These Bees Are Managing Varroa ON THEIR OWN!! w/ Dr. Melissa Oddie! Beekeeping 101 #beekeeping

WOW! This was such a great conversation about the progress we are making when it comes to varroa mites and honey bees! Some things that we didn't get to mention during the interview but talked about off camera...in Norway they have only ever used organic mite treatments (formic acid and oxalic acid). But, one beekeeper noticed that their bees seemed to have problems with the treatments so he decided to go the route of not treating his bees at all. Over time more and more beekeepers in his area began to join him in this effort until every beekeeper in that area had stopped treatments. Over time they began to see that their bees were somehow managing Varroa on their own. Honey bees adapt SO FAST. It's miraculous how they are able to adapt to their environment. This shows so much promise in our fight against varroa because maybe yes in fact it is possible that we will see a day when we no longer have to apply mite treatments :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy thus conversation as much as I did! Happy listening!!!! :)

Rapid parallel evolution overcomes global honey bee parasite

Norwegian honey bees surviving Varroa destructor mite infestations by means of natural selection

Global Honey Bee Viral Landscape Altered by a Parasitic Mite - Stephen Martin

For 10% off on all Hive Alive products use code Emily10

My most recent blog post Beekeeping Conspiracies?? vvv

The Honey Cast...

beekeeping, beekeepers, Michigan beekeepers, beekeeping in a northern climate, overwintering bee hives, overwintering beehives in a northern climate, November tips, varroa mites, robbing, small hives beetle, how to, brood diseases, swarming, late season swarms, low food stores, day in the life of a beekeeper, sugar bricks, feeding bees in winter, emergency feed, feeding bee hives, in hive feeding, framer feeders for bees, equalizing, bee bomb, entrance reducer, robbing screen, breeding queens, breeding program, survival stock, treatment free, brood breaks, frugality test, wintering bees in a cold climate, over wintering nucleus colonies, 5 over 5 nucs, brood nest, cluster size, varroa mites, bald brood, pollination hives, pumpkin pollination, Michigan queens, Michigan queen breeders, frame feeders, sugar water, sugar water ratio, fall feeding, preparing for winter, bee burn out, beekeeper burn out, motivational, beekeeper problems, beefit beekeeping, how to become a successful beekeeper, reasons not to be a beekeeper, should I be a beekeeper, should I quit beekeeping, preparing bee hives for winter, mite resistant bees, vsh, smr

[illumi-Nate]

Melissa is awesome!! Full of information & great ideas!! Pretty amazing! Wealth of knowledge.. thank u

[tarnishedknight]

39:52 Convergent evolution IS a thing!

[rockhoundhunter]

Thank yall very much for all the info! Also I run russian honeybees with almost mite free.

[illumi-Nate]

I have a few colonies condensed side by side & a few that are all alone in different places of my property..the 3 that were side by side had mites so bad compared to the alone ones which didn't need treatment.

[boysbees]

Last winter I had an acid cap pop and hit me in the forehead. This year I got some bees from Cory Stevens and reproduced as many new queens as I could in late summer. Fingers crossed for this spring.

[VerticalVictoryGarden]

I wonder if planting wild thyme around the hives to help with resistance might be a benefit. If it’s true you are what you eat, then the natural thymol which would be in bloom in August may bump up their immune system?

[samanthathomas]

just a thought but norway cold long winters, so is insulating hives in winter more helpfull to mites than the bees