The first portion of the monthly meeting was a discussion by members about their hives, announcement of upcoming events, the status of our bee yard, requests for speakers at community events and the County Fair (August 12 – 19).
After a break, Leon Vandenberg introduced Alex McClellan, Chief Operating Officer of the Sustainable Honeybee Program in Purcellville VA, and his colleague Parks Talley.
Alex explained that the Sustainable Honeybee Program (SHP), located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is committed to developing honeybees that are acclimated to this area, are hygienic, gentle and reliable producers that have the natural inclination to survive our winters. SHP supports Integrated Pest Management (IPM) beekeeping, but has not chemically treated its colonies since 2005.
The key performance indicators that SHP looks for in its bees are that they are:
- Adaptive (acclimated to regional climate)
- Well-behaved (gentle in nature)
- Thrifty (manage available resources well)
- Strong (resistant to various pathogens and parasites)
- Productive (excellent pollinators and honey producers
To produce a better bee, SHP uses selective breeding. SHP uses only hygienic queens in its nucleus colonies and, after testing, eliminates queens that do not meet its standard for hygienic behavior. From time to time, they replenish their genetics with queens that are Varroa Sensitive Hygienic (VSH) or Hyper-Grooming (“ankle biters”). These “imported” queens are 100% artificially inseminated.
Parks Talley demonstrated the use of the quiet box and quiet cloth – two innovations that SHP uses to work their hives with minimal disruption. Smoke is rarely used at SHP and frames are protected at all times – never hung outside a hive nor put on the ground. Their optimization of the hive environment includes the warm-way hive system, attention to ventilation, and a double nuc base that allows two nucs to share a common wall. Top feeder shims permit feeding without opening or disturbing the hive.
Parks Talley
Education is an important part of SHP’s mission and Alex invited members to come and volunteer. Every Monday, weather permitting, SHP works in its bee yards. Accompanied by experienced beekeepers, volunteers have a hands on opportunity to experience many hive environments, ask questions and learn about bees. Volunteer information is located on the website, www.sustainablebees.org.
There are also excellent videos about the SHP way of handling bees, including the quiet box and quiet cloth, at www.sustainablebees.org, featuring Billy Davis, a Master Beekeeper and the inspirational leader behind SHP.
*********
Alex also introduced us to Mite Month (www.mitemonth.org), a movement to encourage all beekeepers to evaluate their hives and treat them to reduce the population of varroa destructor mites in our area. Information on the group is on its website. It is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to helping improve the ability of honeybees to cope with varroa mites.
-Maureen Jais-Mick