> I am familiar with the Russian Bee breeding program but not the
> varroa-sensitive hygiene program, so how about an update?


VHSB was discussed by Greg Hunt at our State meeting.  In a nutshell, the
bees open the cells and get rid of Varroa. About 8% of the mites are chewed
and die. By removing mites their brood cycle is interrupted and you get
Varroa control.

Some interesting things I took away from his talk were the spotty brood
(good with lots of individual open cells) while one VHSB bee colony had bees
opening cells and another would come in right behind it and cap them before
Varroa could be removed.

Also, mite drop through June (at Purdue) was not a good indicator of mite
load in VHSB, as they are dropping mites so are doing well. Instead, you
have to look for chewed mites to see what is going on. After June, mite drop
lessens and is lower than infested non-VHSB bees.

I would not say that VHSB's are the holy grail of Varroa control since they
are varroa tolerant not resistant, but they are a very promising bee. I
intend to get some, since I like to experiment.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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