Breeding the Honeybee

Cory Stevens is a VSH queen breeder from Missouri, USA. He has a business called Steven’s Bee Company which offers AI VSH breeder queens, VSH virgin queens and raw honey free of miticides and antibiotics. Cory's Website and Facebook https://www.stevensbeeco.com/https://www.facebook.com/stevensbeecoComment or leave feedback on the episode post in the Facebook group for this podcast https://www.facebook.com/groups/breedingthehoneybeeRecord a soundbite about your queen rearing here https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/pages/podcast This podcast is proudly brought to you by Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees in Ballarat Australia. Email Brent at brent@nixonqueenbees.com.au00:00 Introduction1:50 Guest question - Matt Crane - Is there a correlation between colour and VSH?3:20 Guest question - Steve Sammut - Is there a correlation between UBeeO and VSH?5:00 Guest question - Paul Roder - Is there a correlation between bald brood and VHS?7:00 Cory’s commercial program in which he sends out breeders and gets back high performing F1s8:50 How the F1s in the program are assessed 10:07 UbeeO and overwintering 12:53 Harbo Assay13:42 Are F1s in the program treated?17:16 What traits are desirable in returning F1s?19:10 Colour and VSH - HarboEpisode Musichttps://audionautix.com/

Shibu is a Queen breeder in Columbia Tennessee. He sells queens, nucs and AI equipment, which he also offers training for. At the time of releasing this episode Shibu had just had a tornado go through his property and cause a lot of destruction. Below is the link to the gofundme which you can follow if you would like to support Shibu in rebuilding his business. Help Shibu get back on trackhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/support-shibu-rajs-tornado-recovery?attribution_id=sl:c3f0948f-fdba-4966-8209-8dcf623c6040&utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook https://www.facebook.com/2RiversHoneyBeeshttps://www.tworivershoneybees.com/Contact Brent brent@nixonqueenbees.com.auEpisode Music

Willie Robson is the biggest keeper of the old English black bee in the world. His family business is Chain Bridge Honey Farm, which was established in 1948 by Willie’s father. Willie has been working in the business since 1962 and now works alongside his wife and children. Chain Bridge Honey Farm is based in Horncliffe which is in the UK but right on the Scottish border. 00:00 Introduction2:18 The biggest English black bee breeder in the world 7:50 Total Natural Immunity 9:45 Varroa and Willie’s bees10:30 Working with black bees 11:30 Black bee reserves 12:15 The future of the black bee in the UK13:12 Willie’s favourite part about beekeeping14:15 Chain Bridge Honey Farm showroom 16:30 Advice to new beekeepers 17:30 Brother AdamCheck out willie’s business website https://www.chainbridgehoney.com/Join the podcast Facebook community group - This is a great place to comment on the episode, share some of your own tips or just say hi!https://www.facebook.com/groups/breedingthehoneybeePodcast proudly brought to you by Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees (Ballarat VIC, Australia)https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/Email Brent brent@nixonqueenbees.com.auInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nixonqueenbees/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nixonqueenbees/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NixonQueenBeesEpisode Musichttps://audionautix.com/

Ian Steppler is a Canadian beekeeper who breeds his own line of bees. Ian has unique cell raising and mating nuc styles that are well suited to short season commercial beekeeping. In this episode Ian goes into his cell raising process and mating nucs as well as explaining why he raises his own queens. Ian has a YouTube channel called A Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog. In this episode we discuss a lot of the things that you can see in this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouifrZvFn1U00:00 Intro2:18 Bringing in breeding stock 5:30 When Ian started raising his own stock8:30 Cell builders 21:00 Mating nucs You can follow Ian’s work on his YouTube Channel or on his website - https://www.stepplerfarms.com/ Join the podcast Facebook community group - This is a great place to comment on the episode, share some of your own tips or just say hi!https://www.facebook.com/groups/breedingthehoneybeePodcast proudly brought to you by Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees (Ballarat VIC, Australia)https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/Email Brent brent@nixonqueenbees.com.auInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nixonqueenbees/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nixonqueenbees/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NixonQueenBeesEpisode Musichttps://audionautix.com/

Leigh Slater is a queen breeder and honey producer in Tasmania, Australia. For 63 years Leigh has been preserving a pure strain of the old English black bee (Apis mellifera mellifera). Back in the 70s Leigh aided beekeepers in England by helping them reestablish the line by sending queens from his protection zone. The black bee was first brought to Australia over 200 years ago by the English and was the first stain of european honeybee in Australia. Since then the strain has almost entirely been replaced by other strains such as the Italian strain. To my knowledge Leigh's apiary is the only one remaining with a pure AMM strain. The current official status as well as the future of this preservation is currently unclear. Special thanks to Matthew Crane, Anita Long, Mick Palmer and Laurie Cowen for helping me put together this episode. 1:00 When Leigh started beekeeping4:13 Preserving the black bee7:05 taking the strain back to England9:30 Attributes of the black bee12:00 The Tasmanian program15:30 Leatherwood honey17:00 Ideal honey boxes Join the podcast facebook community groupwww.facebook.com/groups/breedingthehoneybeePodcast proudly brought to you by Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees (Ballarat VIC, Australia)https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/Email Brent brent@nixonqueenbees.com.auInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nixonqueenbees/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nixonqueenbees/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NixonQueenBeesEpisode Musichttps://audionautix.com/

Dan Long has a business making 3D printed queen cages and other beekeeping applications. Dan’s business is called EZPZ. His main product is a cage suitable for the JZBZ cell cup. 4:00 Dan’s business4:30 JZBZ system 5:10 First 3D printer5:35 First attempt at making cages 6:07 Queen introduction6:45 Candy plug7:20 Queen cage trays8:03 Banking8:30 Different styles of cages9:45 Writing on the cages 10:45 Wax mounts12:30 Merrill tool box14:25 Day tripper19:50 JZBZ set20:10 Queen catcher22:30 Cell bars 23:10 Dan’s website24:15 North American Honey Bee Expo vendor EZPZ Websitehttps://ezpz.buzz/Join the podcast facebook community groupwww.facebook.com/groups/breedingthehoneybeePodcast proudly brought to you by Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees (Ballarat VIC, Australia)https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/Email Brent brent@nixonqueenbees.com.auInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nixonqueenbees/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nixonqueenbees/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NixonQueenBeesEpisode Musichttps://audionautix.com/

Varroa has been detected in the almond pollination in Australia. In this episode I interview Matt Petersen, Richard Sims and Corinne Jordan about Varroa and VSH. The interviews that are in this episode were recorded on the 1st and 2nd of September 2023. It's likely that the situation will change quickly after the release of this episode. UPDATE - Since this episode aired the Australian government has changed our approach to varroa from eradication to management. Thanks to:Matt Petersenhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083143661962Richard Sims https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067550281602Corinne Jordanhttps://beegenetics.com.au/Paul Roderhttps://rockhamptonbees.com.au/