We are very grateful and fortunate to have been able to have had an agreement (2013-2018) with the USDA to receive VSH and Pol-line breeding stock from the USDA Bee Breeding Lab, to use in propagation and breeding of honey bee stock that expresses the mite resistant traits known collectivley as VSH (Varroa Sensitive Hygiene). The agreement permited us to make available to the beekeeping public, breeding stock from known VSH sources as AI breeder queens or through insemination-ready honey bee semen.
We used pure USDA VSH breeding material to cross with other VSH stocks and select for desirable traits including: superior brood and colony build-up, honey production, workability and gentleness: all show mite resistance. Some of our strains are also selected to over-Winter well if the colonies are kept in colder areas. The VSH Pol-line 2.2 strain was developed based on the USDA's original Pol-line breeding program.
