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Squarepeg,

For a graduate school project, I marked a large number of newly emerged workers every week to use them later in their lives for a foraging study. Over the years I noticed that a...

WLC,

Very interesting! Finding a palatable and nutritious diet is always the fun part.

I may have missed the details of your Beegurt, but it sounds like a similar type of substance I use as...

WLC

Lacto bacillus does contribute to the nutritional content of pollen or bee bread, but also offer some preservative properties with lowering the pH, perhaps that is more significant? ...

Squarepeg,

Based on what I see, if it was poor nutrition, it would have been due to poor nutrition during the queen rearing process. In my area, the optimal queen rearing window is generally May...

A balanced supplement/substitute is even more essential during rapid colony expansion and brood rearing, spring or fall... It takes a lot of food and nutrients to feed all of those little mouths!

Interesting thread to read! Bee season just doesn't allow much time to catch up on Bee Source.

I think it was Radar's response to the McDonald’s comment that I liked. All foods provide...

Mark,

Yes, smaller colonies are more receptive to a new queen. While a student at ASU, we used to break down Africanized colonies into 2-frame splits and requeen them. The smaller splits worked...

This has been an enjoyable thread.

Roland, your analogy is in line with the thinking of other researchers. Mites do not appear to suffer from inbreeding depression the way we look at it in honey...

Ben,

Your plan is right on target. Two pounds will fit nicely in a 5 frame deep nuc. The drawn comb is a plus and make sure they have plenty of feed. They will utilize the space very well and...

Longevity is an important selection factor to me. Selecting two strains, the Aurea (Italian based) and the Karnica (Carniolan based), I see large differences in longevity. I have had inseminated...

We will again be offering a honey bee instrumental insemination class in Ohio this August. For further information, please visit our website or follow the link below.
...

Thanks Graham. :)

Tommysnare,



http://latshawapiaries.com/index.php?page=pollen-substitute


Joe

Thanks for the input so far! If I am interpreting responses correctly, “free shipping” is not all that important in the big scheme of things. Price, value and quality are most important, which is...

I was not sure where else to post such a question, so I apologize if this seems out of place here. What do commercial beekeepers think of, or what is your opinion on “Free or Flat Rate Shipping”? ...

Jeff,

Your explanation is one of the most direct explanations I have seen in a while. While I do not treat my population, I am very hesitant to claim they offer resistance, for the very...

Adam,

Thank you for the eloquent response. I think I stated earlier that I do not have an outright objection to the concept of VSH.

Part of my background is in behavioral genetics and I have...

AstroBee,

It has been a couple of years since I last looked at VSH lines. I have attempted to incorporate VSH into my existing lines on several occasions over the years. I do not object to VSH...

Tom,

There is an older article, that I think was published in ABJ or Bee Culture, by Kim Fondrk. This may go back 15-20 years… Kim is Rob Page’s technician (right hand man). He is an excellent...

My honest response is I don’t really know what is providing “resistance” in survivor populations.

I believe there are many things that play into the success of beekeepers that advertise survivor...

Johnny, my apologies if my comments and observations appeared to be “bashing” in nature. That was not my intent.

VSH is an interesting trait to me. I worked with some of the initial lines...

JRG13,

I think operating a successful beekeeping business entails many aspects. Stock selection is just one of the components. I like the saying, “all things in moderation”. I do not believe...

JRG13,

I will start another thread to reply to your questions. I do not want to deviate too far from Deknow's original questions.

Joe

Adam,

I agree there is demand for inseminated breeder queens. However, I do not agree that VSH is a productive part of that demand. Deknow’s original point was that a lot of people use the term...

Tom,

Jeff is the expert on the intricacies of VSH. In my experience, lines that expressed a high level of VSH behavior were very poor colonies. Daughter queens raised from highly selected lines...