Kim Flottum on Varroa Resistance

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Survivor Stock

Hey! I can see this is an old thread............Poly Hive, MBC, have you guys committed your 25%s?? We're starting this year. 3 guys, 3 hives and 1 is going chemical free and small cell. God knows what will happen. But I'd like to know who really is going to commit to survivor stock? :ohthedrama:
 
mbc: The only sensible way forward imho is for lots of people to keep bees in lots of different ways and the best ways will come out in the wash over time.

Yes!!
 
mbc: The only sensible way forward imho is for lots of people to keep bees in lots of different ways and the best ways will come out in the wash over time.

Yes!!


Eye to eye Heidi, who would have thunk it :cheers2:
 
Hey! I can see this is an old thread............Poly Hive, MBC, have you guys committed your 25%s?? We're starting this year. 3 guys, 3 hives and 1 is going chemical free and small cell. God knows what will happen. But I'd like to know who really is going to commit to survivor stock? :ohthedrama:

post #17

The timing might be right for success going treatment free in your area, suck it and see !
However, I wouldn't advise beginners to go treatment free at first as its a sure fire way of getting out of beekeeping quick in my experience.
 
3 guys, 3 hives. Worst case scenario is we lose one hive and I have to work on my brothers. I hate sharing too! Lol No body answered my question though........who is going chemical free and pushing for varroa resistance??
 
And we reveal the problem! Haha

I think with a few seasons under your belt and having seen at first hand the sorry state a bad dose of varroa/virus can leave your colonies you might view the subject differently.
 
3 guys, 3 hives. Worst case scenario is we lose one hive and I have to work on my brothers. I hate sharing too! Lol No body answered my question though........who is going chemical free and pushing for varroa resistance??

Not me, that's for sure - lost my first and only colony due to varroa
 
The problem is varroa. There are a number of opinions on the best way to deal with it.


Yes, lots of opinions, but quite few knowledge.

Varroa resistant bee breeding, then it is lack of brains. Where best bee breeders have not succeeded,
there 2-hive owner goes against fire like voluntary fire brigade. DEATH OR VICTORY!!
.
 
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Someone has done it before . Out of 1,000 hives , they were left with 50 hives alive.(Cannot remember who. US I think)

Anyone going down that route? You need lots of hives - and money.
 
Someone has done it before . Out of 1,000 hives , they were left with 50 hives alive.(Cannot remember who. US I think)

Anyone going down that route? You need lots of hives - and money.

BeeWeavers and their Buckfasts is one, i believe it was 40 left out of 1000 at
one stage.


Quote.
1995-2000 BeeWeaver bred from surviving colonies (literally a handful in each yard the first several years) and continued to leave more yards untreated. In the process we lost 1000s of colonies, but we noted remarkable improvement in survival rates each season.
 
Yes, lots of opinions, but quite few knowledge.

Varroa resistant bee breeding, then it is lack of brains. Where best bee breeders have not succeeded,
there 2-hive owner goes against fire like voluntary fire brigade. DEATH OR VICTORY!!
.
Well the miticides are failing........so we can carry on a losing battle along the chemical treatment route or simultaneously encourage open breeding and chemical free hives. It's the only way here in the uk we can simulate natural breeding and selection. Hopefully the Bees can sort it and we can help spread the genetics. Never stop trying!
 
Hopefully the Bees can sort it and we can help spread the genetics. Never stop trying!

I have studied genetics in university. That is why I do not even try that.
I have had mites 30 years. Look at your bath room. It is like chemical laboratory.
 
As long as there are generic, safe and effective treatments available varroa is not a problem but partial resistance can develop quickly in unmanaged colonies/areas.
Our study shows that two of these “natural” honey bee populations, in Avignon, France and Gotland, Sweden, have in fact evolved resistant traits that reduce the fitness of the mite (measured as the reproductive success), thereby reducing the parasitic load within the colony to evade the development of overt viral infections. Mite reproductive success was reduced by about 30% in both populations. Detailed examinations of mite reproductive parameters suggest these geographically and genetically distinct populations favor different mechanisms of resistance, even though they have experienced similar selection pressures of mite infestation. Compared to unrelated control colonies in the same location, mites in the Avignon population had high levels of infertility while in Gotland there was a higher proportions of mites that delayed initiation of egg-laying. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3402190/

Some of the traits anecdotally linked with resistance might not be welcome though.
 
On 1st November, Kim Flottum, editor of the leading Beekeeping magazine Bee Culture gave a talk at Th**nes to lincolnshire BKA entitled "Using Nuclei Effectively". What particularly interested me was an aside he made regarding varroa when he stated that he has not used chemical treatments for varroa for over 9 years.

(I got this secondhand but from I would view as a reliable source)

A couple of years ago he gave a talk in the UK on, if I recall correctly, foulbrood. Apparently there was some very heated discussion at the talk as his ideas were in extreme conflict with basic common sense / FERA Advice / good beekeeping practices / scientific consensus.

I doubt he will ever be invited back to do another talk.
 
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