetle.
Our apiary also works with other Kentucky beekeepers/farmers to bring different types of honey to the consumer's attention. Kentucky is a great state for producing wonderful honey. Kentucky produces 30 different varieties of honey while the US over 300 types of honey. Kentucky's honey may be the color of water and range through the yellows and browns until we have a black honey. The color of the honey and taste is determined by the nectar of the plant the bee forages.