IMROVING YOUR APAIRY--an editorial by beekeeper Fred

The “Live or Let Die” method of beekeeping combined with package bees doesn’t have a ghost of a chance of succeeding with the current problems of varroa and viruses.    Some beekeepers somehow cling to this philosophy, and of course their bees die year after year.    They probably have a better chance of winning the Megamillions lottery than having good bee survival.

Even mite controls using chemicals, used by the majority of beekeepers, are just stop gap measures.  These methods may help your hives to survive through the winter, but will not result in an improvement of the ability of the bees to cope with these enemies.  Simply put, mite chemicals are a crutch, not a longterm solution.   What can a hobbyist beekeeper do to help in the long run?

What we shouldn’t do is wait until someone else breeds a better bee and hope one of the queen factories adopts them.  However, we can take an active part in the improvement of the bee genetics. 

The key to the performance of any hive is its queen.  She alone (or rather her genes and offspring) determines how the hive will fare.  Her genes determine egg laying rate, egg viability, brood survival, and overall vigor of the hive.   Her genes and that of the drones she mated with also determine how the hive will cope with varroa and associated viruses. 

It is a given that all hives have varroa and viruses.  But there are variations, sometimes wide variations, in the how each hive copes.  The simplest way to improve your apiary is to replace the queens in those hives that cope poorly with varroa.  The definition of “coping poorly” is a high varroa infestation level.  First, identify those of your hives that have higher mite levels.  It is those hives that should be targeted for queen replacement.  This should be done prior to mid-season.  If done too early,  mite levels may not have built high enough to be detectable and to allow you to differentiate between bad and good hives.   If too late, the new queen may not be able to get fully established before winter.   Mite levels anytime in the spring or summer of over three (3) per hundred bees are not good; five (5) per hundred being a guaranteed death sentence for the hive.   Getting hobbyist beekeepers to monitor mite levels is probably the biggest hurdle.  Simply put, most beekeepers, probably 95% or more, do not (in other words are too lazy) to perform this task.  I am as guilty as you.  

After identifying your high varroa hives, the next task is to procure queens with traits that result in lower mite levels.  I admit that hobbyist beekeepers are at the mercy of queen breeders and their advertising.  But there are several queen lines that have been bred with mite tolerance/mite fighting abilities in mind.  Russians, VSH, Ankle Biters, Mite Maulers, Buckfast and Saskatraz are a few that have enhanced mite resistance.  You may know of other survivor stock. 

Once you have identified your poorly performing hives, you need proceed to the next step, procure a replacement queen, kill the existing queen, and replace her with the new queen.  Out with bad, in with the good.  If hobbyist beekeepers can’t or won’t do this, then we are all condemned to the perpetual cycle of buying replacement bees annually as varroa and viruses overwhelm a significant percentage of hives each winter even though we religiously apply mite treatments.   Purchasing varroa resistant queens may seem extravagant, but compared to purchasing a replacement package it is better from a financial standpoint.