The JUICY Details On Everything VARROA MITES / Beekeeping 101

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When we better understand varroa mites as an individual organism, we have a better understanding of how we can help our bees. This video is about EVERYTHING varroa and the research I have been reading. I hope this helps and thanks for watching :)
Genetics and Physiology of Varroa mites - www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Varroa destructor: A Complex Parasite, Crippling Honey Bees Worldwide - www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Understanding varroa mites- Dr. David Peck; a NY Bee Wellness webinar -
• Understanding varroa m...
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beekeeping, varroa mites, beekeeping tips, overwintering, treating for mites, treatment free, a new way to beekeep, beekeepers, Michigan beekeeping, treatment free beekeepers, breeding genetics

[@thehturt5480]

Seems that inside You is hidden a little researcher! And your enthusiasm is really catching 🤗😉 Thanks for sharing and good luck 🍀 to You!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Learning is my favorite thing to do ☺️ happy to be able to share it with you! Thank you for being here ♥️

[@markmiller4047]

Great information Emily I truly believe your on the right path maybe someday we can swop queens as I'm working on vsh and over winter ability. I hope it all comes together with your bees! your smiles make the days brighter keep it up!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

☺️ yes I would love that! Thank you Mark! Hope you’re having a great start to the year ♥️

[@villain011]

Another Great Video Emily.happy New Year from UK X

[@gudea01]

Greetings from Europe😉 Exactly from Czech Rep. And thank you for these videos. For collecting informations and joining them together. Bee keepers in our country must register their hives and must use chemicals, produced by factory, which is "daughter society" of beekeeping union, which is advicer for laws about beekeeping. Funny. And tragic. Laws still don't fully reflex genetics of "varroa tollerant" collonies. I'm planning to try to select more and more varroa tollerant collonies. Due to moving to another town, i've lost my two collonies and this year I start again. I would like to catch swarm (which is illegal in our country "due to infection danger"(😂) and I want to try keep the collonies, less "infected" with varroa. Because I think, that collonies, who can survive in wild must have best genetics...I wish you success in America with your work. I wish so badly to have opportunity to buy sascatraz, or russian queen to start from better position. But here is allowed to keep only carnelian honey bee...(our native black bee is almost lost, some collonies are in Shumava mountain, most on german area of it. I wish you good luck.👍

[@carlsledge3868]

In 1916 the Russian intercontinental railway was completed and Russian scientists and beekeepers traveled with about 200 colonies of western honeybees in an attempt to cross their bees with Apis Cerana bees after two years it didn't work and they returned home, unknown with their bees that were carrying varroa mites, the varroa mites quickly took advantage Apis Mellifara bees that had no defenses for the mite problem in the 1930s queen shipping became very popular and most were shipped with a small package to care for them in transit on ships, then early packages of bees and queens got to be profitable from bees raised in South America thus just a matter time before Varroa made it to the US & Canada, Dr Harbo of USDA bee experiment station Baton Rouge along with another Bee Professor (sorry his name slips my mind atm) Identified VSH genetics in certain Russian genetics imported from stocks brought to cross bred with American bee stocks to improve honey production and hardiness, The Purdue ankle-biters bite legs off mites so they can't hold on to the bees and the hydraulic pressure needed to keep the sticky bulbous pads we'd call feet wetted enough to hold on , so they fall off and die.

[@andreeneddermeyer8863]

Thanks for teaching - stay strong and Happy New Year!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Thanks, you too! 🥰

[@carolannjacques268]

Please keep sharing your information!

[@ohio1970]

Very informative video.I also agree with you on breeding.

[@atlas9172]

Grow sunflowers... Recent studies show the availability of sunflowers to honey bees help resistance of Veroa mites. ;) happy bee 'keeping'

[@777nydia1]

Great information Emily. Yes I agree we are losing this battle against varroa and breeding resistant bees is the only long term solution. There's BIG money in prevention chemicals so this also is putting the brakes on research for better outcomes. Now is the time b4 it's too late. So thankyou!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Thank YOU! ♥️ thanks for watching and I hope bee winter is treating you well!

[@777nydia1]

@@beefitbeekeeping Actually I'm from New Zealand and we're smack in the middle of honey flow. Have just treated my 3 hives with formic pro so all good now till fall. An mindful of what you said about hi mite numbers after summer harvest so will dose bees again then before winter. Thanks!

[@michaelhall7921]

With respect..... Please read what that fantastic guy Randy Oliver (1000 hives +) is doing in California. All thinking beekeepers professional or otherwise are so grateful to him for his expertise and his advice on the Strips. = Extended release method of 1 -1 oxalic acid and glycerine..... Many beekeepers are experimenting with the extended release method. The method was researched in Argentina by Biologists. They found that the method works. Although oxalic acid can be, and is sprayed directly onto bees the extended release method is outside legislation. I have not used any chemical apart from oxalic acid. Several thinking beekeepers here on You Tube are using that method with great success. Emily thank you for your close observation..... It would be nice to eradicate varroa with any method that does not require even oxalic acid. The bees do not seem hurt by oxalic acid and glycerine 1 to 1. It does kill mites however more efficiently than sublimation/fumigation by 4 gram of oxalic acid. If I had not intervened and killed varroa completely in our hive of 2020 and nearly got rid of them in the hive with a bad infestation bought 2022, I would have had to buy more bees and it would have been unthinkable to have let the bees suffer and die, which they would have done by now. Besr wishes Mick the engineer UK Ps 9x9 =81 we had to learn it automatically 1950ties!

