It was a no brainer to partner with our local chapter of Izaak Walton League of America. We will be establishing a second bee yard to help pollinate their 75 acres of wildflowers. It has a perfect location facing south at the bottom of a hill that will block the harsh north winter winds. By increasing the pollination of the wildflowers, it will benefit all the local wildlife that inhabit the McCook Lake protected area. Also, as the name insinuates, there is an abundance of water for the honeybees at McCook Lake. Yeah, no hauling buckets of water to a bird bath.
Here is a beautiful picture of the wildflower pasture with the colonies off to the left.
A couple of beehives north of the wildflower pasture. The plan is to continue expanding through splits and swarms – fingers crossed.
The colonies above are Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) purchased from Adrian Quiney in Hudson, WI. VSH is a mite resistance found in some honeybees. What does this mean? The term resistant can address several behavioral or genetic traits that allow a colony to continue functioning and survive if not given relief from pests or diseases through chemical treatments. The most effective traits seen are VSH (varroa sensitive hygiene), and some form of viral resistance, that I’m not sure how exactly it functions. VSH is a set of traits that allow bees to detect reproductive mites in capped brood, and uncap and remove infested pupae. This breaks the mites reproductive life cycle without chemical intervention. It is reported that the bees will leave non-reproductive mites alone, and only address the ones that are raising young. This information was referenced and copied from Corey Stevens website at stevensbeeco.com.