The other day, Kirk Webster and I were comparing notes on our bee work for
the summer. He said something that I would like to share.
        He has been raising Russian bees since 1999, and many of his colonies
haven't been treated for varroa for two or more years. It seems his bees
are doing something that he calls "brilliant."
        He mentioned that many of his bees had swarmed. Now, the flow wasn't
strong in his area of the state. I wondered why they were swarming, when
they didn't have a flow on. Kirk thinks that they are using swarming to
keep the varroa population down. Here's how they do it.
        First, the colony swarms. They leave the brood and most of the varroa
behind. Second, the new queen in the parent colony doesn't start to lay
until all the brood from the old queen has hatched.
        Has anyone else seen this? Normally, there is still brood in the colony
when the new queen begins to lay, wouldn't you say? Whether or not this
behavior is a varroa defence I don't know, but it seems like it would help.

        Comments?

Mike
St. Albans, Vermont

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::