Which Queens Make The Most Honey? (Cory Stevens Interview Part 2)
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
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In this interview with @Stevens Bee Co we discuss nature vs nurture in honey production.
Link to Cory's website:
www.stevensbee...
Link to Harbo's VSH Assay:
www.harbobeeco...
Link to Cory's presentation on selecting VSH in honeybees:
• Selecting for Varroa S...
Great chat. This is a conversation that could go hours.
Thanks!
Great conversation guys!! Need more content like this in online beekeeping community.
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Great info as always Nathan and Cory! I would have to agree that there has to be a genetic component to the nectar collection aspect of a hive. I know from my observations, there are queen lines that I have that just seem to be more industrious during a flow. The hives are the same size as others and at times even a little smaller but still seem to bring in more nectar.
I also know that there are some of lines that seem to go crazy bringing in pollen to the determent of nectar forging. I have seen colonies that have completely plugged out a brood nest with pollen. You can literally watch the entrance of that hive and almost every returning forger is packed out with pollen.
Bruce it’s a fascinating subject, something fun to ponder about.
Absolutely. There have been lines of bees specifically bred for pollen hoarding. Dr Robert Page accomplished this and showed a major genetic component at work.
Corey is the homie. This guy spits the knowledge.
He’s a good guy too!
@@DuckRiverHoney I know most people are carefull about religion and buisness, but one of the benifits of small buisness is freedom of religious expression.
It seems like you are both Christians. That's great! Don't be Luke warm!
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Our carniolan bees are out gathering pollen when it’s 8°C (46°f) here in the northern part of Norway (68°north). It’s just like the Apis m.m. has a rumor to do.
It’s definitely some genes that has been triggered and made the queens locally adapted.
Do you have trouble with tracheael mites? That was the downside of mellifera mellifera.
@@DuckRiverHoney No. I’m living on a place on earth where the bees don’t have any disease at all. No varroamite, no tracheal mites, no hivebeatles etc. The season is short and the climate is harsh. If we’ve had any disease at all, we couldn’t have had bees this far north.
Btw, very interesting talk on the video !
EJ, I had to look on a map. You're quite a bit above the arctic circle aren't you? That is just flat amazing. Do you have to winter inside? What do your nectar flows look like? Do you have fireweed like Alaska does? Super interesting stuff, I'd like to learn more.
@@DuckRiverHoney Correct! From May to end of July we have the midnight-sun, the sun never sets and its bright, day and night.
No, we winterize outside. We are also lucky that the Gulf Stream is passing by the northern part of Norway and makes it manageable to live here. That also keeps the winter from being very cold. Our winter never get down to -30 -40°C like in Canada and Alaska. The average winter is from +3 to -10°C from October to March, but it’s dark 😅
Summer is very unpredictable from +10 to +20°C. It can rain all summer or be cloudy. The average temperatures from June to august is around 11-13°C.
The seasons starts in late april and from then its like a continuous all trought the season. We just separte it into two flows, summer and fall flow.
Summerflow goes from may to mid july, and fall goes from mid july to mid/ end of august.
Yes, we have fireweed, a lot of it! It booms from end of july to first weeks of august.
The biggest acutal flow we can generate some honey from is the heather (Calluna) flow. Its for around the 1 to the 20 of august, and its the last natural nectar and pollen source for our bees.
The biggest problem here is the weather. We flows can be on, but if the weather is poor for several weeks the bees cant gather any honey, and 2022 season was bad...
@@arcticbeekeeping very interesting thank you for share Sebastian uk beekeeper
Awesome interview, hope there's more to come
Several more parts Aidan, thanks. Interesting stuff.
@@DuckRiverHoney I appreciate it mate, without yourself and youtube this would just be a good conversation between beekeepers. Because you share it, I and so many others get to sit in and learn too. From the other side of the planet. Keep it up mate, love it!
Thanks Aidan!
Africanized bees in my yard regularly outproduce the gentle hives. Aggressive hive protection= aggressive egg laying= aggressive nectar gathering
A lot of people think so. I’m not aware of any studies that indicate the same.
