Kirk has been keeping bees for over 50 years and has not treated for varroa since 2002. His methods are inspired by his experiences with organic farming. Kirk’s approach to varroa is very hands off. He maintains the colonies by producing nucs that he overwinters. Apart from some issues resulting from modern agriculture, Kirk feels as though his beekeeping experience at present is almost the same as before he first came across varroa.

You can read more about Kirk's work here https://kirkwebster.com/

Comment or leave feedback on the episode post in the Facebook group for this podcast

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This podcast is proudly brought to you by Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees in Ballarat Australia.
Email Brent at brent@nixonqueenbees.com.au
www.nixonqueenbees.com.au

3:52 Why people should raise their own queens

4:58 Kirk’s start raising queens

8:04 Kirk’s mating nucs

10:50 Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey

11:34 Feeding mating nucs

16:18 Early experiencing with selective breeding

19:11 Selection for varroa

23:57 Starting the treatment free route

26:45 Nucs that survived winter

28:28 Survivor stock

29:29 Last treatment in 2002

31:47 Mite counts

35:02 Open apiary

Episode Music

https://audionautix.com/

Nick Milne is a third-generation beekeeper and owner-operator of Blue Sky Queen Bees and Backyard Bees in Nelson, New Zealand.

2:31 Working in Canada

4:05 Kids and bees

6:08 Getting into queen rearing

8:21 Queen breeding in New Zealand and colour

12:55 Pyramid structure for queen breeding

14:50 Bringing in mated queens for genetic diversity

16:18 Bringing in cells for genetic diversity

16:38 Rea Butler

17:23 VSH drone lines

19:34 Selling queen cells

22:01 What Nick sells

23:00 Nick’s other business - Backyard Bees

27:04 Where to find Nick online

https://backyardbees.nz/

https://buyqueenbees.nz/

Guide to shipping queen cells as discussed in the episode

https://www.projectapism.org/resources You’ll find the download link if you scroll down.

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Podcast proudly brought to you by

Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees (Ballarat VIC, Australia)

https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/

Rob and Ron have been working together in the West Australian bee industry for many years. Together they run a breeding program using instrumental insemination which Ron learnt from Gretchen Wheen and Sue Cobey. In this episode we discuss bee breeding, the Rottnest program, Joe Horner’s drone rearing and the story of the Karri tree, which Rob is writing a book about.

1:30 When Rob and Ron started working together

3:14 Rottnest breeding program

5:14 Gretchen Wheen and Mathilde 'Tilly' Kühnert

7:14 When Ron Learnt Instrumental insemination

7:52 Sue Cobey visits Australia in 2009

9:33 Challenges of Instrumental insemination

12:00 Joe Horner’s drone rearing system

14:02 Drone drift

15:37 Queens you can get from Rob and Ron

19:20 Rob’s book on the Karri forest in Western Australia

22:29 Baiting

Comment or leave feedback on the episode post in the Facebook group for this podcast

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Record a soundbite about your queen rearing here

https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/pages/podcast

This podcast is proudly brought to you by Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees in Ballarat Australia. Email Brent at brent@nixonqueenbees.com.au

Episode Music

https://audionautix.com/