The iridescent shimmer of butterfly wings, the metallic green of a sweat bee, the color shifting carapace of a beetle: who hasn’t stopped to admire these beautiful works of nature, wondering how they produce such a dazzling and shifting array of color? Long thought to help attract mates, it turns out that the iridescence may …
Read MoreDeep Forest Bee Hunting Robin Radcliffe and Tom Seeley – 871 Hive Indicators: Clues to Colony Health Zachary Lamas – 879 The Varroa Problem – Part 17b Randy Oliver – 883 Treatment-Free Beekeeping: A Practical Hands-On Approach Terry Combs – 891 Fishing for Honey Bees Jennifer Standley – 905 Listening to the Wild Animals David McDonald – 919 Envisioning the Future of Beekeeping Part 3 Tammy …
Read More
Morgan Thompson of Thompson Tree Tools LLC captured this photograph of Dr. Robin Radcliffe as he climbed like a Nepalese Honey Hunter into a towering hemlock tree in the Shindagin Hollow State Forest. Robin discovered five honey bee colonies living in this old growth forest. But he could not find all of the bee trees …
Read More
Beekeepers are frequently at odds with the biologists who promote native bee conservation. Native bee advocates claim honey bees are stealing all the forage, while beekeepers resent land that is off limits to bee hives. But in truth, bees are bees. Although I’m fascinated by how the species are different, I’m also intrigued by their …
Read More
Q Toughest Job I am curious on your thoughts on this article. The Bee Apocalypse Was Never Real; Here’s Why: https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/04/17/bee-apocalypse-was-never-real-heres-why-12851 Thank you,Randy McElroy A Beekeepers in a commercial setting have been ignored for years and have been characterized as the ugly step sisters of agriculture. Passionate beekeepers, i.e. those who have had a desire …
Read More
This spring, I received several phone calls from beekeepers, growers and pesticide applicators regarding the risk posed to honey bees from insect growth regulators (abbreviated as “IGRs”). These chemicals are used as insecticides to control insect pests, especially in agricultural settings. And since many of them are developed to be insect-specific (e.g., they target leaf-chewing …
Read More
I can be naïve at times, so when I was asked to write an article about “why women are better beekeepers” I said sure, no problem. After all, the hardest part of writing is finding a topic. But in truth, the assignment turned into a nightmare. My first mistake was thinking it would be fun. …
Read More
By now, readers of this column know that the honey bee colony is an assemblage of individuals, organized to a greater or lesser degree by genetic kinship, yet behaviorally specialized and integrated to optimize survival and reproduction of the group. Numerous times in this column we have drawn metaphors between organs, tissues, and behaviors in …
Read More
We’ve all heard of mite bombs and varroa hitchhiking into our colonies via robber bees. But how many are actually sneaking in? As the summer comes on in full force, be advised this is the time when varroa mite immigration can spike, in some years quite drastically. Varroa mites can enter our hives in large …
Read More
You’ve made the leap and are ready to get bees, but the choices are a little overwhelming. So many options and how do you compare? What is the best way to start out? And most importantly, what kinds of questions should you ask of your bee supplier to truly understand what you are receiving? Not …
Read More"I want the American Bee Journal to be the finest publication about bees and beekeeping in the world."
- C.P. Dadant, Editor of ABJ 1912-1938
THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
51 S. 2nd St., Hamilton, IL 62341
Phone: 217.847.3324
Fax: 217.847.3660
info@americanbeejournal.com
©2026 Copyright the American Bee Journal. All Rights Reserved.
website developed by CleverOgre