[@iosta5694]

I am your biggest fan. Keep going girl 😉.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

I am so happy to have ya. Thanks for being here ☺️♥️

[@1425race]

Here in New Zealand we are all awaiting the day that all beekeepers have varroa resistant queens but I fear that will be at least 5 years or more away. Currently I am having great success with Randy Oliver's extended oxalic acid and glycerine programme. Here, we are in the middle of the summer honey flow and all my hives have very low mite counts from the sugar shakes I do. I would like you to tell us more about why you think organic acids sterilise the whole hive. I certainly have not noticed that the bees are unhealthy because of oxalic acid, in fact, quite the opposite they are thriving. Keep up your good research into varroa.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

I wrote this down and will talk about this in a video soon ☺️ thank you!!

[@aanadyia4582]

I’m so glad you posted this and will be following to see how it goes for you this year. I’m taking a local beekeeping class starting this month and through to fall, get my first package in early May for the class. I am pretty sure the class will make us treat with chemicals at the bee yard this year but I ordered Mel’s book and plan to start incorporating this when I get my hive home. Thank you!!

[@lkmary1]

I have that same coffee mug. Cheers. ☕🤗🐝🐝💕 I'm really interested in using brood breaks and drone combs. I hope you will continue posting about the work you are doing.

[@paulh.7598]

There is a fascinating pattern in math with multiplication by nines with other factors and it goes like this: 9 x 1 = 9; 9 x 2 = 18; 9 x 3 = 27; the pattern is the result is one less than the factor being multiplied by nine and the two numerics when added always add up to 9. So 9 x 9 = one less than nine, in this case 8, and since the sum of the two numerics have to add up to nine than it must be a 1 or 81. 9 x 7 is instantly 63 because 6 is one less than the factor seven and 6 + 3 = 9; so 9 x 6 is 54 it is instant and nines become one of the easiest multiplication to learn because of this pattern

[@boboften9952]

Write a paper , a book on this subject You have collated all the information , put in all the sources of information This saves others having to wade through the information add the sources for confirmation Thanks Muchly This is a Brilliant update a collation of current information Thank you

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Thank you, that’s a good idea ☺️

[@boboften9952]

@@beefitbeekeeping information becomes a book , a book becomes a source of confirmation Thanks Muchly

[@geraltofrivia8529]

There is a team in Louisiana selectively breeding using dna for varroa resistance, productivity and temperament. I think you can get the queens in the states now.

[@geraltofrivia8529]

Got 5 minutes in and realised you mentioned it :)

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Love the snow Cheers! 🥂

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Hey thanks ☺️ thank you for being here! ♥️

[@pirateprospecting707]

Thanks for the information!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Thank you for being here! ♥️

[@carolannjacques268]

Happy New Year!

[@phillipworrall5384]

Amen 🙌

[@strutt01]

Home Run! I say it's hard for anyone to be against breeding for mite resistance. But at the same time alot of bee keepers need to treat their bees for volume of honey and volume of bees purposes. Thanks for the info.

[@robertmartinusek6802]

Thank you it was fantastic.

[@carolannjacques268]

Thanks!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Thank YOU!! ♥️☺️ hope you’re doing well

[@framcesmoore]

Ha good video and Happy New Year

[@markbee5787]

Very good video Emily. I would recheck your research on how many daughter mites come out of the cell with their mother. There’s not enough time for nine daughters to mature in 21 days. That’s why mites prefer drone brood. Even then it’s a little over 2 on average that survive to maturity Thanks

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Thank you ☺️ yes I keep finding everyone says something different. I’ll dig into it more thanks ♥️

[@Jeff-fe1el]

I use VHS Queens for my hives. The Queens that have worked best for me were from Wildflower Meadows. I have been running them for about four years. I tried others but they didn't work. If you have non-VHS queens in some hive's you set up a mite bomb situation so be careful when adding swarms to your bee yard. Wildflower Meadows is not a sponsor of mine. In my experience their queens are flighty and tend to crawl off the comb but they keep the hive very clean. They respond very well to smoke and that's good because they can become aggressive and begin to sting when in the brood chamber. Hope this helps Jeff.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

This does help a ton! Thank you ☺️♥️ and thanks for being here!

