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Below are notes from the breeders and producers . . .
The Pol-line breeding program was conceived and used by the USDA to move VSH
traits from the lab into bees that commercial beekeepers would want to use.
They were very successful with the program's results. "Pol-line" initially
named some of the early queens produced from the program. Understanding that
"Pol-line" actually names a selection and breeding process that may be used
to breed with any population of honey bees, is important. Breeding stock
that's the result of a program that uses similar methodology as the Pol-line
program will also have good results, depending of course on the proficiency
of the breeding, selection and size of the population used. The takeaway is
that the breeding method, produces the strain.
Here at VP Queen Bees, we use a similar selective breeding model, named the
BEST protocol working with two of the three original Pol-line project
commercial operations. The VSH Pol-line 2.2 is the first release from us in
this project. The BEST collaborators produce their annual breeders from
their BEST selection. As the awareness of the benefits from the Pol-line and
BEST protocol breeding programs grow, many will be curious as to the origin
of the program and what was involved. What follows will give you some
background on the origin and reason for the Pol-line program, from the
source!
Bob Danka, USDA Bee Lab, Baton Rouge Research Leader writes:
"Thanks for your interest in this effort. I am not sure how much detail you
want but here is the basic story, which has three chapters.
The bees were derived initially as an offshoot of the research described in
an article that I will ask Adam to post. We tested out-crosses of VSH bees
in a large, commercial, migratory beekeeping operation that does much crop
pollination. We put 60-86 colonies in the field for two consecutive years,
and were able to select the best colonies that survived after the bees had
been through the coast-to-coast pollination circuit. The initial Pol-line
population came from 18 total colonies harvested in 2009 and 2010. These
bees were selected because they survived one year with original queens, they
had low Varroa infestations, and they had large populations of adult bees.
We subsequently ran another round of parallel tests in an operation that
wintered in the Central Valley of California, pollinated almonds, and later
made honey in Montana. We were able to pull in six out-crossed VSH colonies
from one (2010) of the two years of the test. All these bees (24 colonies)
from the first three years of tests were mixed as they were propagated
annually beginning in 2010.
In 2011 we began to test the Pol-line population, as out-crosses, against
VSH out-crosses on a much larger scale in three large commercial operations.
We ran a test that began with 560 colonies last spring (2012), and now are
propagating 27 colonies selected from the out crosses of Pol-line and VSH.
These will be combined with what remains of the earlier breeding group. We
currently also are establishing another group of colonies for testing and
selection so we can further widen the genetic base, in case the Pol-line
population continues to perform well and further propagation and
distribution is desired.
In sum, we have selected colonies from the best survivors of colonies that
were used for intense migratory beekeeping (almonds, apples, lowbush
blueberries and cranberries) and later also for honey production (Montana,
North Dakota and South Dakota). It is a work in progress as we continue
testing the potential of the bees while also harvesting new selected bees.
We welcome objective feedback about what you are seeing." (Originally posted
on vshbreeders.org, 2013).
The beauty of the "Pol-line" type selective breeding program is that it may
be utilized within any significant population of honey bees, selecting for
varroa mite resistance and any other desirable traits. USDA Bee Breeding Lab
research results, recently replicated in this study, pave the way for
attainable honey bee stock improvement.
VSH Pol-line 2.2 and BEST Protocol
Now in the seventh year of the breeding program, VSH Pol-line 2.2 breeding
stock is available. We continue making crosses with suitable candidates of
this high performing varroa resistant stock and performing evaluations on
them for yield, temperament, build-up and longevity. Collaborating
operations using BEST protocol: The B Farm and Lambs Honey Farm have been
performing similar testing and evaluations. The results are exciting and
we're fully committed to this breeding program. Honey bee breeders spend
long hours each season performing tests and recording results: the resulting
stock, showing varroa mite resistance and performing well in intense
commercial applications, as well as side-line operations, performs to high
standards and is inspiring to work with.
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