VSH Testing With Cory Stevens (Harbo Assay)
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- Опубликовано: 28 апр 2023
- A big thank you to @stevensbeeco767 for hosting this party!
If you'd like to learn more about the Harbo Assay, head over to John Harbo's website - www.harbobeeco.com/
Background on VSH - www.harbobeeco.com/vsh/
How to Measure VSH - www.harbobeeco.com/measure-vsh/
Support the channel - purchase honey, a t-shirt, or donate through our website:
duckriverhoney.com/ 
Хобби
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Thank you for taking the time and guts to put all this together. It's a sacrifice of time and skill but you did it. The SBGMI mission fully supports not just what Cory is doing, but others like you who are getting the message and the tools out to everyone. Well done Nate! We are grateful for you!
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Great vid. The work Corey is doing and making us aware is really a Paradyme shift in mite control. He is expanding on Harbo's work and bringing it to the mases. Thanks.
Thanks Duane!
I can't wait for the data that will correlate Harbo assay to a UBO assay. I hope that is one of their objectives when Kaira visits him to do UBO assays. It would make the value of UBO assays go way up if you could show that a certain UBO % score = a Harbo score of 4, 3, and 2. Exciting time to be a bee geek.
If it works as hoped:
1. Way faster
2. Will work on treated colonies with no mites because it tests the behavior, not the response to mite pressure.
Nathan, thanks for putting in the time and effort to produce this. I’ve watched Cory’s videos, read the Harbo bee co sight, and assayed a few colonies last season. It’s so helpful to watch him go through a full frame and discuss it. Much appreciated.
Thanks Brian!
I love the information that you all are putting out there....keep up the good work!!!! Thanks again!
Thanks Bruce!
12:10 a mite crawled into the frame on the top right corner. While you were looking at drone brood
Very interesting! Someone at my age (older than dirt) would need either a jewelers loupe or a headband magnifying glass. Thank you!!! -Jeff
👍 we had lighted magnifying stands available
Awesome video. I’ve been waiting for someone to do this video. I’ll decently be following your progress this summer
Thanks!
This is great info. Thanks for taking the time to film this!
Thanks Chris!
Great videos! Thanks for taking the time to do them!!
Thanks!
Fascinating.
Thanks Barry!
Very interesting, thanks for sharing this.
Thanks!
Excellent video with great content! Thank you!! 🐝🐝🐝
Thanks!
A theory is with VSH or colonies with another natural mite defense, is that they let mites into drone brood but keep them from worker brood so that the work force and majority of the colony isnt as infected. the drones are the sacrificial lambs so to speak. so many interesting things about drones that we have no idea about. more uses then just mating.
today i did my second count of emerged caged drones 900...had 50 ish mites,using a dawn dishsoap wash from a queen isolation frame holder w green drone frame.
Interesting Mark. Harbo says VSH doesn’t affect drones, but Cory sees uncap / recap on drones in some hives.
@@DuckRiverHoney fred dunn did interview w zac...a few videos back on emerged drone varoa preference,until fall when drones fade,the varoa hop onto workers predominantly,so ive been following freds idea using a queen isolation frame holder cage,then im dishsoap washing in mite check jar,for a baseline, (citizen science)soon ill be hitting them with lorabee insta vap,OXALIC possibly formic pro,when temps are right,.
👍 let me know what you find out.
@@DuckRiverHoney sounds like @sonofthunder has seen the Zac Lamas presentation! :)
I intend to raise bees in Southeast Asia. A. Mellifera and A. Cerana are the domesticated honey bees in the Philippines. The A.Cerana seem to go after the Veroa mites with vigor. I will have to teach my staff this VSH examination tool. Thanks.
Thanks Harvey, good luck!
Kamon size mites 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
🤣👍
QUESTION: Does anyone do a "modified Harbo score" whereby if you find NO Varroa after 100 worker cells, the breeder assigns the colony a score of 3/4? (Instead of assigning EITHER a 3 OR 4 score) In other words, this would save the breeder the time in searching through another 100 cells. I hope that this makes sense.
Yes. If it’s not a breeder queen Cory will do 100 and assign a 3+ instead of doing another 100 to try to get a 4.
Kamon sized mites 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
That was the best part of this video! 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for a great video on a very interesting subject. I looked through the comments but couldn't find any reference to where I might purchase the frame stands you are using. Any info would be very much appreciated. Thanks again. 😊🐝
Mann Lake has them. Dadant and Betterbee probably do too.
@@DuckRiverHoney Thanks Nathan, I'm in Canada but we have ML distributers just never saw them in their catalogs. Much appreciated! 😊🐝
Search for Transfer Station
Would be interesting to see if mites from drone brood is even more valuable info
I think mites in drone brood may be more inconsistent.
