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Please note a change in direction for Harbo Bee Company
- We are not producing breeder queens for sale in 2025. If you need a VSH breeder queen, we hope this early notice will enable you to find another source.
- We have posted complete, updated instructions on how any beekeeper -- whether a beginner with two colonies or a well-seasoned professional -- can measure VSH resistance. Knowing how to measure for VSH enables a beekeeper to select for varroa resistant bees and/or provide early detection of colonies that are susceptible. This downloadable, 22-page illustrated pdf explains:
How bees with VSH (varroa sensitive hygiene) control varroa
How to measure VSH using your cell phone as a magnifier and light source
How to record your VSH data on a simple spreadsheet, and lastly,
How to avoid needless work (such as counting mites on adult bees and
collectng more data than you need).
* * NEW DIRECTION IN 2025 * *
After more than ten years of providing artificially inseminated VSH breeder queens and encouraging beekeepers to measure and score VSH, we are directing our efforts to the next logical step:
1. Can a bee population maintain and perhaps enhance VSH levels when all queens are free mated?
2. What measurements or signs can we use to confirm that a population has reached a self-sustaining level of VSH?