That's the best presentation I've seen on this subject in recent years. And I'm bewildered that the beekeeping community has largely disregarded the research and breeding work of the U.S.D.A. About a decade ago I tracked down a commercial queen breeder who was selling that specific U.S.D.A. "VSH Italian" line. In short, I don't use ANY measures to combat mites; and it's extremely rare to find any sign of mites in my apiary. And as the speaker indicates, the hygienic behavior appears to be a dominant trait. I've been breeding queens in my home yard and I've not seen any indication that their hygienic trait has diminished. Beekeeping with VSH Italians remind me very much of the 1980's and early 90's before the introduction of mites.
He's a very good speaker. The content has really made me think. I'm already concerned that I'm keeping bees that are dependent upon my miticide intervention. Im going to look further into encouraging varroa resistance.
A very eloquently presented goldmine of Varroa resistance knowledge!👌Thank you for doing so much heavy lifting for so long and for sharing all this knowledge Steve! I’m going to borrow an ember of this wisdom and try to light a fire under some asses in my own association!🤞Let’s call it Project Prometheus 😅
I've been breeding from resistant stock for several years now. It seems to me the workers are quite good at keeping varroa numbers low from internal reproduction... external neighboring "mite bombs" I suspect are still a problem for any colony with resistant stock - and the reason I continue to treat with Formic and OAV.
Harbo assays are a little harder labor but very accurate at finding the vsh trait. We also need to keep our susceptible colonies away from our breeding yards. I know there's more to it than that, but i think that those two added into the suggestions made above will help. Also, if i remember correctly (i could be mistaken) but i think varroa doesnt reproduce in cerranae worker brood because their pupae stage is too short for the mite to reproduce successfully.
The market dictates that their principal concern is the speed of spring buildup so that they qualify for the Californian almond pollination money, which distorts the whole North American bee genome. If the legislators had any spine, they'd ban the movement of bulk colonies across state lines, and if the almond growers want bees, they'd better start keeping bees. But money talks louder in US politics than almost anywhere else, and the almond growers have deeper pockets than the beekeepers.
Canadian here. The reason many N. American beekeepers are "scientifically ignorant" is that there is little or no support for the general run of beekeepers. Many states have defunded their state apiary departments, and no longer have advice, training or inspection services. Where Departments of Agriculture have retained some beekeeping staff, those folks are almost exclusively focused on the commercial, mobile beekeepers. So America is awash in a mobile pool of honey bees, who are essential to pollination of crops, by operators who must keep their labour costs low to remain profitable. That means cursory inspection time, outsourcing queen breeding to industrial breeders, and generally miserable nutrition levels for the bees. No matter how well you keep your own bees, many of the drones at your local Drone Congregation Area are going to be from commercial operations, which are ubiquitous. Miticides, all miticides, are gradually becoming less able to control mites. But there is no viable alternative in N. America.
That's the best presentation I've seen on this subject in recent years. And I'm bewildered that the beekeeping community has largely disregarded the research and breeding work of the U.S.D.A.
About a decade ago I tracked down a commercial queen breeder who was selling that specific U.S.D.A. "VSH Italian" line. In short, I don't use ANY measures to combat mites; and it's extremely rare to find any sign of mites in my apiary. And as the speaker indicates, the hygienic behavior appears to be a dominant trait. I've been breeding queens in my home yard and I've not seen any indication that their hygienic trait has diminished. Beekeeping with VSH Italians remind me very much of the 1980's and early 90's before the introduction of mites.
Дякую за вашу роботу. Дуже цікаві теми і доповідачі. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🤝🤝🤝🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🐝🐝🐝✌✌✌
Fantastic work. Thank you for aiding the "resistance."
Excellent speaker. I hope we will hear more from Steve and his Westerham Beekeepers and their bees.
Interesting talk. Thanks to Steve.
He's a very good speaker.
The content has really made me think.
I'm already concerned that I'm keeping bees that are dependent upon my miticide intervention.
Im going to look further into encouraging varroa resistance.
A very eloquently presented goldmine of Varroa resistance knowledge!👌Thank you for doing so much heavy lifting for so long and for sharing all this knowledge Steve! I’m going to borrow an ember of this wisdom and try to light a fire under some asses in my own association!🤞Let’s call it Project Prometheus 😅
I've been breeding from resistant stock for several years now. It seems to me the workers are quite good at keeping varroa numbers low from internal reproduction... external neighboring "mite bombs" I suspect are still a problem for any colony with resistant stock - and the reason I continue to treat with Formic and OAV.
Harbo assays are a little harder labor but very accurate at finding the vsh trait. We also need to keep our susceptible colonies away from our breeding yards. I know there's more to it than that, but i think that those two added into the suggestions made above will help. Also, if i remember correctly (i could be mistaken) but i think varroa doesnt reproduce in cerranae worker brood because their pupae stage is too short for the mite to reproduce successfully.
I keep bees in Korea, varroa definitely infests worker brood.
Nice presentation, so it looks like most of your monitoring is done with checking drops on the mite board
No mention of Veet strips to determine recapping levels or the new American Unhealthy Brood Odour (UBO) assay?
Given the fact that Mites can evolve faster (2.8X) than Bees we are perhaps chasing the wrong idea.....
Do you have a link for that?
@@Swarmstead I posted - seems to be deleted...
Scientifically ignorant American UA-camr commercial beekeepers will hear none of this.
The market dictates that their principal concern is the speed of spring buildup so that they qualify for the Californian almond pollination money, which distorts the whole North American bee genome. If the legislators had any spine, they'd ban the movement of bulk colonies across state lines, and if the almond growers want bees, they'd better start keeping bees. But money talks louder in US politics than almost anywhere else, and the almond growers have deeper pockets than the beekeepers.
Canadian here. The reason many N. American beekeepers are "scientifically ignorant" is that there is little or no support for the general run of beekeepers. Many states have defunded their state apiary departments, and no longer have advice, training or inspection services. Where Departments of Agriculture have retained some beekeeping staff, those folks are almost exclusively focused on the commercial, mobile beekeepers. So America is awash in a mobile pool of honey bees, who are essential to pollination of crops, by operators who must keep their labour costs low to remain profitable. That means cursory inspection time, outsourcing queen breeding to industrial breeders, and generally miserable nutrition levels for the bees. No matter how well you keep your own bees, many of the drones at your local Drone Congregation Area are going to be from commercial operations, which are ubiquitous. Miticides, all miticides, are gradually becoming less able to control mites. But there is no viable alternative in N. America.
Thank you!
And abot recapping...
ua-cam.com/video/amgxwLAfCfk/v-deo.htmlsi=NFxJom5gYAvrX8sC