AGT News

[B+.]

A few things have come up recently so I thought I’d send out an update.

The first is that I have translated the contents of an update to the pin test from Dr Ralph Büchler (AGT). It contains a change to the pin test used to determine hygienic behaviour in honeybee colonies which stemmed from some research conducted by one of his M.Sc students last year. It shows a better correlation than the old method so this has been accepted for use within BeeBreed (The published instructions on the Coloss website are out-of-date now). You can read the revised instructions in the attachment to this.

The second is an announcement of my own. One of the objectives of my breeding work is to increase the level of hygienic behaviour expressed in my colonies. My test results this summer show an expression of 96-100% so I attach a photo illustrating the 100% expression. Obviously, this represents major progress and will, no doubt, be of interest internationally.

Hygienic behaviour is used as a pre-selection tool for SMR/VSH testing so I will be participating in a project organised by AGT next year. You can expect to receive an update on this as things progress.

There are other things going on but I don’t want to reveal them yet, so, I’ll just wish you a productive 2019 season and leave it at that for now.

 

[drex]

Brilliant. Well done Paul. Let's hope you can keep it at this level in future generations

 

[For want of a better word]

Pity it will only affect a mere few colonies of bees... with the uncontrolled importation of definitely non hygienic bees into the UK annually .. the work does not stand a hope in hell of getting into the general UK population!

BUT every little helps!!

Chons da

 

[Erichalfbee]

That’s really good news.
You must be over the moon

 

[B+.]

Pity it will only affect a mere few colonies of bees... with the uncontrolled importation of definitely non hygienic bees into the UK annually .. the work does not stand a hope in hell of getting into the general UK population!

BUT every little helps!!

Chons da

You're actually wrong about that for a number of reasons:
1. BeeBreed is not a UK breeding group. It is a pan-European breeding programme which uses controlled breeding to develop desirable traits. It is much, much, bigger than the UK alone.
2. I produced ~50 daughters for my own use which will over-wrinter in Paynes polynucs with extension boxes. Some daughters were sold and went all over the UK (if you received a daughter of NL-55-35-16-2018 or NL-55-35-18-2018, look out for this trait - it looks like bald brood but isn't). These daughters multiply the drone producing capability many fold so I have that gene-pool available next year as a fallback against accidental loss.
3. Hygienic behaviour is just one of the traits that BeeBreed looks for but the varroa index is highly valued and features prominently in the total breeding value. Quite apart from my own breeding work, the figures will be available to all breeders in the network and they may end up on an island mating station or I can post micro-pipettes of drone sperm anywhere for use in further breeding work.
4. The heritability is 0.18 so single drone insemination (sdi) will probably be the best way to proceed. This is not only useful for isolation but also development of SMR/VSH lines. I will be working on a AGT project next year to develop this further.
5. I'm not interested in the "uncontrolled imports" you spoke about. This is serious scientific work and I only work with a defined population of carnica.

 

[B+.]

That’s really good news.
You must be over the moon ��

I'm still taking it all in Dani.
A lot depends on the results of other breeders around Europe who are also testing the lines (their figures should confirm mine) but the figures won't be published until February.
I'll say no more for now. I'd rather just be cautiously optimistic for now.

Incidentally, the test results were for 5 hours rather than the recommended starting point of 6. So, this suggests that they are very hygienic

 

[Ian123]

Well done on your hard work and dedication.....just for cheers if any want to import some hygienic bees
Selected Buckfast queen, mother (PJ), mating station stimulated
New:
Mothers:
B331 (PJ) 18 = B853(PJ) x B11(PJ); VSH+ 100%; Hyg+ 100% - 24 hours
oder
B562(PJ) 18 = B621(PJ) x B138(PJ); VSH+ 100%; Hyg+ 100% - 24 hours

Our queens are labelled with the respective annual colour and delivered with a Pedigree and health certificate. They were mated at the mating station Friedrichskoog.
x price: ......just google buckfast zucht

 

[Beefriendly]

Pity it will only affect a mere few colonies of bees... with the uncontrolled importation of definitely non hygienic bees into the UK annually .. the work does not stand a hope in hell of getting into the general UK population!

 

[B+.]

