All
 
We wrapped up an experiment last Friday near Great Falls, MT.  We've  been 
working with Smoot honey company at Power.
 
They start each spring with packages of bees from CA, make a honey crop,  
then let beekeepers shake out and buy all of their bees in late September.   
By 1st Oct, they usually don't have any bees left.  All of their equipment  
gets cleaned up, then placed in to storage for the winter,  where frigid 
temperatures and lack of bees probably help knock out any  remaining bee pests. 
  This is a large, non-migratory,  multi-generational beekeeping operation, 
active members of AHPA.
 
As we were loading up the experimental hives, Mark Jensen came out to pick  
up pallets, and mentioned that they had 100 shakes left over - did I need 
any  additional bees, or know of anyone who did?
 
I've as many colonies as I can handle - running over 100 experimental hives 
 at the moment, and most are pulled in to our fenced wintering yard - no  
more room.
 
I realize that Bee-L is NOT intended for marketing things - but Smoot bees  
are an unusual commodity.
 
Over the past two years, we and Dave Wick at BVS have been monitoring  
samples of their bees via the Integrated Virus Detection Instrument,  
mass-spectrometry-based proteomics, and screening for pesticides.
 
As you all know, we have surveyed lots of colonies from across the  U.S.
 
Smoot bees have proven to be some of the best bees we've ever seen,  
probably due to their unique management style and isolation from pesticide  
intensive agriculture.
 
Virus levels are very low and viral diversity is also low.  Last year,  the 
only detectable virus was a background level of Sac Brood in  a few 
samples.  This year, in the apiary where we conducted the research -  which was 
randomly picked, we intensively sampled 24 colonies.  
 
We did not detect any Nosema spores.  We found one varroa mite in  one 
colony, and no tracheal mites.  Viral loads continued to be low.   Broad 
spectrum pesticide analysis of bees for more than 180 chemicals by the  USDA lab 
only found detectable amounts of one pesticide - traces of  fluvalinate.  And, 
the Smoots haven't used that product for some  years, so it is either 
carryover from the package supplier OR it is old  residue in the wax - Roger 
Simmonds says the chemical has a 7 year  half life.  
 
This year, we found a few colonies that developed a low level of chalk  
brood late in the season.  From what I could see, I doubt that it had any  
significant effects on the bee populations, which were very strong.
 
Anyway, our data says that their bees are about as good as it gets in the  
U.S. in terms of being demonstrably free of bee pests and diseases, as well  
as the absence of pesticide residues which were non-detectable, with the  
exception of low ppb levels of the miticide fluvalinate.
 
The bees from these colonies produced a big honey crop and BIG bee  
populations - I haven't seen colonies this strong in many years, and they were  all 
started from packages in the spring!
 
So, if you are looking for bees with a proven track record in terms of  
production and apparent good health, my opinion is that these bees are in VERY  
good condition, about as good as one is going to find in the U.S.  That may 
 be useful for other researchers and beekeepers, especially those who would 
like  to find bees that have not been exposed to lots of pesticides.
 
If you're looking for bees, contact Smoot Honey in Power - they  have a web 
page.  Or call Mark Jensen, James Rehm, or Don Smoot.   Mark's e-mail 
[log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask]) .
 
Thanks

Jerry
 
P.S.  I don't profit from any sales of Smoot bees.  However,  they have 
been more that helpful with respect to our research, and I'd like to  return 
the favor.  Also, when buying bees, one usually does not have any  specific 
information about the quality of the bees.  In this case, we've  data.  
Granted, we've only sampled a small part of their operation, and  this year 
focused on one randomly chosen yard, so we can't say that all of their  bees look 
like this, but last year's sampling looked at more yards, and they all  
looked the same.

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