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, have the VSH trait in your bees, and be able to measure and score colonies for VSH. Participants will receive a membership list that enables them to contact other members (for information, support, purchasing, etc.) Contact us if you are interested in joining the co-op.
Stock sharing. A member does not need to participate in the Queen Exchange. The exchange consists of sending 5 virgin queens to another person in the co-op and receive the same in return. Sending virgins requires minimal labor: Collect 5 newly emerged queens from your best VSH breeder. Check to see that they are large enough and have all their parts intact. Put them into queen cages with attendants and ship them via express envelope. Include the scores of those queens. 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 an exchange. June is probably too late but details of the exchanges will vary and need to be mutually decided. You need to skip the Exchange if you cannot send queens that score a 3 or 4.
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. When members of the co-op want to participate in the Exchange they can contact another member directly or they can contact us and we will pair them with another member.
Do all co-op members need to have the ability to control matings with artificial insemination? See pages 20-21 in Finding and Retaining Varroa Resistant Bees in the Downloads tab where we explain the benefits of using natural mating and the benefits of using artificial insemination. It is beneficial to have the power of both in our co-op.