Tag: breeding

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Greg Hunt on breeding hygienic mite-biting honeybees

Video of Dr. Greg Hunt of Purdue University, Dept. of Entomology speaking to the Southeastern Indiana Beekeepers Association. He talks a little about pesticides, but what really caught my interest is that he's been selectively breeding for bees that will chew the ankles of varroa mites.

His experiences seem to suggest that finding mites with chewed off legs on the bottom board may correspond to hygienic behaviour in honeybees. After selecting for this behaviour, very few of his colonies require mite treatments.

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The Monk and the Honeybee

A documentary on Brother Adam's the world famous breeder of the Buckfast bee. Filmed for the BBC in 1987 when Brother Adams was 89.

The film goes into some of the history of developing the buckfast strain of bee, gives a taste of life in their apiary, and documents the search for the Monticola in Africa which was to be added into the genetic mix of the buckfast.

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Talk on commercial beekeeping, top bar, small cell, raising hardy northern queens and going treatment free.

Excellent lecture from Sam Comfort covering his past with the commercial beekeeping industry and why he started keeping top bar hives.