[@dcsblessedbees]

Poor drones😥they are all ways getting the short end of the stick.😉😂

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Right 🤣🤣🤣😘

[@davidlewis4179]

I got a varroa infestation today. 😉 Actually I got a human size 3d printed varroa mite from Brian at Castle Hives today. Arachnids. I.e. member of the spider family of 8 leg insects. I have a video edit question: Is there a way to un-mirrow a video before posting it?

[@ayanabdullah7733]

I like you so much

[@ayanabdullah7733]

I like you great work

[@LairdKenneth]

I recently heard that sunflowers help build immunity. Have you heard anthing like this, or mabe other plants that may be helpful?

[@3dprintingaddict203]

have you tried essential oils like lavender or spearmint just to name a few. for mite treatment . just curious.

[@stevenkawano9746]

Holy🐄🐝🐄that was a Lot of information🤯I felt like I was in one of ur classes, Miss Pedzinski😊🍎Very interesting tho it reminded me of being in my brother's photography class, Totally New information but the Key is making it Interesting and let me tell u Both of U Definitely Always make it Very interesting👏🐝👏As much as Varroa mites Suck (literally and figuratively!) they are Fascinating creatures it reminded me of Invasion of the Body Snatchers where they mask the pheromones that are trying to sound the warning alarm🤯That and the bees making their own vaccines and passing said vaccine down to the next generation🤯Congrats on the website and ur collaborations as well 2023 is already off to a Great start! As always if I can help in any way please don't hesitate to ask, my Favorite Keeper☺️👑🐝💛👏As far as all the hate u mentioned goes, it occurred to me that all ur beekeepers end goals are the Same at the end of the day, u All want to Save the honey bees and make sure the mites don't get a foothold and like u said it's a case by case basis on a lot of this, what works for some might (not mite!) not work for others and vice versa so I Hope u don't get too much hate my friend, ur All on the same team and I am Definitely on #teambeefit💛Happy New Year's Eve my Amazing friend, Cheers to a Great 2023!☺️🐝🥂 P.S. Absolutely Love ur jacket💙❄️💙#cheersto2023🥂 #emilyisthebeesknees #beefitbeekeeping #beefithoney #beefit #beekind #queenbeeemily #varroasucks #savethebees

[@valerijsurudo9555]

🐝😍🇱🇹👍

[@maxpower1337]

A lot of native bees have the ability to survive voro.

[@carlsledge3868]

The hygienic traits of uncapping and checking for infested larvae, these bees sense the mite poop just under the capping, if they find it inside capped cell they drag out the infected pupae and carry out of the hive breaking the mite brood cycle.

[@mikeconley3031]

You mite wanna check out Cory stevens. Been breeding vsh for over a decade. The problem with this is all the other beeks in your area. Mite bombs !!!

[@daleb8512]

Just sayin, people that disagree with you aren't spreading hate.

[@carlsledge3868]

It's not that crazy, first-time beekeepers usually get decent low mite bees to begin with from experienced beekeepers and have good to great first season, but fail to check for mites and leave the potential mite bomb ticking untreated and loose the colony the second year, so they buy more bees and repeat the process.

[@JamesLeesBees]

It is actually interesting you mention this. Heavy Varroa loads are generally thought to take a few years to completely knock down a colony, but the truth of the matter is - Varroa is killing 1st year colonies at a higher rate - especially when you are importing diseased and mite infested packages from non-local sources. Many 1st season bee colonies perish - whether it is beekeeper negligence/naivete or Varroa - there is not a high success rate for 1st year beekeepers. If the Varroa are going to turn your colony into a dreaded "mite-bomb" or better termed "mite-lure" it is because you are not monitoring and managing your colony. This has more to do with being "management-free" than not treating with acaricides. Also refraining from acaricides in treatment requires a significantly higher level of work, particularly if you are selecting for resistance and focused on breeding. Natural selection is a harsh and brutal means - but the most efficient in identifying who wins and who doesn't. If on small-scale you lose "X" amount of colonies although treating and on similar scale the "TF" beekeeper loses "X" amount of colonies in kind - what difference has been made? If selecting - you've identified stock that doesn't make the grade for future breeding purpose. If you are treating and still lose them - you've identified nothing and may have sent treatment resistant mites into the landscape. Perils exist on both sides of the beekeeping spectrum - most beekeepers who fail in year 1 and 2 don't make it to 3 - and the myth of them buying more bees is conjecture without fact. The sad part is - there are many who are treating or just running packages for honey and losing them to repeat the process as a business model - and this is unsustainable. Those are the folks repeating the buying bees process you mention. Those are the folks we need to be turning to and educating on a better way, whether they treat or not - beating the bees up is not okay for no purposeful species level impact. Let's knock off the Treatment vs. Treatment Free stereotypes and get down to the facts and engage in intellectual dialog while we are at it. If you are going to use acaricides - you too should be monitoring - and if your colonies are robbing out weakened Varroa lures either in managed or wild colonies - your monitoring will tell you. Either way - you can't just blame the infestations on the "treatment-free bee havers."

[@AN-OLD-BEE]

Thanks!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Thank you!!! 🙏🏼 ☺️🥰