# Pol-Line



## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

Is there any BK trying the Pol-line
Production queens.

Was looking for your experience in how they was doing if you don't mind sharing


----------



## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

Hi Velbert, I got the VSH Carniolan from Glenns. I returned your PM with info.


----------



## camero7 (Sep 21, 2009)

I have some Velbert and I like them a lot. Very productive, good winter survival and pretty gentle. Highly recommended.


----------



## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks you'all


----------



## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

Not too many reply's Velbert. 
I wonder how many people still have some Glenns? I feel darn lucky to have gotten mine when I did. I feel the daughters and G-2's as I call them, just keep getting better with every generation. I defiantly see the hybrid vigor. They are exceptional.
It won't be too long before they'll be so out crossed all I'll have is survivors, but that's OK. 
Why do you ask about the Pol-line's? Do you have some or are going to try some?


----------



## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

Got a pol-line breeder from VP queens. I got some. Vq in mating nucs now waiting on them to lay.

Just wanted to get info on them and how they were working.

Going to see how they might sell next spring if i can get breeder through the winter.

I am sure going to miss Glenn's
been buying from them the last 4 or 5 years.


----------



## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

All i have of Glenn's Breeder is a vsh/Dark i bought last year i had 2 but one didn't make it through winter.


----------



## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Velbert, I'm getting one of Adam's Pol Lines in August, I'll let you know how they look next year if she makes it.


----------



## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

Iv been buying Po-line cells the last two years i like them a lot great honey makers, really good with the mites, fast build up but not too bad on the feed, I will say they are a touch mean though. Also for some reason my matings are a good 5% better every time with the po-line vs other italian cells. Last summer i hit 88% on 200 splits, this spring right at 92% on 300.
Nick


----------



## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Might just be a good idea to put their website on this thread...the folks who sold the Pol-line Hygenic Italians were Tom and Suki Glenn, who have retired but maintain their website, www.glenn-apiaries.com Don't forget the dash between "glenn" and "apiaries".

One of the better websites about bees, imho.


----------



## acbz (Sep 8, 2009)

I'm running a bunch of Pol Line this year. So far they are some of my best bees although they haven't seen a honey flow yet. Very broody. I plan to keep using them.


----------



## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks again for all the replies
going to try overwinter about a 125 or so in my 4 frame mini nucs

If they winter well i can be up to about 400 or so by the cell placement time the 1st of April


----------



## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

How is your success overwintering small colonies in mini nucs? I wouldn't have tried that. I'm down here in mild-wintered SoCal, and I use hive partitions to make 2x5-frame double nucs. I put the smaller colonies over a double screen board on top of a strong colony. 

With feeding, I sometimes move them into a full 10-frame box in November. If the Eucalyptus bloom is good, some of them get all 10 frames drawn before February.

I'm sure some bees out in nature do make it over winter with very small clusters, but I didn't know anyone was overwintering in mini nucs.


----------



## oklabizznessman (Oct 24, 2011)

kilocharlie said:


> How is your success overwintering small colonies in mini nucs? I wouldn't have tried that. I'm down here in mild-wintered SoCal, and I use hive partitions to make 2x5-frame double nucs. I put the smaller colonies over a double screen board on top of a strong colony.
> 
> With feeding, I sometimes move them into a full 10-frame box in November. If the Eucalyptus bloom is good, some of them get all 10 frames drawn before February.
> 
> I'm sure some bees out in nature do make it over winter with very small clusters, but I didn't know anyone was overwintering in mini nucs.


I'm going to try overwintering in both this winter the minis in the shamrock mating box and the others in regular. Velbert obviously has had some success with this. He's a much better beekeeper and if you're not paying attention to what the experienced are doing then why bother.

I'm also looking for some POL queens if anyone out there knows where some are please let me know!! OR some survivors that have a good history! thanks


----------



## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Yeah, Velbert seems to have been doing this a while. I'll be buying some Pol-Line hygenic Italians from him, too. I'm still trying to get in touch with the Glenns and understand the rest of their setup. I'm working on QC hatching jars, and an attendant bee metering machine like they used. I was down in Fallbrook last month, but could not get through to them on the phone.

I'd really like to continue this bloodline with I.I. as they did, along with a few other bloodlines. I still need a dissecting microscope for my I.I setup - the computer camera and zoom leaves a lot to be desired.


----------



## adamf (Jan 28, 2006)

kilocharlie said:


> Yeah, Velbert seems to have been doing this a while. I'll be buying some Pol-Line hygenic Italians from him, too. I'm still trying to get in touch with the Glenns and understand the rest of their setup. I'm working on QC hatching jars, and an attendant bee metering machine like they used. I was down in Fallbrook last month, but could not get through to them on the phone.


Hi Kilocharlie,
Tom and Suki have retired and do not produce Pol-line stock for the industry any more. They've been retired for about 1 year. 

VP Queen Bees has a material transfer agreement in place with the USDA to obtain VSH and Pol-line breeding stock directly from them. We will then produce AI breeder queens from the USDA stock. Pol-line and VSH will be available as well as other strains: http://vpqueenbees.com/breeding.html .

