HOW HONEY AGRICULTURAL FUNGICIDE ATTRACTS HONEY BEES, STUDY FINDS

Posted March 1, 2018

HOW HONEY AGRICULTURAL FUNGICIDE ATTRACTS HONEY BEES, STUDY FINDS

When given the choice, honey bee foragers prefer to collect sugar syrup laced with the fungicide chlorothalonil over sugar syrup alone, researchers report in the journal Scientific Reports. The puzzling finding comes on the heels of other studies linking fungicides to declines in honey bee and wild bee populations. One recent study, for example, found …

Posted March 1, 2018

Some Interesting Signs of Spring

As spring appears, here are three events to observe, ranging from the rarely seen to perhaps the under reported. In a melting March snow, the air too cold for bee flight, I was out patrolling my rural apiaries and came upon some birds fluttering around the hive stands. With the tracks in the snow cover, …

Posted March 1, 2018

The Latest Bee Science Distilled

If you crave tea or coffee in the morning, you’ve experienced how plant chemicals (e.g. caffeine) influence the choices you make. And this can be good! There are plenty of studies showing that a cup or two of coffee per day can be good for your health. But there are also synthetic chemicals that can …

Posted March 1, 2018

The Consequential Corbiculum

Apis. The genus to which our honey bee, Apis mellifera, belongs is so distinctive in the human imagination that its name is recycled up and down the chain of bee taxonomy. Moving first down the taxon, the genus Apis is divided into the small open-nesting species comprising sub-genus Micrapis, the large open-nesting species Megapis, and …

Posted March 1, 2018

What Happened to the Genetically Engineered Honey Bee?

GMOs. Few acronyms induce as much debate at the dinner table, forming rifts between relatives about the very food on our plates. Tinkering with an organism’s genes is almost as divisive as politics. So why aren’t we talking about agriculture’s potential pollinator of the future: the genetically engineered honey bee? Genetically engineered honey bees were …

Posted March 1, 2018

Once Upon a Bottom Board

Does a screened bottom board have any value? My vote is a resounding “Yes!” even though they are basically useless as a way to control varroa mites. A screened bottom board, especially when used with a sliding varroa drawer beneath it, can be a valuable diagnostic tool for the beekeeper. And for the beginner, it …

camouflaged spider catching a forager by Jeff Zylstra

Posted March 1, 2018

March 2018 ABJ Cover

This amazing cover shot of a camouflaged spider catching a forager was taken by Jeff Zylstra. He is a hobby beekeeper from Pelham, Ontario, where he raises his four boys with his wife Denise.

Posted February 14, 2018

How to Avoid Crowds

On a sunny spring day in April of 2005, I set up my first beehives in the lovely little part of the world I call my home in southwest Michigan. They found themselves living in a bee paradise with lots of forage, abundant water, wild areas, hay fields and a lawn filled with white clover. …

Posted February 1, 2018

HOW HONEY BEE GUT BACTERIA HELP TO DIGEST THEIR POLLEN-RICH DIET

The honey bee gut is colonized by specialized bacteria that help digest components of the floral pollen diet and produce molecules that likely promote bee health. In a recent study published in PLOS Biology, a group of researchers from Switzerland uncovered which bacterial species perform which specific digestive functions in the bee gut. The authors …

Posted February 1, 2018

NEW MAPS SHOW SHRINKING WILDERNESS BEING IGNORED AT OUR PERIL

Humans have transformed the landscape to an amazing degree. We are losing our wild places, where much biodiversity of insects still awaits undiscovered. Many species of bees live in these untouched areas, pollinating a great diversity of plants. A new study shows how much of our wilderness areas we have lost since 1993. These maps …

HOW HONEY AGRICULTURAL FUNGICIDE ATTRACTS HONEY BEES, STUDY FINDS

Posted March 1, 2018