James Lee's Bees

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James Lee's Bees I am a beekeeper in Romulus, Michigan. I raise bees bred and selected for resistance to Varroa mites!

09/06/2026

This one is gonna be a banger! It's been awhile since I recorded a video for YouTube.

Looking forward to my presentation today. Honored to be invited to such an elite crowd of presenters!Probably not too la...
08/29/2026

Looking forward to my presentation today. Honored to be invited to such an elite crowd of presenters!

Probably not too late to register for the zoom portion it's Pacific standard time and it's starting now!

https://soba.wildapricot.org/event-6582181

One of the coolest things you’ll see doing resistance assays is also one of the easiest things to overinterpret.That whi...
08/24/2026

One of the coolest things you’ll see doing resistance assays is also one of the easiest things to overinterpret.

That white f***l patch on the pupa abdomen is evidence that a Varroa mite entered the cell but failed to reproduce. In a brood assay, that mite gets scored as non-reproductive.

Why did she fail? That’s the harder question. We don’t necessarily know.

And finding one of these does not mean you have a resistant colony. Every colony has some degree of mite infertility, which is exactly why resistance assays require looking at enough infested cells to determine whether there’s actually a pattern.

This is why we don't punish the whole class because one kid misbehaved.One colony washed ~55 mites from roughly 300 bees...
08/20/2026

This is why we don't punish the whole class because one kid misbehaved.

One colony washed ~55 mites from roughly 300 bees (~18%), compared with 15 mites (~5%) in July. Meanwhile, the colonies immediately beside it were all below 1%.

There's some important context. This colony currently has very little capped brood. As brood contracts, mites that would normally be reproducing under capped cells are pushed onto adult bees, which can dramatically increase the infestation measured by a wash. So 18% is absolutely a serious adult-bee mite load, but it doesn't necessarily mean the colony's total mite population increased nearly fourfold.

More importantly, look at the variation within one yard.

This is why individual monitoring matters when selecting for mite resistance. If one colony crosses a treatment threshold and we automatically treat the entire yard, we're working against our ability to identify colonies that are successfully controlling Varroa.

Monitor individually. Treat the colonies that need it. Pay attention to the colonies that don't.

You can't select for resistance if you never give resistance a chance to reveal itself.

I'm disappointed in my bees.Nobody told them that VSH bees aren't supposed to make honey.This is my second honey haul of...
07/23/2026

I'm disappointed in my bees.

Nobody told them that VSH bees aren't supposed to make honey.

This is my second honey haul of the season from colonies selected for mite resistance. Turns out the old stereotype doesn't always hold up.

Selecting for healthier, more resilient bees doesn't mean giving up honey production. With good genetics and good management, you can work toward both.

Maybe it's time to stop asking whether resistant bees make honey... and start asking why we're still repeating the myth.

The summer nectar flow is beginning to fade across much of southeast Michigan, and colonies can feel the change before w...
07/15/2026

The summer nectar flow is beginning to fade across much of southeast Michigan, and colonies can feel the change before we do.

Clover remains the quiet workhorse, helping bridge the gap between the declining summer flow and the arrival of goldenrod and asters. It may not create abundance, but it can help colonies maintain brood and population during this transition.

Now we wait for the final major bloom of the season.
Keep watching colony weight, brood conditions, and mite levels. Every remaining clover blossom matters.

Every queen in a breeding program has to earn her place.The pin-killed brood (PKB) assay is one of several tools I use t...
07/13/2026

Every queen in a breeding program has to earn her place.

The pin-killed brood (PKB) assay is one of several tools I use to evaluate colonies for hygienic behavior, specifically how quickly workers detect and remove compromised brood. While it's not a direct test for Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH), research has shown that colonies expressing strong hygienic behavior are more likely to carry traits that contribute to mite resistance.

No single test tells the whole story.

That's why these results are considered alongside mite washes, simplified Harbo assays, colony performance, overwintering, temperament, and productivity. The goal isn't to select bees that excel at one metric. It's to identify colonies that consistently perform well across multiple traits under real northern conditions.

Data over hype. Selection over treatment. One generation at a time.

Address

11126 Wayne Road
Romulus, MI
48174

Telephone

+17343778720

Website

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