treatment_recommendations_(online)

Thus, learning from beekeepers in other places can be extremely valuable, as they share what treatment methods have and have not worked. On the other hand, Hawai‘i’s diverse environment makes it more challenging to identify effective treatment options, since bees, pathogens and treatments work differently in different microclimates.

Students at our beginning beekeeping course in July 2011 examine honeycomb frames for the first time. Hawaii beekeeping extension specialist, Danielle Downey, stands by (far right) to answer questions.

What does not change from place to place, is the immense impact that bees have on humans and the environment. When bee populations decline, it affects the broader agricultural industry because of the crucial pollination services that bees provide. In Hawai‘i, some of the crops dependent on honeybees include coffee, macadamia nuts, melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, citrus, avocado and guava.

There are many different perspectives on how to deal with bee diseases. Some people believe that bees should not be treated at all, and allowed to develop their own resistance over time through the process of natural selection. In Italy, honeybee colonies have been found to build a resistance to Varroa over 10-15 years, but with a population decline of about 95%! Relying on natural selection implies a long ‘return’ time for pre-Varroa population levels to come back.

For this reason, many beekeepers and farmers believe that we cannot wait for natural selection to take effect, since a sharp decline in bee populations would have immediate economic and food security repercussions. At Volcano Island Honey Co., we chose to respond proactively, by experimenting with different organic treatment options even before Varroa reached Hawai‘i Island.

State beekeeping extension specialist, Danielle Downey, helps match island beekeepers with island farmers to help overcome the recent onset of bee diseases. which threaten bee populations as well as both honey and food production.

When Varroa hit Oahu in 2007, we applied for a Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant to do preliminary tests on organic treatment options. Little did we know that shortly thereafter, the mites would arrive on Hawai‘i Island, and our precautionary research efforts would transform into a survival strategy.
As organic beekeepers, we are committed to using no toxic chemicals in our operation. Instead, we established a four step IPM (Integrated Pest Management) method, involving the following steps:
1. Establish a threshold to identify when pest control action must be taken (i.e. 50 mites per hive per day).
2. Use prevention methods as a long-term strategy to combat diseases.
3. Monitor pest levels to identify when an infestation threshold is reached and control methods are required.
4. Implement control methods when prevention is no longer effective or available.

Control methods must be evaluated for their effectiveness and risk, starting with the least risky, most effective option first. As mentioned, because of Hawai‘i’s extreme environmental variation, treatments successful in one microclimate may not work in others — making it more challenging to find an appropriate option for different local conditions. According to Ethel Villalobos of the University of Hawai‘i’s Honeybee Project, the best approach to finding an effective treatment in Hawai‘i is looking at the big picture first, and then narrowing the options down to see what is appropriate for your local circumstances.

Organic Varroa Management & Beekeeper Education in Hawai‘i project sponsored by:

This project was funded by a grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

By far the most effective treatment was formic acid, applied using Mite Away Quick Strips (MAQS). This method works by lowering the pH level in the hive — which the bees can tolerate but the mites cannot. MAQS effectively fumigate the hive and, while temporarily uncomfortable for the bees, there appear to be no long term negative side effects. After studying formic acid treatments over two years, Villalobos reported that the bees’ reaction subsided significantly while mite mortality levels remained constant.

The single biggest lesson we have learned over the past two years, is that it’s crucial to keep our bees strong and clean. Thus, treating the bees with sugar yielded surprisingly positive results, presumably because it incentivized grooming and cleaning behavior.

Students at our beginning beekeeping course, taught in collaboration with Bee Love Apiaries, enjoyed examining their first beehive. The unique range of perspectives about if, and how, to treat for bee diseases made the course extremely valuable and timely!

An additional treatment approach we’ve tried most recently, involves stock improvement — or selecting for bees with particular hygienic behavior effective against varroa, attributed to a set of ‘Varroa Sensitive Hygiene’ genetics. Known as ‘VSH’, this desired hygienic behavior is a specific trait, allowing the bees to recognize that a mite has crawled into the honeycomb cell where a bee pupa is developing, then open up the cell and clean it out by cannibalizing the pupa, thereby destroying the mite.

VSH behavior was first documented in the 1960s at Ohio State University, where researchers discovered that one gene is responsible for uncapping the cell, and a second for removing the larva. These VSH genes are present in the honeybees genome, but tend to be expressed at a low frequency. Rather than being dominant or recessive, VSH genes seem to be expressed proportionally, as a percent of the VSH present in the parent bees; with 100% VSH, one can hardly find any mites in the hive.

The theory behind this phenomenon is that Varroa probably existed millions of years ago, and was effectively combated through natural selection. Over time, Varroa disappeared, and bees no longer needed to express their Varroa resistant genes. But the genetic diversity providing the potential to combat Varroa remained hidden in the honeybee genome.

