A lot of discussion is going on which role neonicotinoides and gmo play for die offs and ccd of bee colonies. A poison is never beneficial, neither for bees nor for man (well, many are used as plant protection). And
Feral bees on corn and GMO
Every breeder bee colony should be VSH tested
VSH-trait VSH (Varroa Sensitive Hygiene) is a trait in worker bees. Worker pupae with Varroa mites that have offspring are cleaned out. The fertile female mite survives, but all offspring dies, as well as the worker pupa. Worker pupae with
The Bee colony that refused to die 2
Two weeks after the first check after winter ( a week ago) I visited Karin again and checked the colony. See the first post on this subject for a background. But this colony has been on its own on
Resistant Bees on Canary Island
Stephan Braun on the island La Palma in the Canary Islands shows us how he has aquired resistant bees against the Varroa mite. Read his website and learn how he is doing. He works with the native Canarian bee, which
The bee colony that refused to die
In 2007 Karin worked on becoming a commercial beekeeper. She wintered 30 bee colonies. She invested in honey extracting facilities. In spring 2008 she had 2 colonies left. In the county where she lived Varroa had just arrived and the