Hygienic Stock

[Michael Palmer]

Are any of the queen breeders in the British Isles selecting for the hygienic response to brood disease.

From Marla Spivak:

http://www.meamcneil.com/Spivak I.pdf

http://www.beeccdcap.uga.edu/documents/spivak466.pdf

And from Dave Cushman

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/hygenequeen.html

 

[Apple]

Possibly not a "Queen Breeder" in the large commercial sense, But Roger D in West Cornwall has been breeding Native Cornish Black bees (Amms) that show a distinctive lean towards hygenic behavous, particularly in the removal of Varroa mite by nipping and biteing off bits of the Varroa.
Some it has to be said do not believe that bees could be bred to do this.
My own colonies have not suffered from chalk brood for many years, but are relatively isolated from infected honeybee stocks with infected drones. I took a leaf out of one of Steve Tabers papers some years ago and did not breed from queens with chalk brood infected colonies, and practice a Bailey frame change on my colonies.

My sister some way north of me had problems with sack brood last year, but she did import a few queens. I think that may have been the source of the sack brood problem, specifically as they were the only colonies infected.

I have not heard of anyone selling specifically disease tollerent bees in the UK.

HM will surely pick this one up as he is more knowledgeable in this area!

Does this help?


James

 

[wessexmario]

that show a distinctive lean towards hygienic behaviours, particularly in the removal of Varroa mite by nipping and biting off bits of the Varroa.

There are two ways to gain a new behaviour, inherit or learn.
Are bees not capable of passing on behaviours both ways?

I'm not doubting that breeding hygienic behaviour is possible, but it seems to me that it could be just as likely, if not more likely, that the transferring of live bees with the skill from one hive or nuc to another is responsible for passing on the behaviour, rather than anything in the genes.

 

[sussexbaker]

Are any of the queen breeders in the British Isles selecting for the hygienic response to brood disease.

Hi Michael

LASI have been doing a lot of work around breeding hygenic honey bees (LASI - Sussex Plan and an article by facility members from JAR). As far as I know they have been selling the odd queen direct to individuals (a couple of members of my local association and myself bought some at a recent workshop there) but have yet to do any sort of commercial link up (as they're part of the university I believe it gets a bit complicated). I've seen a number of bee suppliers who now mention that they're testing for hygenic behaviour, I'd have to revisit my browser history to tell you who though!

Norman

 

[mbc]

LASI are the only people regularly and methodically using the liquid nitrogen test that I know of.

 

[user 6228]

Has no-one thought of breeding less nasty varroa? there are two organisms in this, instead of a win why not a more equitable truce?

 

[Michael Palmer]

Thanks for the replies.

First, the hygienic response to diseased brood is different than the varroa sensitive hygiene, VSH, trait. This according to Spivak.

The reason for the question begins with a post on the sbai forum about chalkbrood. The solutions posted there were the usual...move the hives into the sun...add more ventilation...it's only a stress disease that will clear up with time.

I've done all that before with poor results. The same chalky colonies would break down again...eventually. The only thing that really did clear up chalkbrood, apiary wide, was introducing hygienic stock to those apiaries.

And further...When I was in the UK last time, I was told that EFB is becoming a big problem there. One beekeeping couple told me there are areas where they would never place their bees, as when they do, those bees break down with EFB.

So I was just curious about your bees and if anyone was selecting for the hygienic response, and if that selection might be a step forward in the control of brood diseases.

Has LASI released any data on the control of brood diseases...Chalk and EFB...by the use of hygienic stock?

 

[sussexbaker]

Hi Mike

As I understand it the LASI work is around hygienic behaviour (which they measure using the liquid nitrogen method mentioned by those two articles of Spivak) and looking to create a highly hygienic line. The research that's been published (or is being published) seems to focus on varroa, possibly because that's the headline issue which makes funding easier to attract? However they do mention the benefit of hygienic behaviour when it comes to chalkbrood, AFB and EFB within the article on the Sussex Plan. You could contact them directly regarding it though.

With regard to EFB, I've heard lots of people bemoaning the fact that colonies suffering from EFB are no longer destroyed as a matter of course, but may be treated by the shooked swarm method instead. They feel that as a result of this 'our' bees are no longer being bred for resistance to EFB. But that's all hearsay!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

With regard to EFB, I've heard lots of people bemoaning the fact that colonies suffering from EFB are no longer destroyed as a matter of course, but may be treated by the shooked swarm method instead

No longer! they haven't been for quite a few years although they are leaning towards destruction again.

 

[sussexbaker]

Ah, listening to people talk I'd got the impression it was only the last couple of years!

 

[Finman]

Thanks for the replies.

First, the hygienic response to diseased brood is different than the varroa sensitive hygiene, VSH, trait. This according to Spivak.

The reason for the question begins with a post on the sbai forum about chalkbrood. The solutions posted there were the usual...move the hives into the sun...add more ventilation...it's only a stress disease that will clear up with time.

.
?

I had a bad chalkbrood 10 years. It became milder when I had Carniolan bees. When I returned to Italian, chalkrood bursted again.

I read carefully internet and I noticed that you may avoid disease by changing the queen. ... So resistant genes..

I bought new queens (new genepool) and I reared from them new queens. I had 3-frame nucs and I let them to be contaminated with chalk brood fungus. When the nuc showed porous brood area, I discarded the queen at once.

So I breeded the disease out By selecting. First some mother queen's daugters showed 80% disease sensitive and some 20%.

First year I must kill 50% of my new queens. I had plenty of extra queens, and when I met a sick brood area, I killed the queen at once.

It took 3-4 years that I got rid of chalkbrood.

Last signs of chalk brood were in drone pupae. The drone cell area was porous and some guys said that it is sign of "hygienic becaviour". But it was chalkbrood.

Now my drone brood areas are even and chalk brood problem is very small.

So. There are good genetic chalk brood resistancy in bees and no hygienic behaviour is needed. I put a queen into a contaminated hive and all brood will be Ok after changing the queen. If it does not work, I put another one.

 

[Finman]

.
Many our queen breeders had a bad chalk brood situation 25-20 years ago when varroa arrived. It seems, that they have succeed to breed out the disease and it does not harm any more.

But when I have bought new queens from prpfessional breeders, I can see that it still exists in big farms which have even over 500 hives.