This summer, Tom and Suki Glenn of Glenn Apiaries in California visited several Hawai‘i Island beekeepers, including VIHC, to artificially inseminate queens with semen from VSH drone bees. The Glenns explained that artificial insemination is essentially an acceleration of natural selection.

This summer was the Glenns fourth visit to Hawai‘i Island in two years. Their idea is to continuously inseminate with VSH semen, to reach VHS levels of nearly 100%. Bees with a high percent of VSH genes also seem to prevent other diseases, such as foulbrood, chalkbrood, and the small hive beetle. From the Glenns experience, artificial insemination has been very successful: with VSH bees, they have not had to treat their hives since 2001.Their work is helping to diversify the gene stock now present in Hawai‘i, by introducing and selecting for new genes.

Beekeeping is still a joyful, if a more complex, activity. At our Beginning Organic Beekeeping course this summer — which we co-taught with Bee Love Apiaries — we mirrored the complexity of modern beekeeping with an amazing array and interplay of different perspectives and viewpoints about if, and how, to treat for bee diseases.


Organic Varroa Management & Beekeeper Education in Hawai‘i project sponsored by:


This project was funded by a grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

Later that morning, Jio and Jenny lovingly opened a top bar hive. The process seemed minimally invasive, as most of the top bars were allowed to remain in place and only the first five were removed and examined. With no pre-existing rectangular frame upon which to build, the bees created comb with graceful and delicate rounded edges. We all had the chance to hold a bar, and it was interesting to note everyone’s increased confidence and comfort level since first opening a hive only two weeks before!

The day came to a close with a mead-tasting. Also called honey wine, it is made by fermenting a solution of water and honey. Having read Arthurian Legends and Viking sagas as a child, and remembering bacchanalian feasts fueled by over-flowing goblets of golden mead, I was eager to sample this most ancient of drinks!

Some meads were clear, others a little cloudy, perhaps from the addition of lilikoi juice or other fruity additions. Some were sweet and reminiscent of white wine, while others tasted more yeasty and beer-like, with a champagne-like effervescence.

Enthused, I did a little research. It turns out the earliest archaeological evidence for the production of mead dates back to around 7000 BC. Historically, meads were fermented by wild yeasts and bacteria from the skins of the fruit used or from the honey itself. Human preoccupation with making and consuming alcoholic drinks led to endless experimentation, as evidenced by the hundreds of different meads to be found today, flavored with everything from blackcurrants to chili peppers – and in our class, passion fruit and cacao!

A big thank you to Richard Spiegel and Jenny Bach, and to the many experts and teachers who came together to share their time and expertise with us. We leave inspired and ready to start on our own beekeeping adventures!

Posted by Monika Hennig


This project was funded by a grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

Top Bar Hive at Jenny’s farm. A hive with a view--looking out to the ocean!

Looking in the window to see the bees.

Jenny explains what to look for in the hive.

Part 1: Jio and Jenny gently open up the hive.

Part 2: Jenny and Jio show us the honeycomb attached to the Top Bar.

The stars of the show!

Bees- our reasons for bee-ing!

Posted by Christine Young

This project was funded by a grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

Last week in class, Ethel Villalobos from the UH Manoa Honeybee Project spoke about the research being conducted on diseases spread by varroa, various methods of controlling the mite, and ongoing outreach and education efforts. It seems the battle against the eight-legged pest is never-ending and laborious. Synthetic chemicals find their way into honey, so the use of more earth friendly organic chemicals like thyme oil and formic acid is preferable. Biomechanical methods of mite control include removing drone (male) brood as they are developing. As the drone larvae are larger than worker (female) larvae, mites find them more attractive and feed upon them in greater numbers. Thus, by removing developing drones, the mite population can also be greatly reduced. Ethel warned that without proper management and intervention, infected colonies can die within a year.

Tom Glenn, a bee breeder from Southern California, has yet another approach to varroa control. He selects for a remarkable trait–bees carrying the Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) gene that can sense if a capped cell holds mite-infested larvae. Workers will chew through the beeswax caps and eat or discard these larvae, reducing the number of mites in the colony. Since introducing VSH queens into his hives, Tom has not had to treat his bees for mites in ten years.

Accelerating the process of natural selection for desirable traits through artificial insemination of queen bees seemed advantageous to many in class. Others found the idea distasteful, suggesting that instead of tinkering with Mother Nature, we should allow bees and mites to achieve a balance where the two could live together without the bees being decimated. It was argued that the use of toxic chemicals and selective breeding might cause the mites to adapt, becoming even stronger, more formidable foes!

Later that afternoon I watched as Tom anesthetized a queen with carbon dioxide, delicately pulled open her “bottom end” and injected 8 micro liters of semen (collected from 100 drones) into her. An identifying number was then super-glued to her thorax, and one wing-tip clipped to prevent her from flying and mating again. I felt an anthropomorphic pang of sadness. She would never zoom 600 feet up into the sky on a glorious and dizzying flight – never merge in ecstatic union with drones on the wing.

