Subject: Honeybee Improvement Program
From: [log in to unmask]
Date: 1999/03/22
Newsgroups: sci.agriculture.beekeeping
 
                Honeybee Improvement Program. . .
 
History:  The Honeybee Improvement Program (or HIP) was begun in the spring
of 1993.  The beekeepers who originally banded together represented many
different phases of beekeeping: migratory and pollination beekeepers, honey
producers, intermediate size operators, and those interested in queen rearing
and bee breeding.  We came from a variety of backgrounds.  But we had one
purpose - to find resistance to the varroa mite.
 
Protocol:  Over the years our protocol for selecting breeding stock has been
simplified:  At the end of our regular production year the beekeeper will not
treat his best producers for mites in any way.  The queen will be marked and
the hive will be marked also. One of two options will be followed: 1) Upon
identification of the best colonies he will take them to a special yard, a
HIP yard OR 2) the next spring he will take only those untreated hives that
wintered well and move them to a special yard, a HIP yard.  This special HIP
yard will have only untreated hives being tested for HIP.  This insures
inoculation with varroa mites.  Each cooperator tests the number of hives
that he is comfortable with.  This is a real life test.
 
Our Definition of Resistance:  The test yard hives remain untreated for two
years.  The varroa mite is vigorous and reproduces readily during the summer.
We feel it is significant when a hive is not treated for two years and still
survives and prospers.  We think these two year untreated thriving survivors
(UTS) must have some apparent tolerance for varroa mites.
 
Breeders:  These two year UTS hives are then used as breeders.  HIP will cage
the queens and graft from the breeders.  In return, the cooperator will be
assured that at least 50% of his cell order will be from his own queen, his
contribution to HIP.  The cooperator's cell order may include as many as
three different stocks, with color-coded cell cups.  All stocks are
blind-tested, only HIP knowing the actual stock.
 
At year's end, the cooperator will report on his HIP yard and his experiences
with the different blind tested stocks used in his operation.
 
HIP benefits us all.  Everyone gambles a little, so no one has to gamble a
lot.
 
HIP Cooperators - Jim Conor, The Kleins, John Hettinga, Chuck Keiser, Tom
Nebel, Rod McCarrick, Jim Meloy, Scott Barnes,  Phil Tanner,  Kirk Webster,
Steve Cantu, Gary Veale, Jack Griffes - We invite you to join us.
 
For HIP Queen Cells contact:
 Gary Veale (616) 868-7255 (Freeport, MI) vealehaven AT earthlink dot net
 Jack Griffes (517) 467-2818 (Onsted, MI) jack_griffes AT hotmail dot com
 Steve Cantu (941) 735-1679 barn or (941)735-8671 hm (FL)
For mated Summer Queens: Kirk Webster (802) 758-2501 (VT)
 
 
A few common questions about HIP
 
Q. Will the queens I get mated from HIP cells survive untreated like the
breeders they came from?
 
A. Some will but at this point in the effort most unfortunately will not - we
advise PROPERLY TIMED treatment for Varroa mites in the bulk of every
operation to keep losses down.  HIP Cooperators leave only a hand chosen few
"best of the best" untreated for 2 years for complete HIP testing.
 
Q.  How many will survive untreated now?
 
A.  Variables abound and we cannot predict results in our own test yards let
alone in your operation.  One HIP Cooperator recently reported a winter with
under 10% loss in his treated stock (bulk of operation), 30% loss in his first
year untreated yard (with zero loss in the actual HIP colonies there), and 70%
loss in his HIP 2 year UTS yard.  Does that mean you will experience the same?
No - your management and locations will differ.  Will he even experience the
same next year?  Probably not - this is real live beekeeping remember.
 
Q.  Has the stock actually been improved?
 
A.  While it is hard to actually quantify "improvement" we can tell you that
initially simply leaving colonies untreated over one winter resulted commonly
in 80% losses - now we have to leave the hand selected test colonies untreated
for two winters to select HIP breeders.  Going from a one year untreated test
to a two year untreated test does not make the test just twice as hard - the
difficulty of passing the test is raised exponentially via adding that second
year and we don't use those that "just survived" we use the 2 yr. Untreated
Thriving Survivors (UTS) as HIP breeders.
 
Q.  Why does your HIP test leave part of your stock untreated for two years
when you know a lot will die that way?
 
A. Essentially we are intentionally working at speeding up Nature's process
of breeding bee stock that can survive and thrive IN THE NORTH without human
aid. Nature would eventually solve the problem IF we beekeepers could just
let all the susceptible stock die and the survivors work it out over several
decades. Of course Nature sometimes solves these problems with extinction of
a now unfit species - that being objectionable due to our reliance on
honeybee pollination for much of our own food supply (about 1/3) we figure it
is wiser to "patiently over time" selectively breed toward what we want to
have in the future.  We each sacrifice a small part of our stock each year to
insure that HIP will have 2 yr. UTS breeders each year - your own test yard
may get wiped out one year - two years later it may have that years best HIP
breeder found in it - but via community effort HIP will find 2 yr. UTS
breeders to graft from every year - we all gamble a little, so no one has to
gamble a lot.
 
 Q. Isn't it time you joined HIP and started to  help our community effort
out? A. (fill in the blank)
 
 
Jack Griffes    jack_griffes AT hotmail dot com
Country Jack's Honeybee Farm
Onsted, MI
USA
http://members.tripod.com/~Griffes/