Well done on your hard work and dedication.....just for cheers if any want to import some hygienic bees

The Buckfast programme runs parallel with the carnica one. The techniques used are pretty much the same.
I mentioned BeeBreed and AGT but there are other groups (e.g. Arista Bee Research) that are also involved. This is not the work of a single breeder but a culmination of the contribution of many breeders. It is not the end point either. Work continues, as it always will (they still only get a B+!)
A word of caution though. a heritability of 0.18 is still quite low. Don't assume that you are buying hygienic queens just because their mother was. They have to be tested to prove it first. That is why I began with the new testing protocol. It is quite easy to do and anyone can do it.

 

[Beefriendly]

B+ do you know the percentage (or rough correlation) of bees proving highly Hygienic with varroa sensitive hygiene?

 

[B+.]

B+ do you know the percentage (or rough correlation) of bees proving highly Hygienic with varroa sensitive hygiene?

The Arista approach is to pre-select based on high hygienic expression (>90%) and use sdi to inseminate daughters for the VSH test. I don't have a figure on hygiene to SMR/VSH correlation but it's simply not worth doing it for colonies that are less than the 90% hygiene (it's too labour intensive). There is a DNA test being developed but this isn't my area so I won't go into it.

To put it simply: it's like multiplying a number less than one with another number less than one. You get a very, very small number indeed. Developing SMR is a bit like that.

 

[SDM]

Well done on your hard work and dedication.....just for cheers if any want to import some hygienic bees
Selected Buckfast queen, mother (PJ), mating station stimulated
New:
Mothers:
B331 (PJ) 18 = B853(PJ) x B11(PJ); VSH+ 100%; Hyg+ 100% - 24 hours
oder
B562(PJ) 18 = B621(PJ) x B138(PJ); VSH+ 100%; Hyg+ 100% - 24 hours

Our queens are labelled with the respective annual colour and delivered with a Pedigree and health certificate. They were mated at the mating station Friedrichskoog.
x price: ......just google buckfast zucht

Not much point unless the postage issue has been resolved.

 

[SDM]

Pleased to heae you are getting good feedback for all the work. Keep it up !

 

[Ian123]

Not much point unless the postage issue has been resolved.

Mine arrived ok a couple of weeks ago

 

[Beefriendly]

To put it simply: it's like multiplying a number less than one with another number less than one. You get a very, very small number indeed. Developing SMR is a bit like that.

Like tossing a round coin and it landing standing up on its rim 2x in succession.
Looks like I'll be sticking to vaping for the foreseeable future.

 

[B+.]

Looks like I'll be sticking to vaping for the foreseeable future.

OK. That may be YOUR opinion but it isn't everyones. I'd rather not put stuff in my hives if theres a better option. In fact, the last time I had a DASH audit, I had nothing on my VMD form because I haven't treated them in years. How many can say that?
The point of this thread is that people are working on the problems that face us as beekeepers and progress is being made. I don't think I should say any more than that

 

[Beefriendly]

Whoa there B +!!!!
I was simply stating what the rest of us mere mortals will have to do to control varroa in our hives.
Alas we don't have access to your wonderful bees.

 

[B+.]

Whoa there B +!!!!
I was simply stating what the rest of us mere mortals will have to do to control varroa in our hives.
Alas we don't have access to your wonderful bees.

I'm a mere mortal too Nigel. The point I would really like to get across is that mere mortals can make a difference. I punch above my weight in a lot of things but I learn from those who don't. I'm not prepared to sit back and do nothing about it (no offence). It's important to me that I do something to help change the mess we're in in this country

 

[Beefriendly]

I'm a mere mortal too Nigel. The point I would really like to get across is that mere mortals can make a difference. I punch above my weight in a lot of things but I learn from those who don't. I'm not prepared to sit back and do nothing about it (no offence). It's important to me that I do something to help change the mess we're in in this country

Not disagreeing in the slightest, the work you and your consortium do is very important.
But until these bees are available to the rest of us, we will need to vape/add miticide strips/thymol products/rhubarb leaves etc just to keep our bees alive. Not a criticism of you, just a practical observation of the current conditions.

 

[B+.]

Not disagreeing in the slightest, the work you and your consortium do is very important.
But until these bees are available to the rest of us, we will need to vape/add miticide strips/thymol products/rhubarb leaves etc just to keep our bees alive. Not a criticism of you, just a practical observation of the current conditions.

Perhaps so. I just think if more people tested their colonies we'd be a lot closer to that point (i.e. we'd have a gap analysis and could plan a path forward)