“In interviewing beekeepers across the country for an American Bee Journal article on the possibilities of breeding local survivor stock, I found that many seeds planted by Sue Cobey had sprouted and flourished,” Mea McNeil said. “For example, the successful Sustainable Honeybee Program in Northern Virginia attributes its existence to encouragement from Cobey.”
Dan Purvis of Purvis Brothers Apiaries, Leoma, Tenn., credits Cobey’s drone management program “as a valuable part of his protocol, which has now maintained untreated stock for over a decade,” McNeil said.
McNeil also noted that Cobey’s “obligations to UC Davis more than fill her time, but she created a special class for a group of Marin County beekeepers on ‘Survivor Stock Queen Rearing.’”
“She does not proselytize about the possibilities of rearing survival stock, and she is realistic about the enormous difficulties that come with the endeavor,” McNeil said. “At the same time, she has successfully mentored beekeepers who choose to take it on.”
