Steven & Angelia Coy Wiggins, MS www.coybeecompany.com Russian Bees & the RHBA What makes Russian bees special?

Varroa Mites & Mite Resistance

Russians bees are:

Resistant to Varroa mites 150 years of natural selection Resistant to Tracheal mites Resistant to

Good honey producers Excellent at overwintering History of the Russian Queens

1994 – USDA-ARS Scientist Tom Rinderer went to Russia looking for Varroa resistant bees 1997 – 2002 ARS imported +300 Russian queens and selected and improved the stock 1999 – Set up test yards with 3 cooperators: Manley Bigalk, Hubert Tubbs, and Steve Bernard (2000 Charlie Harper) 2008 – Russian Breeders Association, Inc. was formed

Russian Bees are unique

They are the only honey bee in the U.S. with a dedicated breeding group Russian Honey Bee Breeders Association

"The primary purpose of the corporation will be to maintain and improve the genetic lines of Russian honey bees through propagation and selective breeding."

www.russianbreeders.org

Russian Bees Have An Organization That Maintains Their Genetic Purity.

A group of 12 individual beekeepers whose goal is to work together to maintain the Russian stock and improve its commercial value for honey production, as well as resistance to diseases and pests

Primarily Varroa and Tracheal mites

Isolated yards flooded with Russian drones Block A

Block B Block C Breeding Scheme Russian Stock Identification

Genetic markers are used to identify a stock-specific “fingerprint” of the Russian honey bee. ???

Unknown Genetic tests to determine likelihood of ….

Given as Probability of assignment (Russian)

80 % positive bees are 100% Russian Non-Russian Russian You have probably heard that….

• Russian bees are too aggressive • Russian bees swarm more than other bees • I heard they don’t make any honey • They don’t have to be treated for mites • All the queens are black and too hard to find • You can’t re-queen Italian hives with Russian queens • They don’t brood up a soon as Italians • You can’t pollinate Almonds with them • Russian bees overwinter in small clusters • They don’t build up fast enough and you miss the honey flow • They aren’t really resistant to mites

You probably also heard that …

Hillary was going to win. It’s NOT difficult to re-queen with Russian queens. 1. Leave queen in cage for 3-5 days 2. Remove the old queen and immediately place the queen cage with the candy end still covered (masking tape works well) between frames where there is brood and bees. 3. After 48hrs go back into the hive and remove the candy cover Or go back into the hive on the fifth day and open the cage and permit the queen to walk out onto the top bars and enter the hive. Caution : she might fly away 4. If the caged queen is dead when you go back; it is most likely because there is another (second) queen in the hive. In that case; you need to remove the second queen and repeat the above procedure.

Any is too much. Just like all bees swarming is the natural inclination of a young colony. Controlling it is a hive management issue.

If the hive swarms then you probably missed the signs.

Russian bees are not aggressive? Russian queens vary in color. Mites Mechanisms of Resistance to Varroa Mites by Russian Honey Bees

•Low proportions of brood infested

•Extended phoretic period of Varroa mites

• Higher proportion of damaged mites

• A strong expression of hygiene Mechanisms of Resistance to Varroa Mites by Russian Honey Bees • Fewer multiply in infested cells in both worker and brood

• Higher proportion of non-reproductive mites

• Decreased number of progeny and number of viable female offspring

• Combs built by RHB contribute to decreased reproductive success They Are Not Mite Proof NO Mite Treatment Water proof vs. Water resistant

10.0

9.0

8.0

7.0

6.0

5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 % mites April % Mites Sept Percent Infestation Varroa Mites in September Montana 2011

1600 1400 1157 1200 1000 800 Bee Mites 600 Brood Mites 457 400

200 275 0 144 Italian Russian Percentage Infestation of Mites on Adult Bees Montana 2011

9 a 8 8.5 b 7 6 5 a 5.7 Italian 4 4.6 b Russian 3 2 Percentage Infestation Percentage 2.1 1 a b 0.42 0.26 0 May September Febuary Infestation Parameters -2015

14% 14% Adults Brood a 12% a 12%

10% 10%

8% 8% a

ab

6% 6%

% Infestation % % Infestation % a ab b b 4% 4% b b b 2% b 2%

0% 0% June September I-Control I-Irrad R-Control R-Irrad June September I-Control I-Irrad R-Control R-Irrad

Initial adult infestation = 1.68% (April 21, 2015) Weekly Growth rate of Varroa Mites in Russian and Italian Colonies DE GUZMAN ET AL.: V. destructor POPULATIONS IN RUSSIAN HONEY BEE COLONIES (2007)

