Melinda Stewart
OnSite Exhibitor Service

707-258-8980

4598 Dry Creek Road
Napa, CA 94558

www.onsiteexhibitorservice.com
www.tradeshowdogs.com

"Or is there some other reason you think hobby hive data is biased?"
"The best survey data on hive deaths I know of was run by the Marin County, CA, bee club on its members.  This club is hobby beekeepers and a small number of small sideliners from what I understand.  They showed 60% winter losses overall.  I wish I could provide a link to their results but did not save the link and can not find it right now."

Several bee clubs in the Marin, San Francisco area have the same management philosophy.  This is posted on a link to the Marin web site:  

http://www.survivorstockqueens.org

To read about the Honeybee Improvement Program, a Cooperative breeding effort started in 1993, click here. Their bee breeding goal is honeybee stock which has under 20% annual loss rate (all causes) while being totally untreated for either of the very troublesome parasitic bee mites, known commonly as the Varroa mite and the Tracheal mite. 



The site also references the information below. Perhaps some of you are familiar with John Kefuss's work?  In the article referenced below, he explains how he developed his line of Varroa resistant bees, forcing mites on the brood so they would quickly either survive or die.  Initially 2/3 of his colonies died.  Now he cites 15% annual losses and sells 3,000 mated queens worldwide for 650 Euros each.
"M.E.A. McNeil, journalist and Master Beekeeper, has written an article for the January 2010 American Bee Journal about French beekeeper, John Kefuss, who began experimenting with the possibility of breeding resistant bees before it was known it could be done. "Keeping Bees That Keep Themselves" tells the story of Kefuss and his "Bond Method" of selection as both more healthy and economical than chemical treatment for both bees and their keepers. (Click here to read the John Kefuss article.) 

Kefuss trains beekeepers from around the world in his Bond protocols, spreading the word that bees do not need to be kept with chemicals. It is hoped that Kefuss will speak and teach two-day workshops in the U.S. in 2010-11: "It would be mainly practical manipulations with a little bit of theory. People would get their hands dirty and be involved." 

He considers this work to bear "a certain moral responsibility to future beekeepers to show that it is not only possible but cheaper to keep bees without chemicals." He welcomes beekeepers to his Varroa Challenge at Rucher d' Oc in southern France.

To inquire about hosting a U.S. visit of John Kefuss and his assistant, Maria Bold, you may contact them by email .






             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html