Robo’s World

April’s Wildlife Pro Network Beekeeping podcast will be a discussion on Screened Bottom Boards & Paraffin Dipping Equipment with our special guests Janet Brisson from Country Rubes’ Farms, maker of the popular Combo Screened Bottom Board.

Janet Brisson and her husband Mike have been a self-sufficient family and organic farmers for over 30 years. In 1995 they were forced to become hobbyist beekeepers due to lack of pollination as bees were loosing their fight against the insidious Varroa mites. Horrified to discover that even the most organic-minded beekeepers were driven to use some type of chemical to save their bees, the Brisson’ researched and started building and using screened bottom boards along with intensive drone brood management to reduce their chemical use. After 10 years and various adaptations of SBB’s, they re-discovered using powdered sugar as an effective way of detaching Varroa mites and have been chemical free since the beginning of 2005. One final modification of their screened bottom board to make using powdered sugar easy, the Brisson’ developed their product, the Country Rubes Combo Screened Bottom Board, that has become nationally available to beekeepers. Janet’s program “Healthy Bees & Environmentally Friendly Varroa Control” discusses how to monitor and manage your hives, bees and varroa mites using screened bottom boards, powdered sugar, and drone brood manipulations has been given at Conferences and clubs throughout the United States

- Listen now

Recordings of other beekeeping podcasts can be found here.