Mark Newenham of Coolmore Bees will be outlining his queen rearing method at 2.30 on the afternoon of Saturday 10th February.
venue: Athlone Springs Hotel
‘Coolmore bees started back in 2005 with the original stock consisting of every bee under the sun. However it soon became clear that we needed to start breeding a bee that was adapted to the Irish climate, and subsequently a queen rearing method that could be used in all weather. After many failed attempts, we came up with the “slot system” of continuous queen rearing that allowed us to raise queens with minimal intervention to the hive.
After mite tolerance to many synthetic pyrethroids hit, we looked into breeding for Varroa tolerance and obtained stock from a local organic beekeeper who used little or no treatment. This lack of treatment was kept up until about 2015 until we were forced to start using chemical control methods (in the form of organic acids) again due to major colony losses. Although this was a major setback to our programme, we are continuing to breed for a hygienic and productive honeybee.’
