ARS MICROSCOPY RESEARCH HELPS UNRAVEL THE WORKINGS OF A MAJOR HONEY BEE PEST

Posted March 1, 2019

ARS MICROSCOPY RESEARCH HELPS UNRAVEL THE WORKINGS OF A MAJOR HONEY BEE PEST

Research by scientists at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the University of Maryland released today sheds new light — and reverses decades of scientific dogma — regarding a honey bee pest (Varroa destructor) that is considered the greatest single driver of the global honey bee colony losses. Managed honey bee colonies add at least …

Posted March 1, 2019

ASHURST FAMILY OF CALIFORNIA CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF BEEKEEPING

The Ashurst family of Westmorland, California, in December celebrated 100 years of involvement in beekeeping. Julian Ashurst began working as a beekeeper in 1918 in Pomona, CA, before moving to the dryer climate of Imperial Valley for relief for his asthma. There, he started his own beekeeping company, Ashurst and Son. The “Son” in the …

Posted March 1, 2019

‘BEE MAN’ NORMAN GARY SAYS HOBBY BEEKEEPERS IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS SHOULD LIMIT HIVES TO TWO

DAVIS—Pesticides, parasites, predators, and a multitude of microorganisms threaten the survival of honey bees, says retired apiculturist Norman Gary of the University of California, Davis, but so do hobby beekeepers in urban environments who are rearing too many colonies for bees to “survive and thrive.” They should limit their hobby to two colonies, says Gary, …

Posted March 1, 2019

Letters to the Editor – March 2019

SLOVENIA LOVES BEES! Last May I went on a tour of Slovenia to visit beekeepers and learn about beekeeping practices there. We were there during the first World Bee Day (which was proposed by Slovenia to the United Nations) and the dedication of the Carniolan bee monument. In my opinion, Slovenia’s love of honey bees …

Posted March 1, 2019

The Classroom – March 2019

JERRY COMMENT (UGH) I have to submit the Classroom column approximately two months in advance of the publication date for that ABJ. Sooooo, this is a couple months old but it is a bizarre gem that I wanted to share with you. I was cleaning my kitchen and had the radio on and a program …

Posted March 1, 2019

Confronting Queen Problems in Five Package Colonies

From all my 50 packages bought in the 1970s, I had one kind of queen problem. Five packages had dead queens — right in their cages — seen upon first inspection. After much discussion and numerous phone calls, the cause was thought to be rough handling when the queens were caged. The cause(s) of queen …

Posted March 1, 2019

Notes from the Lab – March 2019

Imagine a world where the effects of drinking a beer never wear off because the human body can’t break down the alcohol and eliminate it. As a person drinks more beer, the alcohol in their blood builds up to higher and higher levels – it bioaccumulates. In this world, even occasional beers could kill. What …

Posted March 1, 2019

Stalking Bees in the Oregon High Desert

Imagine e-mailing someone you met once, three years earlier at a beekeeping seminar. In a short note you write, “Why don’t I come visit you? You can feed me, entertain me, and chauffeur me around until I decide to leave. Won’t that be fun?” Being an introverted recluse, this is unimaginable to me. The idea …

Posted March 1, 2019

Diagnosing a Dead-Out

One of the things I love most about beekeeping is the intrigue, the mystery. Studies show that it is not the finding of a treasure that provides happiness, it is the seeking. We beekeepers should be eternally happy, in that case, because we will always be seeking answers. On the other hand, one of the …

Posted March 1, 2019

March 2019

Bee Innovative: A Report on the 2019 ABF Conference Charles and Karen Lorence – 267 Diagnosing a Dead-out Tina Sebestyen – 269 Poland, The Only Country Where Instrumentally Inseminated Queens Are Routinely Used In Commercial Production Colonies Sue Cobey, Małgorzata Bieńkowska, Jerzy Wilde, Jakub Gąbka – 275 The Pesticide Situation — Part 3 — Future …

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