Varroa Resistance Breeding: Data & Insights from a 5-Year Program

What can we learn from long-term honey bee breeding programs? This presentation shares results from five years of Varroa resistance breeding in Norway. Working directly with commercial beekeepers, researchers replicated proven resistance methods, tracked population changes, and collected real-world data on bee behavior, mite reproduction, and survival. 0:00 Norway project overview & role 0:14 Replicating a survivor beekeeper; data plan 0:31 What this talk covers (5-year breeding program) 0:46 Varroa refresher: reproduction & why it matters 1:55 Why resistance repeating chemicals (evolution & viruses) 3:03 Survivor populations worldwide (EU, Cuba, UK, Sweden) 4:13 Mite biology: chemical mimicry, haplodiploidy, fat-body feeding 6:43 DWV shift under Varroa; mites+virus winter loss evidence 8:23 Norway survivor story; early losses stable survivors 9:47 Survivors vs controls: mite-drop comparisons (August focus) 11:12 Season-long bottom-board study; protecting controls 12:31 August distribution: many survivors at 0–10 mites; density note 13:32 Donor-brood test: worker impact on mite reproduction 14:52 Results: control ~1.24 vs survivors 0.87 offspring/foundress 16:16 Herdal breeding program: simple selection algorithm 18:06 How we ran it: community, semi-isolation, bottom boards 22:30 Trends: summer declines, autumn rebounds (driftIPM implications) 24:29 Brood infestation down sharply by 2023; recapping highlighted 27:01 Recapping across resistant stocks; frequency vs accuracy; improvement over years 34:39 Key takeaways: survivors hold mites low; keep selection pressure; IPM beyond “rotate chems” 38:20 Drone/II control tradeoffs; open mating & diversity 39:19 What’s next: book/Kickstarter; Q&A highlights & close Discover: How resistance breeding was structured in Norway What patterns and behaviors emerged over multiple generations Why certain colonies succeeded under Varroa pressure How this work connects with global efforts to breed resistant honey bees If you’re a beekeeper, breeder, or honey bee researcher, these insights will help you understand the challenges and opportunities in breeding programs against Varroa destructor. Learn more or donate to the Northern Queen Initiative: http://www.sbgmi.org/nqi Order queens from the NQI Queen Portal: http://www.sbgmi.org/queenportal Subscribe to the SBGMI Newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/hToTyj Join the SBGMI: https://www.sbgmi.org/membership Stay up to date on our premium speaker events: https://www.sbgmi.org/shop Members receive annual access to premium content and 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 Virtual Winter Conference Recordings and discounted access to 2026 5th annual virtual winter conference. Premium videos featuring Dr. John Harbo, Dr. Jamie Ellis, Dr. David Peck, Troy Hall, Dr. Nuria Morfin, Dr. Samantha Alger, Cory Stevens, Dr. Robyn Underwood, Michael Bush, Nathalie B. Kim Flottum, Randy McCaffrey 629Dirtrooster, Dr. Kirsten Traynor, Dr. Melissa Oddie, Dr. Stephen Martin, Dr. David Tarpy, Dr. Martin Gabel, Melanie Kirby, Stephen Repasky, Ang Roell, Dr. Karia Wagoner, Ryan Williamson, Adrian Quiney, and Les Crowder! beekeeping 101,beekeeping for beginners,how to start beekeeping,beekeeping business,beekeeping classes,beekeeping basics,beekeeping tips,combining hives,november tips,treating varroa mites,varroa mite,queen failure,queen breeding,how to inspect a hive, requeening a hive,beekeeping,northern beekeeping,controlling mites,drone honey bee,honey,queen bee,beekeeper,bees,honey bees,james lee's bees,james lees bees, november tips, treating varroa mites, queen breeding, combining hives, drones, game of drones, bob binnie