primorski bees

[covenanter]

does any one know of a supplier of primorski bees in uk .If they can deal with the dreaded varroa then surely this is the way to go.and the seem to be able to survive extremes of temprature.I can hear the puritans screaming already [what another import].most of the bees we have in the uk are from foriegn stock originally. The americans are reporting success with them.so if you know of a suuplier please let me know

 

[moo]

You can breed for resistance from any breed, take the best of your local stock (team up with others in your area) and raise your own queens, it'll be cheaper and more rewarding!

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[covenanter]

Cheers newbee. Please dont think me ungratefull .how long does this take to achieve and why has no one else bred varroa resistance into bees.I have two national hives with carnolians that are both thriving and another two nationals with buckfasts that are struggling on a friends farm .all hives are well fed .I have had const misfortune with appis m. mellifera on three occaisions the hives had to be requeened.by other types.If these are our native bees then they dont do well in my neck of the woods other keepers have reported the same situation. hence the reason i was inquiring about primorski bees cheers

 

[simoncav]

Cheers newbee. Please dont think me ungratefull .how long does this take to achieve and why has no one else bred varroa resistance into bees.I have two national hives with carnolians that are both thriving and another two nationals with buckfasts that are struggling on a friends farm .all hives are well fed .I have had const misfortune with appis m. mellifera on three occaisions the hives had to be requeened.by other types.If these are our native bees then they dont do well in my neck of the woods other keepers have reported the same situation. hence the reason i was inquiring about primorski bees cheers

The individual bees in a colony are incredibly genetically diverse (they are designed that way). The Queen mates on the wing with 15-20 drones which means that each generation of workers is genetically diverse to the previous one.

If you want a trait like hygiene for example to have an effect, you need something 80% of the colony to have those genes. This can only be achieved by DNA analysis of all your drones and Queens and then controlling their mating artificially over several generations. This is what they do within many national bee breeding centres in Eastern Europe.

You can't do that here in the UK and can only get close to it if you live on an island isolated from the mainland. The minute one of your carefully controlled virgin Queens "gets out" your plans will instantly fall apart.

So, please don't import unsuitable bees from overseas that are unlikely to survive in our maritime climate - Go with what you have from the local bees and breed the best you can. Varroa resistance is unlikely to be a natural trait as its so new, so treat please organically and work with others locally to improve everyone's bees over time by flooding the area with good quality local mongrels...

It's best for you and those around you...

 

[moo]

I think imports undo any attempts at highly specific breeding programs. But the honeybee open mating system is designed to negate inbreeding so its hard unless you go the II route!

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[moo]

Sorry I can't find the actual project that I read about, google not helping, it must have been referred to in a research paper.

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[Hivemaker.]

I think imports undo any attempts at highly specific breeding programs.

And for some highly specific breeding programs imports are essential.

 

[Charlieb]

I think your on the right track Covenanter. In 1997 the US Bee Research Centre at Baton Rouge launched a project to develop a varroa tolerant bee. They setup an apiary on an island off the coast and imported varroa tolerant bees from Primorski, Eastern Russia. The project was funded by the American Dept. Agriculture. It took them, I believe, 8 years to successfully develop their own strain of varroa tolerant bee from the Primorski seed. They have since distributed the bee within the USA and there are also some in Canada. I don't know how well it has faired since.
Our bee research centre won't be doing anything of the sort any time soon, certainly not from DEFRA funding at any rate. The reasons don't have to be spelled out.
So, should we want to so as the Americans have done we are on our own. However, a project of this size would be a large undertaking. It would need a suitable site on some island, some dedicated and knowledgable beekeepers and money.

 

[pargyle]

I think your on the right track Covenanter. In 1997 the US Bee Research Centre at Baton Rouge launched a project to develop a varroa tolerant bee. They setup an apiary on an island off the coast and imported varroa tolerant bees from Primorski, Eastern Russia. The project was funded by the American Dept. Agriculture. It took them, I believe, 8 years to successfully develop their own strain of varroa tolerant bee from the Primorski seed. They have since distributed the bee within the USA and there are also some in Canada. I don't know how well it has faired since.
Our bee research centre won't be doing anything of the sort any time soon, certainly not from DEFRA funding at any rate. The reasons don't have to be spelled out.
So, should we want to so as the Americans have done we are on our own. However, a project of this size would be a large undertaking. It would need a suitable site on some island, some dedicated and knowledgable beekeepers and money.

And would probably be a total waste of time unless you re-queened every other year from prime stock ... as has been said ... queens will mate with what THEY conside to be the best options genetically so unless you can control the mating then you have little chance of the strain contiinuing without regular queen replacement ... best not let the bid agro chemical companies into this secret or they'll be trying to sell us 'superbees' to replace the lost revenue from varroa treatments ...

 

[MuswellMetro]

does any one know of a supplier of primorski bees in uk .If they can deal with the dreaded varroa then surely this is the way to go.and the seem to be able to survive extremes of temprature.I can hear the puritans screaming already [what another import].most of the bees we have in the uk are from foriegn stock originally. The americans are reporting success with them.so if you know of a suuplier please let me know

the promorskei line has been breed since 1993 from imports to the USA and you cannot import bees or queens from the USA to UK or europe

so the Answer is No supplier in EU

 

[Mellifera397]

There have been many attempts to produce varroa resistant bees, none that I am aware of have been truly successful i.e resulting in a removal of the need to treat for varroa.

I am personally extremely sceptical of any 'hygienic' bees as suppliers will probably tell you anything provided that it sells. There is no way of being truly sure about a queen and her genetics, imported, mail order or otherwise.

M