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Selective breeding is done with the utmost respect for the bee, for nature and for the environment in order to deal head on with the challenges facing modern beekeeping.

Our queen reservation portal allows you to make your queen reservation(s) for the summer of 2024.

Resilience, next generation of bees

With the current crisis of mass deaths within bee colonies, breeding bees naturally resistant to the pressures of their environment is essential. Our queen breeding center works on natural selection criteria: rusticity, disease tolerance, honey production, overwintering capacity, spring development and the adaptability of the bee to its territory and environmental conditions, in order to provide the beekeeping industry with high quality queens.

Defend yourself against varroa

Our breeding approach favors a selection favoring the natural resistance of the bee against varroa in order to contribute to the most natural and gentle Quebec beekeeping possible for our bees.

Facing Varroa destructor, viruses and pathogens of all kinds, the bee is constantly fighting for its survival, which pushes ACHL to breed queens from resistant strains through the introduction of multiple genetic material for more than 20 years: lineage Russian Primorsky, Canadian Carniolan line, Italian Minnesota hygienic line and VSH (Varroa sensitive hygienic) line as well as strains from fellow beekeepers across North America.

The basis of our work to address this issue focuses on the VSH behavioral trait because we strongly believe that it represents one of the most powerful resistance mechanisms against varroa.

The observation of this behavior through our bee colonies has been greatly intensified for several years. It represents, in our opinion, the best integrated pest management tool that we, beekeepers, can use to date.

We use organic acids and essential oils while avoiding the introduction of chemical agents into the environment and promoting robust and productive colonies, ACHL queens represent an excellent promise of survival for the bee facing pathogen agents that infest the beekeeping industry.

Selection program

ACHL apiary is made up of 1,200 colonies dedicated to the production of organic-certified honey, nucs, and to the breeding of 10,000 to 12,000 queens annually. ACHL has two mating stations totalizing 2,000 mating nucs. Nestled in the Mont-Laurier region, 250 km from the nearest commercial apiary, our Ferme-Neuve site benefits from a complete geographic isolation thus maintaining genetic stock authenticity and avoiding the risk of genetic contamination

© Xavier Girard Lachaine

Genetics

Since 2010, our queen breeding center has worked with the team from the Deschambault Animal Health Research Center (CRSAD) in partnership with Laval University, under the direction of Dr. Pierre Giovenazzo.

The research work in which we participate is mainly focused on the genetic selection and reproduction of bees, the wintering of colonies, the nutrition of bees as well as the integrated pest management against the parasite Varroa destructor, in a nordic context where wintering is done in a simple brood chamber.

https://www.giovenazzolab.com/team

 

© Mathieu Dupuis

SALE OF QUEENS via RESERVATIONS PORTAL

Our queen reservation portal allows you to make your queen reservation(s) for the summer of 2024.

The reservation calendar will open on Janurary 29, 2024 by visiting our portal.

OUR PRICES SEASON 2024

 

Genetic Material | Carniolan & Italian Hybrid

The main criterias of our genetic selection are based on:

  • Honey production
  • Natural resistance to varroa and brood diseases (hygienic behavior and VSH)
  • Very high winter resistance
  • Rusticity
  • Spring development and limited consumption of resources

** Please note that our queens are unmarked.

For more information, contact [email protected], 819.587.4825 ext. 208 

 

Harvests & transport

The queens are caged every Monday morning to be sent at the end of the day, from May 27th to mid-September. Shipments are made via Canada Post Priority 24h (48h for remote areas) in JZ’s BZ’s crates with a few workers. 

All queen packages are sent via Canada Post Priority Parcel. The average delay is 24h/48h/72h depending on the region and our team monitors shipments daily in order to quickly report problems.

Interprovincial transportation is available through Air Canada Cargo. Delivery and reception the same day.

For more information regarding shipping this link. 

Responsability & mortality

Our commitment is to harvest and catch queens according to a rigorous protocol of selection of subjects, grafting, fertilization and caging. Given the nature of the transported goods, Api Culture Hautes Laurentides Inc is not responsible for mortalities related to transport. Thus no refund will be made for this purpose.

NUCLEIS

The farm does not sell nucleis.

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