Argentine Beekeepers' Magazine

(Espacio Apícola, March 17, 2025) The regular queen bee breeders' meeting was held at the bee stock farm "Pedro Bover" of the Ministry of Agrarian Development of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. All bee breeders from the country were invited to exhibit their material arranged in standard beehives and nucs, as has been the case for more than ten years..

Due to weather conditions, the meeting had to be postponed for a week. This unfortunately prevented the participation of foreign visitors who had come to Argentina from Mexico and Colombia to attend this meeting and what was promoted by the provincial government as a "National and International Beekeeping Exhibition."

Around 10 bee breeders attended the breeders' meeting. Although most are beekeepers who perform a more or less systematic selection process, with basic records, most do not keep proper pedigree records, and many tend to reproduce material selected by others but are still registered as bee stock farms ("cabañas" in Spanish), the term used by the regulatory authority (SENASA) to register every companies dedicated to the production and marketing of live beekeeping material in any form.

In addition to the bee breeders present, ten other companies, suppliers of inputs, machinery, and honey and wax purchasing services in Argentina, set up their stands at the international exhibition. They were set up in a custom-built tent on a beautiful lawn, typical of the type that can be grown in the black soil of Buenos Aires, amply watered by the abundant rainfall of the previous week and fortunately aerated enough to make it passable.

During the bee breeders' meeting, some interesting conferences were offered. Those for which foreign speakers were canceled.

It takes place the traditional queen bee competition that, as we have explained on other occasions, is a fun and folkloric event. The queen bee breeders arrive at the meeting the day before, with a couple of beehives and nucs, which they set up alongside gazebos on the property. On Friday, an initial visit and evaluation of the beehives takes place, and the characteristic puncture of about one hundred brood cells is performed to assess the colony's cleanliness. This Friday was especially attractive for both neophytes and city dwellers who visited the property. Some beehives swarmed, causing a great commotion throughout much of the established apiary. Although this is undesirable behavior in selected genetic material, in certain circumstances it can be understandable due to the stress a beehive with young queens is subjected to after several unusual manipulations and just hours after being installed following a fairly long journey. Several experienced beekeepers, including renowned technician Joaquín Moja, captured some queen bees, including mated and virgin bees that had exited with the swarms. Saturday was a quiet day; everything had returned to normal, and by mid-morning, beekeeping technicians hired by the ministry were conducting evaluations in their colorful suits, to the delight of the public.

In the photo at the top of this article, on the right, Micaela Christensen (Alfa apicultura), winner of the first prize in the competition, is seen with her husband, Rubén Montero. Next to them is Gastón Prunier, who received a special mention, and Walter, his father, from "Cabaña Apícola La Primavera". Both companies reproduce the material sold to them by PROAPI, INTA's beekeeping program.

Fernando Esteban