Ron
Varroa Tolerant Bees II
by
, 31-01-2015 at 09:43 PM (15436 Views)
Looks as though I was successful with my “cut-and-paste” intro so will now try to recall all I wrote and lost, easier said than done these days, 84 in April. What I am about to write may cause some of you to want to query. That’s OK. I will attempt to give answers or advice. I learnt my beekeeping ib 1943 so have a reasonable amount of acquired knowledge.
When reading some of your threads I felt I may be able to clear up a few points about my work and perhaps give hope to those of you trying to breed Varroa Tolerant Bees. I discovered a hive in the early 90’s where the bees were actively grooming mites. It took a while to establish that it was really happening and proving it was genetic and not learned. I had been inseminating queens in the mid-eighties to produce Amm bees. I had hardly a problem with acceptance until using chemicals to control varroa. After that my queens, now being bred from the groomer-colony were being either rejected or soon superseded if they had been inseminated, but accepted if naturally mated. Instrumental Insemination (I.I.) was immediately stopped. By the following year, 1995, most of my eighty hives now had queens related to the first “groomer” but being naturally mated now I was not too worried about inbreeding in my future programs though remained watchful.
Still worried as to why earlier I.I. queens were rejected I reasoned that the only change to my bee husbandry was the use of chemicals. I further reasoned that as most of my hives were now able to control mite numbers by grooming, why did I need to use chemicals anymore?
The decision was easy. No More Chemicals. Twenty years this year and I do not lose bees to varroa.
My bees are strong and healthy and I see no signs of varroa transmitted viruses. I very seldom use I.I. these days. I have around 80 colonies which are checked regularly to assess their hygienic behaviour.
I could go on, and on but will save some for next time