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Happy Hollow Honey is a beekeeping operation producing raw, unheated, and unfiltered honey, as well as queens and nucs, in the New River Valley region of southwest Virginia. We keep between 180 and 260 colonies in Montgomery and Giles Counties in the mountains of VA. Going into the winter of '15-'16, we had 105 nucs and 75 ten frame production hives. We lost 11% of the production colonies and 5% of the nucs before spring.
I started keeping bees in 1973, and after a break from the mid 90s to the mid 00s, have been expanding my apiaries every year. Since starting back into the bees I've been inspired by many contemporary beekeepers, but Mike Palmer's management methods have been the most helpful. His management systems for queenrearing, honey production, nuc production, and all the details associated are very well thought out. And as many beekeepers who follow him know, he is willing to share his hard earned knowledge with everyone. I have been fortunate enough to work with him and his crew for a couple of weeks during each of the last three summers. I look forward to going back to Vermont again in 2018.
Happy Hollow Honey is concentrating on the propagation of varroa mite tolerant and resistant honey bees that can survive without treatments. The varroa mite and the associated, vectored viruses are one of the biggest problems honey bees face in our area, as well as most of the world. Our results have been positive, and we typically have good survival rates. Our bees are a combination of many different stocks including VSH (varroa sensitive hygienic), Russian, Carniolan, and local stock. Most of our bees could be considered "survivor stock" because our colonies must make it through the year without mite, or any other, additives or treatments. That said, I don't advocate that beekeepers who are just starting out plan on going treatment free unless you are monitoring mite levels, have some kind of management plan in place to reduce mites, or are willing to take the risk that your bees will die out at a time when you can't save them (winter collapse from varroa vectored virus). All beekeepers who buy packages from the south should have a strategy to combat varroa and be vigilant about controlling all pests and diseases. High levels of varroa mites are nearly always fatal to the colony. I do advocate that you educate yourself on varroa mites and their life cycle. Use management and resistant bees to reduce them. I don't know of any package suppliers that use varroa tolerant or locally adapted bees for our region. The best thing you can do is maintain queens bred from colonies that have shown an ability to survive in spite of mites.
Many of our queens are darker Russian/Carniolan type, but there is a significant mix of lighter colored stock in the local bees. We are rearing queens from the bees that show the best variety of traits in our yards. The most important traits to us are- overwintering survivability without treatments, honey production, and gentleness. Over time the bees should become more adapted to our region allowing them to take best advantage of our unique nectar flows and dearths.
We are members of the New River Valley Beekeepers Association (www.nrvba.org), Virginia State Beekeepers Association (www.virginiabeekeepers.org), the American Beekeeping Federation (www.abfnet.org), Vermont State Beekeepers Association, and the Eastern Apicultural Society.
An email beekeeper friend of mine in Sweden, Erik Österlund, has posted an article about Happy Hollow Honey on his blog. You can find it here- http://www.elgon.es/diary/?p=829
My friend Tonia Moxley wrote an interesting article for the Roanoke Times about some of the honey bee research that is taking place at Virginia Tech. Happy Hollow Honey was included in part of the write up.
See the pictures here- http://m.roanoke.com/agriculture/virginia-tech-study-aims-to-help-explain-honeybee-losses/article_e5a0fc28-8195-5308-a053-61dbc5ec0cad.html?mode=jqm_gal#&ui-state=dialog
and the article here- http://m.roanoke.com/agriculture/virginia-tech-study-aims-to-help-explain-honeybee-losses/article_e5a0fc28-8195-5308-a053-61dbc5ec0cad.html?mode=jqm
Also see our photo album here- https://get.google.com/albumarchive/103329915957501702913/album/AF1QipMMiAAsXeNrDwALEySqHM0-rSDN_EYs2_-2X0BI?source=pwa or at the link above.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
Thanks for looking, Richard Reid
Happy Hollow Honey is a beekeeping operation producing raw, unheated, and unfiltered honey, as well as queens and nucs, in the New River Valley region of southwest Virginia. We keep between 180 and 260 colonies in Montgomery and Giles Counties in the mountains of VA. Going into the winter of '15-'16, we had 105 nucs and 75 ten frame production hives. We lost 11% of the production colonies and 5% of the nucs before spring.
I started keeping bees in 1973, and after a break from the mid 90s to the mid 00s, have been expanding my apiaries every year. Since starting back into the bees I've been inspired by many contemporary beekeepers, but Mike Palmer's management methods have been the most helpful. His management systems for queenrearing, honey production, nuc production, and all the details associated are very well thought out. And as many beekeepers who follow him know, he is willing to share his hard earned knowledge with everyone. I have been fortunate enough to work with him and his crew for a couple of weeks during each of the last three summers. I look forward to going back to Vermont again in 2018.
Happy Hollow Honey is concentrating on the propagation of varroa mite tolerant and resistant honey bees that can survive without treatments. The varroa mite and the associated, vectored viruses are one of the biggest problems honey bees face in our area, as well as most of the world. Our results have been positive, and we typically have good survival rates. Our bees are a combination of many different stocks including VSH (varroa sensitive hygienic), Russian, Carniolan, and local stock. Most of our bees could be considered "survivor stock" because our colonies must make it through the year without mite, or any other, additives or treatments. That said, I don't advocate that beekeepers who are just starting out plan on going treatment free unless you are monitoring mite levels, have some kind of management plan in place to reduce mites, or are willing to take the risk that your bees will die out at a time when you can't save them (winter collapse from varroa vectored virus). All beekeepers who buy packages from the south should have a strategy to combat varroa and be vigilant about controlling all pests and diseases. High levels of varroa mites are nearly always fatal to the colony. I do advocate that you educate yourself on varroa mites and their life cycle. Use management and resistant bees to reduce them. I don't know of any package suppliers that use varroa tolerant or locally adapted bees for our region. The best thing you can do is maintain queens bred from colonies that have shown an ability to survive in spite of mites.
Many of our queens are darker Russian/Carniolan type, but there is a significant mix of lighter colored stock in the local bees. We are rearing queens from the bees that show the best variety of traits in our yards. The most important traits to us are- overwintering survivability without treatments, honey production, and gentleness. Over time the bees should become more adapted to our region allowing them to take best advantage of our unique nectar flows and dearths.
We are members of the New River Valley Beekeepers Association (www.nrvba.org), Virginia State Beekeepers Association (www.virginiabeekeepers.org), the American Beekeeping Federation (www.abfnet.org), Vermont State Beekeepers Association, and the Eastern Apicultural Society.
An email beekeeper friend of mine in Sweden, Erik Österlund, has posted an article about Happy Hollow Honey on his blog. You can find it here- http://www.elgon.es/diary/?p=829
My friend Tonia Moxley wrote an interesting article for the Roanoke Times about some of the honey bee research that is taking place at Virginia Tech. Happy Hollow Honey was included in part of the write up.
See the pictures here- http://m.roanoke.com/agriculture/virginia-tech-study-aims-to-help-explain-honeybee-losses/article_e5a0fc28-8195-5308-a053-61dbc5ec0cad.html?mode=jqm_gal#&ui-state=dialog
and the article here- http://m.roanoke.com/agriculture/virginia-tech-study-aims-to-help-explain-honeybee-losses/article_e5a0fc28-8195-5308-a053-61dbc5ec0cad.html?mode=jqm
Also see our photo album here- https://get.google.com/albumarchive/103329915957501702913/album/AF1QipMMiAAsXeNrDwALEySqHM0-rSDN_EYs2_-2X0BI?source=pwa or at the link above.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
Thanks for looking, Richard Reid