2001 Italian 2002 Italian 2003 Italian 2001 Russian 2002 Russian 2003 Russian 3000

2500

2000

1500

Total Mites Total 1000

500

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Baton Rouge Bee Lab

Average Infestation

Italian = 3,969 mites Russian = 1,714 mites

35 colonies each NO Treatment There were not enough mites in the Russian hives to finish Italian 15% mites the experiment Russian 4% mites

Coy’s Honey Farm collaboration

California and Arkansas Average Infestation Italian = 1501 mites Russian = 307 mites

Too Few Mites in Russian colonies for Analysis Honey Production CBC Honey Crop Second crop for 2015 splits

Splits made in late March

1st crop pulled in late June

2nd crop pulled in late August Honey Production In Montana 160

140

120

100 Harvested 93 86 80

60

40

20 46 Brood Honey 48

0 Italian Russian Honey Production By Treatment In UGA Study 4000

3500 3359 3000 3222 3078 2500 2053 2000 2005 2006 1500 1104 1000 660 500

0 Italian (Control) Italian (Chemical) Russian (Screen BB) How long do your hives live?

Colony Survival and Supersedure Montana 2011 100 90 80 70 69 71 60 50 56 57 Italian

40 Russian Percentage 30 20 10 0 Survival Original Queen Percent of Colonies Dead After 2 Years

% Dead 80 70 72 60 61 50 40 Italian (Control) 39 30 Italian (Chemical) Russian (Screen BB) 20 10 0 Italian (Control) Italian (Chemical) Russian (Screen BB) Baton Rouge Bee Lab April 2015 – March 2016

Number of colonies survived 1 year 20 18 16 15 14 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 0 Italian Russian Preliminary results of ongoing treatment free study

70% Percentage Survived a July 22, 2016 - Feb 2,2017 60% 56.5% 203 days

50%

40% b 30% bc

22.2% Percent Surviving Percent 20% 16.7%

10% c

0.0% 0% Russian Hybrid 1 Hybrid 2 Italian Honey bee stock Original infestation 2.2% 0.4% 2.4% 1.8% Pollination

Frames of Bees Montana 2011

18 16 a b 14 15.27 13.72 12 10 Italian a a a a 8 a a 8.18 8.16 Russian 7.4 7.47 7.34 6 6.6 4 2 0 May Sept Nov Feb Resistance to other pests

American Foul Brood – I have not treated for AFB in >10 years – Russian colonies have fewer SHB than Italian colonies Tracheal mites - they have maintained resistance Nosema – difficult to predict levels ◦ - evidence to support genetic resistance in Russian bees but more research is needed Sub-family-level resistance to Nosema

1.00E+09 Russian bees 1.00E+08

Paternity 1.00E+07 analysis 1.00E+06

Resistant 1.00E+05 Resistant Russian bees 1.00E+04 1.00E+03

Nosema/bee (log (log scale) Nosema/bee 1.00E+02 1.00E+01 Resistant 1.00E+00 Resistant Subfamily High temperature shortens the developmental period of SHB.

Colder climates - inhibit SHB population development. Warmer climates - accelerate population development and may reach levels that damage colonies. Room temp Incubator

50

180 a

40 150 Italian Russian

a Non-Reducer Reducer 120

30 90

# SHB # b 60 a a b b b 20 30 a b b

0 a

10

Jul 25 Jul

Sep 19 Sep

Feb 28 Feb

Jun 03 Jun 30 Jun

Nov 10 Nov

Aug 01 Aug 15 Aug

May 02 May 05 May 25 May

2006 0 2005 SHB Bees Brood Pollen Entrance reducers helped regulate SHB population in colonies. Summary of Flight Activities of RFID-tagged workers

Age at first flight Total number of Variables Age at last flight (days) Avg. daily flights Flight duration (h) (days) flights

Italian 8.77 ± 0.24 18.24 ± 0.40 25.35 ± 1.40b 3.25 ± 0.09b 14.61 ± 0.91b

Russian 8.74 ± 0.27 18.32 ± 0.41 31.33 ± 1.64a 3.83 ± 0.11a 17.84 ± 1.06a

P = 0.097 P = 0.409 P = 0.007 P < 0.001 P = 0.012

Non -irradiated 8.66 ± 0.27b 18.86 ± 0.44 30.65 ± 1.69 3.67 ± 0.11 16.95 ± 1.05

Irradiated 8.83 ± 0.24a 17.81± 0.38 26.63 ± 1.42 3.45 ± 0.10 15.72 ± 0.95

P = 0.039 P = 0.925 P = 0.16 P = 0.179 P = 0.369 Russians allow you to manage your bees not your mites. Questions?