The Pol-line is the outcome of the USDA at Baton Rouge's collaboration with several commercial migratory beekeepers and their operations to enhance commercial stock with VSH traits and then determine if the results are worthy: to date they have been very worthy!

Excerpts from a thread on http://VSHBreeders.org from Bob Danka, USDA Baton Rouge on Pol-line:


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*RE: pol-line VSH * 
Thanks for your interest in this effort. I am not sure how much detail you want but here is the basic story, which has three chapters. 

The bees were derived initially as an offshoot of the research described in an article that I will ask Adam to post. We tested outcrosses of VSH bees in a large, commercial, migratory beekeeping operation that does much crop pollination. We put 60-86 colonies in the field for two consecutive years, and were able to select the best colonies that survived after the bees had been through the coast-to-coast pollination circuit. The initial Pol-line population came from 18 total colonies harvested in 2009 and 2010. These bees were selected because they survived one year with original queens, they had low Varroa infestations, and they had large populations of adult bees. 

We subsequently ran another round of parallel tests in an operation that wintered in the Central Valley of California, pollinated almonds, and later made honey in Montana. We were able to pull in six outcrossed VSH colonies from one (2010) of the two years of the test. All these bees (24 colonies) from the first three years of tests were mixed as they were propagated annually beginning in 2010.

In 2011 we began to test the Pol-line population, as outcrosses, against VSH outcrosses on a much larger scale in three large commercial operations. We ran a test that began with 560 colonies last spring, and now are propagating 27 colonies selected from the outcrosses of Pol-line and VSH. These will be combined with what remains of the earlier breeding group. We currently also are establishing another group of colonies for testing and selection so we can further widen the genetic base, in case the Pol-line population continues to perform well and further propagation and distribution is desired. 

In sum, we have selected colonies from the best survivors of colonies that were used for intense migratory beekeeping (almonds, apples, lowbush blueberries and cranberries) and later also for honey production (Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota). It is a work in progress as we continue testing the potential of the bees while also harvesting new selected bees. We welcome objective feedback about what you are seeing.

Bob Danka
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


(original post with attachment here: http://vshbreeders.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=125)


More Pol-line info here:
http://vshbreeders.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=153&highlight=Pol-line




kilocharlie said:


> I'd really like to continue this bloodline with I.I. as they did, along with a few other bloodlines. I still need a dissecting microscope for my I.I setup - the computer camera and zoom leaves a lot to be desired.


Send me an email and I'll fill you in what will be available in 2014.
Adam Finkelstein
[email protected]
www.vpqueenbees.com


----------



## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Thank you, Adam, and thank you for including Bob Danka's 2 cents all and the links.

I guess I didn't make it clear that I knew the Glenns' situation...I went down to do volunteer work removing invasive plants out on San Clemente Island last month and took time to try to contact several people in San Diego County on my trip back. Contacting the Glenns was my biggest priority, but no luck. Their website seems to be getting updated still, and is very helpful. I've come up with an extremely cheap I.I. fixture, and am try to fill out the setup - CO2, syringe & stand, light, camera, scope, etc. I'll email you soon.


----------



## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

Daughter of Pol-Line Breeder


----------



## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

She's gorgeous, Velbert! Make up a whole batch for the rest of us!


----------



## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks
Got some laying got a few cells about ready to put in.and did a graft of 43 about 7 this evening. I put a graft in 17 mini nucs after knocking off EM QN Cells pulled those queens 6 days ago with the bee power in them and there getting plenty of pollen and nectar they will be some topnotch fed cells


----------



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Velbert, I have a hive still going with heritage from your queens I installed on 7/10/09. Four years is real good in my untreated cemetery apiaries. Purvis and Koehnen led hives from that same month are long gone. Any queens from you available now? 
[email protected]


----------



## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

Nice Velbert.

I my last batch for the year/virgins were placed by 8-8. I was going to do a few more, but I feel winter coming in the air. Horses are getting their winter coats, days are getting shorter, mornings are crisp.

Have my queen rearing stuff all clean and packed away...my husband is happy to have the kitchen counter back in human use and clean, LOL

Amazing how much more time I have now. Just in time to haul some hay and do some canning. Got to find my bow and camping gear too. How fast the year goes by.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Miller-Compound-HoneyBees-and-Agriculture/256954971040510


----------



## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

Hi odfrank

Thanks that sound good on genetics of those bees was it the Russians.

I pm you.


Thanks Lauri

It sounds like you got a itch to scratch. Buck fever enjoy and get that trophy one. Back in the. later 50's dad had the record white tail in Missouri 318 lbs
Mom showed the news paper clipping to me.


----------



## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Good looking queen Velbert. Getting mine Friday it looks like.


----------



## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

You going to do some grafting from her before it gets to late in the season?


----------



## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

I don't know Velbert, I may grab a frame of eggs/young larvae and split a round of cells, but it's getting late but better to get something now in case the worst happens during winter.


----------



## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

It can't hurt to try, unless you have an early archery tag! Dang, what a dilemma...Hope your last batch turns out excellent, JRG13. 
Good luck, Laurie. Good work, Ollie. Good night, Johnboy....oops! I'm showing my age.


----------

