If you’ve been keeping bees for a while, you already know how important a healthy hive is to the success of your beekeeping operation. Varroa mites or American foulbrood can uproot the hard work you’ve put into your colonies, leaving you scrambling for solutions. Discover how selective breeding has improved disease resistance in bees and how it can help your colonies thrive.
How Selective Breeding Works
Selective breeding is a careful process of breeding honeybees with desirable traits. It allows you to enhance their natural abilities, such as disease resistance, honey production, and even temperament. By selecting queen bees and drones with specific traits, you can create a stronger and more productive hive that’s better prepared to withstand common threats.
Selective breeding for disease resistance focuses largely on natural behaviors bees already possess, such as grooming one another or removing infected larvae. Over time, this method leads to naturally hardier hives.
The VSH Difference
Tiny parasites called varroa mites are a major headache for most beekeepers because they weaken colonies by feeding on bees and spreading viruses. Varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH) is a natural behavior in some honeybees, where they detect and remove brood (larvae) infested with varroa mites. We’ve optimized this natural behavior through selective breeding, reducing varroa infestations in hives with VSH bees.
Adding VSH colonies to your operation offers a massive advantage. You’ll spend less time and money fighting varroa mites and more time focusing on growing your hives and reaping the benefits. If you’re looking to add this important trait to your apiary, we’ve got you covered.
At The B Farm, we offer VSH queens for sale, providing you with the best foundation for boosting disease resistance in your colonies. These queens are carefully bred to make managing varroa mites easier than ever.
Why You Should Consider Selective Breeding for Your Bees
Now that you understand how selective breeding has improved disease resistance in bees, you’re on your way to creating healthier, more productive colonies. Whether you’re tired of battling pests or want stronger hives, adopting new practices can improve your success.
Strengthen your bees, improve your yields, and cut down on costly interventions! Start integrating VSH queens into your operation today to see the difference selective breeding can make for you and your colonies.