# Do beeweaver queens get DWV



## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

How long have the queens been in the nucs, long enough for all of the adults to be from their eggs?


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## ChuckReburn (Dec 17, 2013)

Dan the bee guy said:


> I got 4 packages with carni queens that might have some VSH in them. Then bought Beeweaver queens to make nucs. Now I watch what is coming out of the hives and the beeweaver nucs don't seem to have any crawlers while the carni hives have quite a few. I was wondering if others have seen the same thing in their hives.


I've had the opportunity to listen to Daniel Weaver speak and work hives with him and his wife. When he began developing for mite resistance, he used the lack of presentation of disease as an indicator of tolerance - DWV was one of those diseases so, they were actively selecting for colonies that did not present with DWV. When working hives, his remedy for one of mine (not a BeeWeaver colony) that had DWV was to requeen and yes it cleared up.


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## Dan the bee guy (Jun 18, 2015)

AR Beekeeper said:


> How long have the queens been in the nucs, long enough for all of the adults to be from their eggs?


Queens were installed on June 11


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

That's long enough for their bees to show evidence of DWV if it is in the population. The last Carniolans I bought had a problem the first 3 or 4 months and after that everything cleared it's self up. My problem with BWeavers is not with brood patterns or health as much as it is behavior issues. I have 3 queens left in my bees, but I am hoping things change before next spring or they will be replaced.


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## Dan the bee guy (Jun 18, 2015)

ChuckReburn said:


> I've had the opportunity to listen to Daniel Weaver speak and work hives with him and his wife. When he began developing for mite resistance, he used the lack of presentation of disease as an indicator of tolerance - DWV was one of those diseases so, they were actively selecting for colonies that did not present with DWV. When working hives, his remedy for one of mine (not a BeeWeaver colony) that had DWV was to requeen and yes it cleared up.


That's interesting . It would seem that any one interested in treatment free beekeeping would be only useing his queens. Are the beeweaver colony's getting rid of the mites or are they just immune to the disease?


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Beeweavers aren't the only mite resistant stock. They are also known to get Hot. I run granddaughters open mated out of Mike Haneys stock from Tennessee. They do a fine job of keeping the mites and symptoms of PMS at bay. If they are anything like mine they are removing affected larvae and keeping the mite threshold at a manageable level. There are still mites. There will be mites in a hive. G


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## ChuckReburn (Dec 17, 2013)

Dan the bee guy said:


> That's interesting . It would seem that any one interested in treatment free beekeeping would be only useing his queens. Are the beeweaver colony's getting rid of the mites or are they just immune to the disease?


The particular hive I'm remembering was adopted from a beekeeper friend who passed away. We typically run around 80 hives and stock can be from feral swarms, removals, adopted hives. Queens for early splits come from a friend in Hawaii. If a colony is doing well and of an adequate temperment then I see no reason to kill the queen.

We rely on the BeeWeaver queens to "fix" problem hives - that includes those with mite related issues and temperament issues. While BeeWeaver are not the gentlest, they are a vast improvement over some of the hot bees we encounter - and they are local enough that I can swing by after work and pick up queens.

Based on what I've heard and understand, I'd say it's a little of both, getting rid of the mites and a high degree of immunity. Expecting no mites or a disease to never manifest would be optimistic to say the least.


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## Dan the bee guy (Jun 18, 2015)

AR Beekeeper said:


> That's long enough for their bees to show evidence of DWV if it is in the population. The last Carniolans I bought had a problem the first 3 or 4 months and after that everything cleared it's self up. My problem with BWeavers is not with brood patterns or health as much as it is behavior issues. I have 3 queens left in my bees, but I am hoping things change before next spring or they will be replaced.


4 of the beeweaver queens are still in their nucs I split a swarmed colony and combined them with the 2 strongest nucs. I work the bees the same as the others I wear a T shirt shorts and sandals I just put on a vail . I did have one of the nucs swarm on me I will have to wait till next year to see if her daughters are any different .


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