cally, certain bees are more programmed to identify and remove larvae that has been damaged by either disease and/or Varroa mites.
According to Tom Glenn, all colonies probably have individuals that perform VSH, but we do not yet understand how our selective breeding has resulted in colonies with greatly improved perfor- mance. Hygiene is performed by nest cleaning bees aged 15-18 days old. Removal of a mite-infested pupae begins when an uncap- per bee smells the infested brood and chews a pinhole through the cell cap. Subsequently, remover bees enlarge the hole and either eat the infested pupa or pull it from the brood cell.
Breeding to retain VSH characteristics is not cheap. Glenn apiar- ies no longer sells production queens, but only instrumentally in- seminated ones at $125 each. Fortunately, the VSH trait is not an all or nothing proposition. So it is possible to incorporate at least some degree of VSH in bees and keep it in a local population. See how to select for the trait at
http://www.extension.org/pages/30984/selecting-for-varroa- sensitive-hygiene
Raising your own queens is very rewarding in many ways, accord- ing to Tom Glenn. The reasons include: saving money while hav- ing the satisfaction of self sufficiency; controlling the quality and reducing the risk of introducing pests and diseases, and working with nature to unveil a fascinating natural process. He concludes that raising your own queens is perhaps the best investment of your beekeeping time
http://www.glenn-
apiaries.com/queenrear.html
There is no way to fully detail the immense possibilities involved in rearing VSH queens for the small-scale beekeeper in this article. Tom Glenn, however, provides a great primer on his website. The final objective: “Given enough time and in the absence of chemical treatment, European bees would probably become adapt- ed to Varroa by natural selection, as the Asian honeybee has. The goal of the bee breeder is to accelerate this process through artifi- cial selection.”
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