The VSH Cooperative Breeding Program
Objectives:
- Share the responsibility of selecting bees for resistance to varroa while sharing your best stock with like-minded queen producers in the co-op
- Promote the sustainability and availability of bees that are resistant to varroa, thereby eliminating the need to use chemicals to control varroa
Details:
Who can join the co-op? There is no limit to the number of participants. However, you must be able to produce queens and have the VSH trait in some of your bees. You also need to be able to measure and score colonies for varroa sensitive hygiene. Measuring and scoring VSH are probably the things that are new to most co-op members, and most learn them after joining the co-op. Measuring and scoring VSH are described in the “measure VSH” tab in this website.
Participants have the option of being listed or not listed on a membership list that is sent to all participants.
Stock sharing. A participant has an obligation to exchange stock with another member. One does not need to participate in the queen exchange every year but must not miss three consecutive years. In February of each year, a coordinator surveys the members to learn who is planning to participate in the exchange. He/she then pairs those who have decided to participate. The exchange consists of sending 5 virgin queens to another person in the co-op and receiving the same in return. Sending virgins requires minimal labor (collect 5 newly emerged queens from your best VSH breeder, check to see that they have all their parts intact and are large enough, put them into queen cages with attendants, and ship them off in a next day delivery envelope). Include the scores of those queen. Keep it simple and send 5 sister queens; they will all have the same score.
Most parts of the U.S. can produce and receive queens in May, so May (or earlier if mutually agreeable) is the target month for the exchange. June is probably too late but details of the exchanges will vary and need to be mutually decided by each pair. Don’t worry if the virgin queens you send did not score 3 or 4. Those are great scores, but a score of 2 is still pretty good. Rather than taking pride in having high scores, pride yourself in measuring things accurately. You need to skip the exchange if you cannot send queens that score 2 or higher.
What do we do with the virgins that we receive? Mate them with your drones (AI or free mating) and evaluate the result. Use them as you like. Nobody is expecting a report.
In summary, stock sharing has value. It is a lifeline if disaster strikes, a source of genetic diversity, and an opportunity to see how other VSH populations combine with your drones. It may yield something exciting. Perhaps most importantly, sharing stock opens the door for dialog among people with similar interests.
Do all co-op members need to have the ability to control matings with artificial insemination? See the two pages (20-21) in the Measuring tab where I explain the benefits of using natural mating and the benefits of using artificial insemination. I think it is beneficial to have the power of both in our co-op.