Monsanto buys one of the Leading Bee Research Co's

[Midnight Rambler]

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Originally posted by MarkP

It is unclear to me what it is that makes Hawaii a good place to breed bees for export....I honestly don't know what if anything makes our bees special. It may only be that we have a year round growing season. If our bees are healthy in the absence of any mites, viruses, or other parasites then that is just a disaster waiting to happen.

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Yep, those are the big reasons. We do not have the tracheal mite and until a few years ago, did not have the varroa mite. Many of the viral and fungal diseases that are widespread on the mainland are also rare or absent here, so that means bees start out healthier. My understanding is that until recently about 1/4 of the commercially produced queens in the US came from Hawaii. Since the varroa mite has now arrived, we're at less of an advantage.