The Georgia Beekeepers Association is excited to launch our first annual Winter Webinar Series! This new educational initiative will bring beekeepers together during the winter months to learn from industry leaders, share ideas, and prepare for a successful year in the apiary.

Session topic: VSH 101- an in-depth look at varroa sensitive hygiene, how it works, and how it's measured. 

VSH is a fascinating genetic trait that allows worker bees to detect female mites that are reproducing beneath a capped cell. It's likely the bees detect reproductive mites by smell. The life cycle of the mite is disrupted by the natural resistance mechanisms, as opposed to using chemical miticide applications. It's not that VSH bees have no mites, but they naturally keep the mite population in check and very often well below a treatment threshold.  In addition to mite resistance, the VSH bees are highly hygienic and are highly resistant to many brood issues, including American Foulbrood.

Cory Stevens comes to us from his 27-acre farm in Bloomfield, Missouri, which he manages for wildlife and pollinator habitat. Cory and his wife Jaime own Stevens Bee Company, where they have selected a VSH line of bees they call "Missouri Mite Hunters." Cory is a Past President of the Missouri State Beekeepers Association. He was certified as a Master Beekeeper by the Eastern Apicultural Society in 2013, and earned an MS in entomology from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He was trained by Sue Cobey in 2014 to instrumentally inseminate queen bees. Cory slips bees into random conversations with strangers and annoys his wife by constantly talking about bees.