Choosing chemical-free bees

When we got started with beekeeping in 2009, learning the basics of conventional beekeeping was all I could handle. So I did what my neighbors did and bought random package bees, figuring they were all about the same.



Then we started losing hives and I realized that what I was aiming for --- natural, chemical-free beekeeping --- isn't really possible with run-of-the-mill honeybees. We're starting from ground zero again, which gives me the opportunity to use a better bee.



Survivor bees are one intriguing option. BeeWeaver has been raising honeybees entirely without chemicals for ten years. They actually started weaning their bees off the drugs years before, but couldn't quit cold turkey or they would have gone bankrupt. The price tag is steep --- $130 plus shipping for a package --- but the real reason I haven't clicked the "buy" button yet is because the company is located in Texas. I'm just not sure whether southern bees would do well in our climate.



VSH bees are the U.S. government's solution to chemical-free varroa mite control. The Baton Rouge Bee Lab discovered a strain of honeybee in which the workers industriously remove any brood infected with varroa mites. The Lab has sold VSH queens to commercial apiaries --- see this map for locations of facilities selling VSH (and other types of resistant bees.) I'm intrigued by this option (especially since there are local sources), but I'm not sure whether being resistant to varroa mites is enough. Will these VSH bees die of colony collapse disorder or any of the dozen other bee plagues?



Russian bees came from an earlier government program that imported mite-resistant bees from Russia. The main problem with Russian bees appears when they hybridize with other bees and the offspring turn mean. I'm not sure whether I'm willing to focus my efforts entirely on Russian bees, and I don't think it's a good idea to have a Russian hive and a different type of honeybee in the same area.



Feral bees would be the very best option since honeybees that have survived without beekeepers for generations are likely to continue to do so in our apiaries. However, it's tough to find feral bees at the moment, and when you do find them, you can't be sure they're not a first year swarm from some neighbor's chemical-treated hive.



I'd be very curious to hear anyone's thoughts on these bee options. At the moment, I'm tempted to order one package of survivor bees from BeeWeaver and one package of VSH bees from somewhere more local. Thoughts?





Our chicken waterer solves the problem of filthy backyard coops.