What is your source for Caucaaian bees?
Tworivershoneybees.com
I have a variety of hives that have come from feral swarms, each surviving at least 4 years in the wild. I see ejected pupae occasionally, I presume by the time I'm seeing these pupae the varoa have fallen off/detached themselves.
Grafting from the best producing of these hives next year is my next step as I need more than vsh. How do I stop the loss of these valuable genetics to imported and treated drones?
To focus and retain the traits you have to test and select.
I see it already Johnny why did you calling the imagine I was looking for Mites too much
🤣
Just did a test on an old queen and got only 2 non reproductive mites, 4 alleles. But since mites were super hard to find I didn't feel comfortable with the 4 finding. But she was very high😊
👍😁
Interesting, do you think commercial beekeepers will ever move to spring treatment with OA to knock down the mites when the more heavily infected drones are emerging? Not part of Harbo but just removing the mites earlier in their reproductive cycle for the year. Drones have been found to move to another colony as early as 3 days after hatching.
OAV is most effective during bloodless times, so I bet commercial guys will continue winter treatments if they’re using OAV.
@@DuckRiverHoney Just wanted to pick your head and see your thoughts. I enjoy watching you build up and working hard at it. I have no other drive then helping out bees in my area recover and to stay as small as possible and hope I learn enough to add to a good genetics pool of bees in my area.
Those are good goals Tommy!
Question I have is without a susceptible control how do you know you're not just measuring escapes or have low mite pressure?
Take a look at Harbo’s website. You’re comparing your bees to a standard population where the work was done for over a decade by the USDA bee lab.
@Duck River Honey I understand what they are doing BUT if you aren't challenging the bees with mites how do you know it is working. Example, Weavers and other say they haven't treated their bees in a long time. Everyone I have talked to who tried their queens had the hives die when they were challenged with mites. I'm a retired corn Breeder. When I wanted to select for Northern corn leaf blight resistance, if I planted research trials in a field and I didn't have susceptible hybrids planted I had no way of knowing if a hybrid was resistant or just an escape. It seems to me the Breeders should put some mite bombs among their colonies to insure they are challenged by mites. Make sense? Glenn
Yep, Cory is treatment free. I intend to use IPM to sort through genetics while keeping some selection pressure.
@Duck River Honey Weavers claim treatment free for 10+ years, Michael Bush even longer and others but when their queens are moved to a different location they die from mites. Order a resistant Weaver queen and see how it does for you 😉
Bees need to be balance with the mites and mites need to be in balance with the bees. Isolation is an important factor to treatment free, so you’re not bringing in more virulent mites.
Nathan, question for you. If the bees uncap a cell to check for mites and they find no mites, can a mite then hop off the nurse bee and go under the large larvae to hide out while it is being recapped? Bees that don't uncap wouldn't have that issue.
I suppose so Russell, but the reason they uncap is because they sense a reproductive mite. So if what you suggest happened:
1. The mite may not have enough time under cappings to reproduce.
2. If it did try to reproduce the bees would probably pull it out anyway.
@@DuckRiverHoney True, I just can't figure out why there would be a non-reproductive mite in a cell. I am not doubting the effectiveness of VSH, I tried to order some from Cory but they were sold out.
Nonreproductives may be old or sick or weakened in some way? Maybe a foundress mite only reproduces a % of the times she’s under cappings? Maybe some mite strains are more prolific than others, similar to Italian bees vs Caucasian? I’ve got lots of questions and few answers.
@@DuckRiverHoney I have few answers also. If the mite goes under the cappings she has no food to eat except the larvae. If the mite starts feeding on the pupae then the injury alerts the bees to uncap. So the mite is either on a diet or hasn't had time to start feeding on the pupae???
Or the act of reproduction creates a different smell that causes the bees to uncap and check it out?
I would suspect that it is a pheromone or something that like that that the bees can tell which mites are reproductive.
Likely
Maybe the reproductive mite like mated queens emit an odor or pheromone that is not present on nonreproductive mites.
The research indicates it’s a brood signal. I don’t know if anyone has looked at mite pheromones.
Looking through your bees somebody say what are you doing looking for Corey
I wonder- Cory said if he finds a “2” queen, she is dispatched, but does he track down any of her daughters that have been reared to sell?
He only breeds from proven 4’s. And he artificially inseminates those daughters to drones from other 3&4 colonies. That makes his virgins he sells.
What benefit to the mites is a non-reproducing mite? Why would you have non-reproducing mites in the first place - what purpose do they serve??
No benefit I don’t think. Maybe the nonreproductives are old, or sick, or ???
My theory is non reproductive or sterile mites must have a different pheromone, maybe lacking in esters.
Maybe so! Interesting stuff.