Beekeeping: the Alpine black bee resists

On the borders of Savoy, at the end of the isolated valley of Encombres, the black bee resists, again and again.

Threatened with extinction, this species has found refuge in the mountains, helped by local beekeepers who created a black bee conservatory in 2016.

Among them, Kelly Duqueine, queen breeder in Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, not far from the Les Menuires resort.

For the last time this summer, she was busy this week at the fertilization apiary, perched at an altitude of 1,700 meters.

“This is the place where queens grow up.

I bring them to maturity, before selling them to other beekeepers who want black bee colonies.

I am at 500 queens this summer ”, she rejoices by opening a hive, wearing a large hat with protective veil, in search of a great lady with the elongated abdomen.

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“Found! The black bee does not produce better honey. We want to keep it because its genetics are perfect for extreme mountain conditions. The settlements have fewer losses. It is also a living heritage that must be passed on to future generations. The black bee is indeed threatened by the Buckfast bees, crossed to be as productive as possible and therefore used by the vast majority of beekeepers.

Black bees have mixed with them over time and have become hybrids, losing some of their qualities. “They have gone through climate change, ice ages. It would be a shame to lose these thousands of years of evolution. After this gloomy summer, the black bees adapted better and made more than 15 kg of honey per colony, while in the valley, the Buckfasts were unable to produce anything. "