What I find interesting is that Tropilelaps is also present in Papua New Guinea. Clearly the varroa mite resistance is highly correlated with Tropi resistance as well.
I had a well bred colony that had an indication of AFB, while monitoring as the weather was too hot and dry to burn the hive, i noticed lots of bald brood in the brood frames, by winter it had completely recoverd and made an exceptional crop of honey. Im in western Australia that has a very dense population of feral bees . AFB apears commonly however it does not seem to noticably change the number of these wild colonies. I am wondering if when varroa gets to this state our feral bees will have a remnant resistant poulation large enough to go on breeding and continue, same as Cuba.
We believe our feral population has been doing just fine for quite some time - despite our industry practices. Genetic testing and large scale research projects have revealed they maintain a genetic diversity unique to non-commercial lines. Very intriguing stuff!
Like your video thanks for sharing. I live in Canada's Atlantic Province and I am going to get my first bee colony this coming spring and I was looking for mite resistant nucs. I did manage to find a company that sold mite resistant queens with their nucs. How long can I go without treating or will they be okay as they are without treating? If I get Russian Queens would I have to treat the bees or will they live up to their reputation of killing the varroa mites?
@@francinekeane9900 Best thing Australians can do is select from survivor stocks if there are varroa incursions. But there are also tools you can use now to start selecting potentially resistance stocks because all bees have the genetic composition necessary it just needs to be bred from
@@francinekeane9900 UbeeO if and when available is a good start. You can also use relatively low cost tests like the "Freeze Killed Brood" and "Pin Prick Brood" tests to evaluate the level of hygienic behavior a current colony has. Without actual varroa mites, these will be a step toward selecting colonies that demonstrate a trend toward more "hygienic" traits. You may also use more intrusive and time consuming tests that remove the actual wax cappings and evaluate if recap behavior is happening - using the wax hair removal pads that ladies (and men folk?) use to remove body hair. See Randy Oliver's video on our channel for more info on that option!
I was surprised that Dr Martin didn’t seem to be up to date with Tropilaelaps, it has moved significantly in recent years and it now in European parts of Russia and Central Asia, well outside of its native ranges, also unconfirmed cases in several other countries bordering the Black Sea. The Uk and Western Europe frequently import bees from Eastern Europe so Tropilaelaps is definitely knocking on the door so to speak!
Me too. However his point stands. It is but what is interesting is that it hasn't spread to Armenia, Georgia, Turkey Azerbajin yet. Many think the spread to Russia was from imported Nucs from Kazhakstan. Underrated I think that Tropi spreads via locomotion aka it literally walks from hive to hive and through importing infected brood. Its bad in southeast asia because it has so many Apis Hosts. Unlike Varroa it never lives on adult bees so what I think is happening is a combination of reinfection from importation and a very small number surviving each year if any. The extent of the infestation in Russia is uniquely in Southern Russia. This has not been seen in Northern and Central Western Russia yet. Import bans will be quite strong against this mite IMO!
Yes, unfortunately there is unconfirmed whispers about Georgia, one of the issues is, because of their size, they often go undetected for long periods because people think it’s varroa causing the damage, the most recent confirmed Russian provinces border eastern Ukraine, obviously they have bigger fish to fry than looking out for Trop..!
Fascinating information. Thank You for doing this interview. Great content.
Thanks for listening
This was a really great presentation. Thank you!
You are welcome! Stay tuned, we have many great offerings on the schedule and a host of other videos available at www.sbgmi.org
Very interesting presentation.
We like presentations that make us go hmmmmm.
What I find interesting is that Tropilelaps is also present in Papua New Guinea. Clearly the varroa mite resistance is highly correlated with Tropi resistance as well.
That is indeed an interesting consideration!
I had a well bred colony that had an indication of AFB, while monitoring as the weather was too hot and dry to burn the hive, i noticed lots of bald brood in the brood frames, by winter it had completely recoverd and made an exceptional crop of honey.
Im in western Australia that has a very dense population of feral bees . AFB apears commonly however it does not seem to noticably change the number of these wild colonies.
I am wondering if when varroa gets to this state our feral bees will have a remnant resistant poulation large enough to go on breeding and continue, same as Cuba.
I plan to mainline the natural selection process by going straight to remnant wild hive stock. I think that will be Australias secret weapon.
We believe our feral population has been doing just fine for quite some time - despite our industry practices. Genetic testing and large scale research projects have revealed they maintain a genetic diversity unique to non-commercial lines. Very intriguing stuff!
@@sbgmimedia very encouraging thanks
Like your video thanks for sharing. I live in Canada's Atlantic Province and I am going to get my first bee colony this coming spring and I was looking for mite resistant nucs. I did manage to find a company that sold mite resistant queens with their nucs. How long can I go without treating or will they be okay as they are without treating? If I get Russian Queens would I have to treat the bees or will they live up to their reputation of killing the varroa mites?
Great info thank you. So are you suggesting that the best thing Australians should do is not treat for Varroa?
@@francinekeane9900 Best thing Australians can do is select from survivor stocks if there are varroa incursions. But there are also tools you can use now to start selecting potentially resistance stocks because all bees have the genetic composition necessary it just needs to be bred from
@@sbgmimedia Thank you for your reply. What are those tools to use now please?
@@francinekeane9900 UbeeO if and when available is a good start.
You can also use relatively low cost tests like the "Freeze Killed Brood" and "Pin Prick Brood" tests to evaluate the level of hygienic behavior a current colony has. Without actual varroa mites, these will be a step toward selecting colonies that demonstrate a trend toward more "hygienic" traits.
You may also use more intrusive and time consuming tests that remove the actual wax cappings and evaluate if recap behavior is happening - using the wax hair removal pads that ladies (and men folk?) use to remove body hair. See Randy Oliver's video on our channel for more info on that option!
Omg I remember the mimic movie lol
Do tell?
I was surprised that Dr Martin didn’t seem to be up to date with Tropilaelaps, it has moved significantly in recent years and it now in European parts of Russia and Central Asia, well outside of its native ranges, also unconfirmed cases in several other countries bordering the Black Sea. The Uk and Western Europe frequently import bees from Eastern Europe so Tropilaelaps is definitely knocking on the door so to speak!
Me too. However his point stands. It is but what is interesting is that it hasn't spread to Armenia, Georgia, Turkey Azerbajin yet. Many think the spread to Russia was from imported Nucs from Kazhakstan. Underrated I think that Tropi spreads via locomotion aka it literally walks from hive to hive and through importing infected brood. Its bad in southeast asia because it has so many Apis Hosts. Unlike Varroa it never lives on adult bees so what I think is happening is a combination of reinfection from importation and a very small number surviving each year if any. The extent of the infestation in Russia is uniquely in Southern Russia. This has not been seen in Northern and Central Western Russia yet. Import bans will be quite strong against this mite IMO!
Yes, unfortunately there is unconfirmed whispers about Georgia, one of the issues is, because of their size, they often go undetected for long periods because people think it’s varroa causing the damage, the most recent confirmed Russian provinces border eastern Ukraine, obviously they have bigger fish to fry than looking out for Trop..!