In Defense Of “Defensiveness”

Our hardy Feral Survivor Stock genetics are present in all the queen lines we offer.

Although we do consider “gentleness” to be a desirable characteristic in our selection process, we admit that our higher priority is for disease and mite resistance.

It is our philosophy that decades of selection for gentleness and honey production, and the use of synthetic miticides, may have diminished the honeybee’s natural ability to adapt to changing stressors.

While our Wild Survivor Bees may appear at times to be more defensive than other commercially available stock, most of our customers report them to be gentle; quiet on the comb; entirely manageable; and consistently demonstrate unparalleled hardiness in their inherent ability to withstand many of the pathogens affecting honeybees today without the need of harsh chemical treatments.

When working our bees, we recommend that you follow these simple practices:

• • Place your colonies in a sunny location a minimum of 50 yards from frequent human and livestock traffic.
  • Wear appropriate protective gear, and use smoke**.
  • Work your bees on sunny days when the field bees are out foraging whenever possible.

*SIDE NOTE: We usually work our bees without gloves, in half-suits.  Instead of using a smoker, we prefer the convenience of a commercial-quality pint-sized trigger sprayer filled with a mixture of approximately 16 oz of H2O  to one ounce of liquid smoke (available in most grocery stores), plus a few drops of lemon grass essential oil.  We have found that a light misting when cracking open the colony lid; and an occasional spritz on our hands is very effective.  The spray bottle hangs conveniently on a pocket,  and  we discovered by experience that it is much safer than keeping a smoker going… but that’s a story for another time 🙂