Starting with the genetics
We thought the best place to start was with the genetics. We did not want to try to raise locally adapted queens by starting with queens raised in Georgia or California. We wanted some queens that were already somewhat localized. We also wanted queens that had been selected to show some resistance to varroa mites. So we searched for some options. The ones we thought were most promising were:
- Ankle Biter queens from Purdue University. But we weren’t able to find any queens in time.
- Michael Bush queens (www.bushfarms.com) but knew we would not have a chance to get any until mid June.
- Any local beekeepers who made splits and had queens that had overwintered in our area a few winters.
We found some local bees that we thought may have some of the traits we are looking for and we decided to raise one round of queens from them. Spring did not come when it should have, and we were not seeing drones, so we delayed our grafting date by 2 weeks. We grafted around 130 queen cells. While we were grafting we thought we saw signs of European Foulbrood in one weaker hive. Being new to queen rearing we were concerned that we would spread disease if we finished raising those queen cells. So we decided not to continue with those queens. Some other members of the club did continue with them and they were able to raise 29 new mated queens and incorporate them into their bee-yards. They have not seen any more signs of disease. We will evaluate some of those queens in 2019 to see how they are performing.