tep wrote on 07/30/09 at 13:59:20:

tep, no problem, pag makadulhog ako halin diri sa bukid maswing ako dira. Medyo sako lang gid sa work, puro tanan urgent ang mga projects.

oo, galeng ng mga yan. palaging naglilinis ng board tapos mahilig magkutuhan. kinulit ko din one time, i poked one cell, see if theyll clean it. i saw them mortician bees carrying white larva out. galeng. one cell lang kasi sayang. i just wanted to see kung gagalawin nila. everyday i spent a lot of visits and just spending time watching them. its very relaxing. its quite funny sometimes pa nga eh pag may nangungulit na langaw kasi nagagalit sila tapos hinahabol nila. we also tasted some pollens they were carrying on their basket legs, aba sarap, may avocado, aratiles, yun iba di ko alam pero matamis. i went around looking for those aratiles trees, i saw some pero ang layo, and saw other trees flowering which i suspect are acacia trees.  hehe i still cant pick up the bees by myself. hubby does it for me.  i can see the difference now, yon konas ko, derecho lipad yan to forage, yon isang colony, magpapakuto pa muna saka lilipad, may masahe pa atang kasama. pag may dalang pollen parang mga VIP sila. its weird sometimes pero kahit umuulan dami nilang dalang pollen.

tep wrote on 07/30/09 at 13:28:32:


Parang di ko po makita ung link.

Good morning, new member po ako, di ko po kasi alam kung ano ibig sabihin ng HVR, ano po ang meaning non kasi ang alam kong bagong tawag sa SMR ay VSH which means Varroa Sensitive Hygiene

insectongbee wrote on 11/11/09 at 08:49:35:


May basa ako nyan eh, yon SMR dati nakita nila yon trait  na nagkukutuhan sila at nagtutulungan alisin ang kuto sa isat isa. Tumatawag pa ng katulong pag alis.

The new one, they found a stronger trait, it actually seeks out yon kuto sa luob ng cells pa lang. Pag naamoy nila yan, sinisira nila yon cells at kinakain at pinapataynila yon kuto sa pupa. May video pa nga eh galit na galit sila sa kuto at kinakagat. In the process sa combs pa lang inaabort na nila yon pupa. So the female adult varroa na disrupt yon cycle ng pag itlog niya. Tapos isa pang trait sa bagong term eh yon queen ayaw mag lay ng egg sa empty cells pag may kuto. Alam mo naman yan mga female adult varroa gagawin nila tatago sila empty cell tapos don lang sila hanggang mag emerge ang pupa. Sa SMR hygienic lang sila, kutuhan galore hehehe.

Cnu na ang nka pg breed ng smr queens dyan? bili ako ng 10 pcs gusto ko rin masubok yan d2 sa apiary ko. TY

Oo nga eh sana nga may mga smr /vsh queens na dito binebenta. If you look at the latest studies it really is more helpful for the beekeepers. I kinda like the Russian bees, smart bees, frugal, varroa mite resistant and tracheal mite resistant and less prone to robbing. It would lessen your use for chemical miticides. kaya lang the ones that are sold here are hybrids na, but still good enough. It kinda starts slow kasi they adjust their rearing depending on food stores they have, then it kicks off and can surpass the brood rearing of the other queens, and their honey stores.  If anyone of you sell russian queens pls sell them to us, kuntak me please am interested hahahha.