Very interesting interview Nathan. I’m hoping to get to the queen rearing one day. It’s a little out of my reach for now. Still have to figure out the basics. God willing I will make a little honey next year. May you be blessed and prosper brother.
Thanks!
Super interviews Nathan
I appreciate it!
I think the key to multi queens will be having a daughter mother combo. The queen is related to all the bees so may help with the agression towards her
Very possibly. It’s interesting to think about.
Been waiting for this, Cory is a "well" of great information. I've listened to him and Sue Colby talk, get deep and they use big words but very interesting. Ty for sharing his I hope there is more to come, Blessed Days...
Thanks!
Very good work Nathan, well done.
Thanks!
Great interviews! Thanks so much…it definitely gives us beekeepers something to think about. Love your UA-cam channel!
Thanks Tim, I like making videos on things I’m curious about
I appreciate the interview and the information. Introducing virgin queens into the hive is the same process as a mated queen? Yes? No?
We cover this very topic in our conversation. I suspect it’s in another short video that will come out shortly.
Yep, we went in depth enough on queen intros that it will be a video of its own.
I think the genes that have the biggest effect on honey production are those related to how big a population they reach before they start trying to swarm.
Very possible, a huge colony that doesn’t swarm will produce more.
Great
Interesting stuff.
This is a great interview.
I have been keeping bees for 4 years during that time I have bought about 20 queens from 4 very reputable vendors. Obviously a small sample but I have not had a single one that was a good honey producer. The second and third generations have had some incredibly productive bees though.
I wonder if it's the stress of shipping, the competition for Drones or if grafted queens just aren't as good as one that was chosen by the bees from the beginning.
Or maybe I'm just unlucky
I don’t know…mature hives with a young queen are usually good producers, grafted queen or not. Lots of commercial guys out there rely on grafted queens so I can’t say they don’t work. There can be a huge difference in quality of queens though. Lots of factors at play.
environmental factors being equal, honey production is directly correllated to colony size. colony size is a function of several inputs: more/less VSH, queen quality, disease tolerance, spring expansion rate (hive setup, stores, overwintered population, stimulation), swarming tendancy or timing, multiple queen scenerios. obviously some of these inputs are controlled by genetics and some beekeeper influenced.
It's interesting stuff. Look into the Starline and Midnight bee varieties, developed by Bud Cale (Breeding Super Bees talks about these) as well as Rob Smith of Australia, who in 1954 produced an average of 762 lbs of honey from 460 hives in the Karri forests.
How many more interviews will there be? Great info I want to share with our club members.
Somewhere between 5 and 7 total. I’m trying to break it up by topic so it doesn’t ramble too much, and short enough pieces to be easy to digest.
Loved “breeding for criminal behavior”
That was hilarious, I’d never heard you could select for robbing behavior before.
Interesting insights.
Thanks Barry!
Great video.
Thanks Matt
A swarm workers harder than any other. Thanks From lreland.
Thanks Ken. Swarms are definitely more motivated to draw wax.
Production is based on recruitment to forage.
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Not German bee, Nordic black bee ;) the best working bee
Anders, where are you located?
Having a queen that was expert in robbing neighbors hives would be wrong, just wrong.
BTW, do you know where I could get some?
🤣
Great interview Nathan!! What kind of trees are planted in a row behind(or in front of) the hives?
He’s got some tulip poplars, black locust, and pines for sure. Pines don’t do much for bees. He’s also got some fruit trees. And he’s into native pollinator habitat, which is something I’m beginning a conversion to this fall.
Pines make smoker fuel so they help the beekeeper!@@DuckRiverHoney
That’s very true Nancy, my pines will start dropping needles soon. I’ll fill a 55 gallon drum with them and use them all year.
Pretty sure bees use pine trees to generate the very important and valuable propolis they coat, seal, and immunize the hive with. I have no citations to back up my observations so verify. My bees work my pine trees. Some times of the year in numbers.
I am still laughing with the remark "Breeding for criminal behavior."
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