Zuchtverband Dunkle Biene Deutschland e.V.
Since the mid-nineties local interest groups have been co-operating throughout Germany. From these groups the Zuchtverband Dunkle Biene Deutschland e.V. was formally founded in 2014. It is an Association of Dark Honey Bee Breeders.
Since 2017 we have selected our populations for varroa tolerant behaviours. This is in close co-operation with scientific support for the SMR selection.
Our clear selection priorities are pure morphometrical Dark Bees and vital bees with good varroa resilience.
We are a small Association which is well established in Germany as a beekeeping network of multiple Associations and bee research Institutes.
We were able to establish stable populations, mainly within Southern Germany, and we operate two mating stations. One is Karwendel in the Bavarian Alps and the second is Eyachtal in the Black Forest.
As well as the mating station activity we have many instrumental insemination sessions each year.