My wild swing from VSH enthusiasm to a sense of having betrayed the queen was purely in the realm of emotion, and I hadn’t even begun to understand the scientific consequences and ethical concerns of artificially inseminating queen bees! But, despite my inner qualms, I must admit that if I acquired a hive tomorrow, I would introduce a VSH queen. I don’t want to watch a colony struggle with varroa and I’d hope that greater diversity in the Hawaiian bee gene pool would outweigh any possible negatives of selective breeding.

Posted by Monika Hennig

This project was funded by a grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

However, how could I be sure I was ready to be a bee guardian without ever having any hands on experience with bees? What if I freaked out at the moment that mattered most? What if I had gotten a hive, only to realize that I would be paralyzed with fear?

The true test finally came for me last Saturday during our second Beginning Beekeeping Class with Richard Spiegel and Jenny Bach at Volcano Island Honey Company. We suited up and practiced the proper way to open up the hive, inspect a frame, and light our smokers. Then it was out to the field we went, three people per hive to practice with the real stars of the show—the bees!

A classmate, Larry, was the first in my group to open up the hive. Wow! All of the bees were pouring up to the top. We puffed a little smoke their way, and they immediately began retreating to engorge themselves on honey. The bees were so quiet and peaceful with us, despite our alien space suits and invasion of their home.

Now, the moment I had been waiting for… I used my hive tool to pry a frame out of the hive. I held in my hands, an entirely different universe of awe and wonder. Hundreds of bees were crawling all over beautifully capped honey cells. I could see eggs and larva indicating that the Queen was alive and well. Bees were eating honey and talking to each other. There were a few drones that I spotted, and lots of female workers.

I could have stared at the frame in my hands for hours. I was amazed with how calm I was–not an ounce of anxiety, only pure fascination! After a while though, the bees let us know they had enough of our unexpected visit. Their buzzing became louder, and the whole hive seemed to be in a bit of a frenzy. It was obvious that it was time for us to let them bee.

Even though I plan on doing this a million more times, I will never forget this first experience for the rest of my life! Thank you Richard and Jenny!! You have made my dreams come true!

Posted by Callie McNew


This project was funded by a grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

We’re ready!

However, the class this week was a difficult one both visually and emotionally. Seeing pictures of a slime out caused by small hive beetle was just plain yucky. We saw, up close and personal, what today’s beekeepers face with the arrival of new pests to the Big Island—the varroa mite and small hive beetle. We were extremely lucky to have Danielle Downey, a State of Hawaii Apiary Specialist, and Ethel Villalobos, from The UH Honeybee Project presenting the most scientific up to date information, and offering their help and expertise.

But perhaps the most controversial guests were Tom and Yuki Glenn from Glenn Apiaries in California. Tom had come with semen from drones from VSH Queens and we watched him artificially inseminate some of Richard’s queens. VSH is for Varroa-sensitive hygienic behavior. How does this work? Bees with this trait will detect mite infested brood, open the cell, and eat the mite offspring and bee larva. Even though the mother mite survives, her reproduction is interrupted, which eventually reduces the mite population in the hive. VSH queens will retain a level of mite resistance even after free mating with unselected drones, so genetic diversity can be maintained. These bees are also resistant to tracheal mites, (which are not in Hawaii), American Foulbrood and Chalkbrood. The website claims this is “the natural way to control mites and brood diseases.” It certainly seems better than chemiclals–check mite, pyrethins or antibiotics.

Artificial insemination and VSH Queens seemed like the perfect natural solution, until Jenny Bach presented a counter argument by asking the question, “What is natural?” Her reasoning was as follows: We have interfered with bee genetics for a while now, producing calmer bees which produce more honey and less propolis. We’ve put them in boxes that make honey production easier for us. We’ve transported them across a whole continent to pollinate mono crops such as the almonds in California, where they inter-mingled and spread diseases. We’ve flown bee packages all over the world, spreading mites and Africanized bees. So should we let natural selection take place so that the bees can recover on their own, or should we help them by speeding up the process with VSH queens?

I came away from the class discouraged. Can I really do this? Am I starting at the right time?

When I got home I emailed my friend Christy in Berkeley, California to ask about her bees. She had just gotten her bees in March at which time she proudly showed me her new hive. This week she told me that her bees are doing great and she’s almost ready to harvest 2 supers of honey. She sent me the picture of her backyard hive (at right.) Her next step is renting an extractor from the same place she got her hive and supers, and took her classes. Her package of bees came in the mail, she bought her hive and supers locally and can even rent an extractor!

OK, Big Island, this seems like a business waiting to happen! In the meantime, I’m once again encouraged. It can be done. Now I’m just waiting for my bees to find me.

Posted by Mary Ann Smiles


This project was funded by a grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.