Bernardo D. Niño, Head of Research and Development for Ubees, working bees in the coastal mountains of Oregon. “We are comparing landscape differences between pristine isolated areas and colonies in summer pollination, as well as colonies in honey production. We are working on a cost-benefit analysis that considers transportation, revenues, treatment and feeding costs and …
Read More
I am a 100% chemically-free beekeeper when it comes to varroa control in my apiaries. Does that conjure up images and thoughts of a totally disconnected bee-haver doing no management other than taking what honey my bees are fortunate enough to make? Apiaries with hives simply left to their fate and allowed to collapse, sending …
Read More
Q What Should I Use? I am following your instruction given in the Classroom to the letter Jerry. I have memorized the three words about honey bee health you gave us: varroa, varroa, varroa. I have also memorized the “Tools for Varroa Management Guide” from the HBHC and as summer progresses I am sampling and …
Read More
How about a Skep hat On YouTube is the 1936 movie Red Lights Ahead. In the last 5 minutes, one of the actors has joined the Lodge royal order of bees, and put on his Skep hat. I don’t know if anyone is collecting unusual skeps, and I thought this would qualify. Michael Lowe Zero …
Read More
Last month, we learned how summer could bring a surge of varroa mites immigrating into hives. The number of varroa mites entering a hive on its returning robber bees could accumulate to large numbers, preventing the colony from producing its long-lived bees needed for winter survival. Summer also brings another “pest” infiltrating hive defenses – …
Read More
What would happen if all beekeepers simply stopped trying to control varroa mites? Well, there would likely be a massive worldwide population crash of the managed western honey bee (Apis mellifera). And in the process, there would likely be an epidemic of viruses that spilled over from collapsing honey bee colonies into the numerous species …
Read More
Those new to beekeeping frequently ask why we don’t just breed better bees. This is a logical question because breeding has long been the answer to many agricultural problems. When I say “breeding,” I don’t mean modern gene-insertion techniques that allow us to raise glow-in-the-dark cats, but the old-fashioned kind of breeding where you cross …
Read MoreSince January 2015 I have been writing a column in these pages on the social evolution of the honey bee. Social, in the sense that I have focused less on Darwinian forces that shape the individual and more on Darwinian forces that shape the group. This is why I have not, for example, talked about …
Read More
Honey bee queens keep sperm from drones alive inside them for years, but some surprising environmental triggers can cause massive sperm death. “Give the drone’s thorax a pinch,” Jeff Pettis instructed as I took the drone he handed me. “Then squeeze the abdomen between your thumb and forefinger, rolling from the front of the abdomen …
Read More
When starting out in beekeeping, it’s really hard to recognize if your colony is doing well. You most likely lack the prior experience to compare what you see going on in your hive now with what a colony should look like at this time of year in your specific region. While it feels good if …
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
