Hygienic Queens Around the turn of the millenium, we became interested in raising our own queens and began thinking about what kind of stock would be best for this purpose. At an EAS conference, Landi was fortunate to meet and become friends with Dr. Marla Spivak of the University of Minnesota. Dr. Spivak is responsible for expanding on Rothenbuler's work with hygienic bees, and developed a line of hygienic Italians at her research laboratories. We were very impressed with the potential of the hygienic trait and have been importing hygienic stock ever since that time. The hygienic trait is characterized by bees which have the ability to sense, right through the pupal capping, whether a late-stage larva or pupa is diseased or heavily parasitized. The workers uncap and remove the damaged brood before it can become contagious to the colony. Hygienic bees are strongly resistant to both American Foulbrood and chalkbrood. They also have moderate resistance to Varroa mites. (In fact, the "SMR" line, standing for 'Suppressed Mite Reproduction' has been re-named "VSH" for 'Varroa Sensitive Hygiene,' research having demonstrated that this line's varroa resistance is a variant of mite-directed hygienic behavior. One thing we especially like about Dr. Spivak's queens is that, unlike most researchers looking to develop a mite-resistant line, Marla started with a GOOD BEE - one that was gentle, productive, and hardy. She then selected for the hygienic trait within this population. Many other lines were developed exclusively on the basis of their resistance to mites. These bees might not overwinter well, or be overly defensive, or not produce any honey. Our "Jersey Girl" line of hygienic queens are bred from artifically inseminated Minnesota Hygienic mothers in a mating area which we have taken great pains to saturate with hygienic drones. There are several drone mother apiaries surrounding our queen mating yard to enhance the opportunities for our "Jersey Girl" queens to meet up with the right kind of guys! We are also now beginning to use our own best overwintered queens as breeder mothers to insure a line of bees well-adapted to New Jersey conditions. However, we continue to import desirable lines from outside sources to enhance the gene pool. Queens are available in early summer - usually starting in June. We focus on raising superior, well mated queens and will not risk poor quality by starting before there is a plentiful supply of mature drones.

Spring Nucs In recent years, we have begun nucs in summer with our Jersey Girl hygienic queens We spend the rest of the season building these nucs up to the point where they can successfully overwinter. Any queens that are not up to our demanding standards are either culled before entering the winter season, or never make it to spring. What is left, are PROVEN young, locally grown, overwintered queens in an established nucleus hive of their own daughters. As of this time we are still keeping the surviving nucs in our own operation for evaluation during the growing season and use as breeding stock if they pass muster. Although we had hoped to offer some for sale in 2012, a family emergency took us away from home during a critical time and we lost too many nucs to part with the remaining stock. Although we will not be selling our own 'Jersey Girl' hygienic queens in nucs for 2012, we will be making up nucleus colonies of our own bees with a new queen obtained from the certified MN hygienic breeder we get our hygienic stock from. We introduce these queens in mid-April and wait until they are well-established and we are happy with their laying patterns before selling them in early May. Gooserock Farm nucs are sold as 7 medium (NOT deep) frames of bees, brood and stores. They are ready to go in a cardboard nuc box on pick-up day. Reserve nucs early. We will not have enough bees for everyone who requests them, so orders must be on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations can be placed on our webstore starting the first week in January. Our nucleus colonies are inspected by the NJ Department of Agriculture and certified as disease-free prior to sale. We guarantee a laying queen in a healthy nuc on pick-up. If you arrive home and find there is a problem with your nuc, you MUST contact us within two weeks of pick-up day. There are too many factors beyond our control affecting honey bees and we cannot accept responsibility beyond a two-week period.

It is quite a challenge to successfully overwinter nucs in New Jersey. Although our winters are not as cold as some areas in which nucs are overwintered, such as Vermont's Champlain Valley (Kirk Webster), they are damp. In addition, New Jersey's nectar sources are limited. A good summer/fall flow to help built a nuc's population is rare. This makes it especially difficult to produce the populous, heavy nucleus colonies needed to have a chance at seeing spring. We take two two-story medium nucs and winter them together. The bees cluster against the shared center walls, enabling them to conserve heat more effectively. We provide an insulating pocket of air using bubblewrap under tar paper, and a cloth inner cover with a Bilt-Rite moisture board above it to absorb metabolic water. We prop up the outer cover to allow water to evaporate from the moisture board and provide an upper entrance. Natural selection guarantees only the strongest nucleus colonies will survive the winter, and even then there are no guarantees if conditions are exceptionally severe.

Two Nucs Ready to Wrap for Winter

Bubblewrap First Layer Provides an Insulating Air Pocket

Moisture Board Absorbs Metabolic Moisture Generated by Bees

See you Gals in Spring! (We hope....)