>So given the feasibility of keeping hives free from varroa in the area, is it worthwhile?
I am realising that we made some assumptions when you first posted, but never asked
how many acres of blueberries are planned, now and in the future, what variety of
blueberry, how the project is financed, who and how many separate entities would
own the blueberry fields, the bees, etc..
I think we tend to envision something like this:
http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/af_polldemoplot.pdf
or http://thesirengroup.com/pdf/nationalpost.pdf
but maybe we are talking of much smaller scale here.
> How much is varroa costing you if you add up all the indirect costs as well as the
> direct costs?
That is very hard to calculate since varroa tends to vector other problems and varies from
operator to operator and region to region. Here in Alberta, where Apivar works well, the
cost is probably about $5 to $7 per colony per year. A smart operator can probably get
below that number by timing treatments to early spring, but sometimes multiple treatments
are required if the area is highly populated with bees and some beekeepers are not in
control of their mite loads. I think your mite control costs would be similar. Some varroa
treatments also control tracheal mites.
If you find you are unable to produce honey in your area, you will not be constrained
by the problems faced by those who runs bees primarily to produce honey and who
who have supers on their hives much of the active season, and are thereby prevented
from treating at any time when it might seem necessary.
Regardless of the presence of varroa or not, hives must be monitored for disease and
other conditions, so monitoring for varroa adds little to cost, and you will have to do it
anyhow, even if you think you are mite-free.
As for obtaining and maintaining varroa-free bees, you will have costs there, too,
with additional transport, a thin supply and poorer choice of bee stock quite possibly
adding up to a greater amount in terms of money, risk, and hassle than just dealing
with the problem as it happens. There are often advantages in not trying to be
different, or to re-invent the wheel.
If you have more than a few operators involved, there is the additional burden of
keeping the group together. If one operator thinks she will lose her crop because
her bees are not doing well, human nature being what it is, she is likely to break ranks
and get bees where she can. If there is only one entity, then the problem is simpler,
but then again, if other people see success, they are likely to imitate and move in and
have their own ideas about bees.
All in all, my guess is that if the project is larger than just a few crofters growing
blueberries on a subsistence operation, your best bet is to hire professional pollinators,
and concentrate on your core business, growing blueberries. That is bound to present
headaches enough without trying to learn beekeeping from a standing start.
All that assumes that there are professional pollinators in Ontario, PQ, or the
Maritimes willing to make the trek with sufficient guarantees for both parties.
You may actually be forced to pollinate on your own, in which case, the solution for smart
growers has been to hire an experienced beekeeper, usually from a family of successful
commercial beekeepers to handle the beekeeping end of things. In addition to Pierre, you
have a varroa expert in your region whom I hold in high esteem, Jean-Pierre Chapleau. I
don't know how involved he is with bees these days. I have not seen him for a decade
or more, but he definitely understands varroa in your region.
http://www.agrireseau.qc.ca/apiculture/documents/Rapport%20perfectionnement_varroa.pdf
http://www.apinovar.com/
Be aware that a lot of what you read is written by or for either academics or hobby
beekeepers. Many of us have been led astray listening to that advice. Bob has said
before that the measure of a beekeeper is whether that person can make a living for
more than a year or two from keeping bees, (or something to that effect), and not the
amount of book-learning or number of Beemaster plaques and degrees.
It has taken most of us decades to get to where we think we know what we are doing
and we still have losses.
Beekeeping is risky business. It requires many skills and timing is critical.
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