New meeting location!

Howard Miller Community Center, 14 S. Church St., Zeeland, MI 49464

On-the-Spot Queen Rearing/ Varroa Control

Mel Disselkoen - MDA Splitter Author, Inventor of OTS Method of Increase [colonies]
Author of “OTS Queen Rearing: A Survival Guide for Beekeepers Worldwide”

Mel Disselkoen was born on a farm in a Dutch settlement in southeast South Dakota and he grew up with an independent farming mentality of hard work and creative problem solving. He has kept bees for 40 years and is familiar with all phases of beekeeping including maintaining 450 colonies with a commercial migratory operation. In 2000, he sold his bees to that operation so that they could meet their pollination contracts. They are still in business today but Mel decided to leave the operation in order to focus more on his research into bee behavior in the tradition of Rev. L.L. Langstroth, G.M. Doolittle and Dr. C.C. Miller.

In 1988, he authored a booklet entitled “I.M.N. System of Queen Rearing” and today is incorporating that work with making splits and overwintering nucs to outbreed varroa mites while simultaneously avoiding expensive and harmful chemicals. He has kept chemical-free bees for over 20 years and is dedicated to sharing his findings in order to help novice beekeepers become successful and self-sufficient.