Honey Bee Genetics: Why Breeding is So Difficult

Posted August 1, 2018

Honey Bee Genetics: Why Breeding is So Difficult

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 …

Posted August 1, 2018

The Honey Bee Superorganism in Perspective

Since 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 …

Posted August 1, 2018

Long Live the Sperm

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 …

Posted August 1, 2018

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BROOD, BABY

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 …

Posted August 1, 2018

HONEY BEES CAN ZERO IN ON THE ADVANCED CONCEPT OF ZERO

Understanding the concept of zero is surprisingly difficult. The honey bee has joined the ranks of dolphins, parrots, primates and preschool children, in demonstrating the ability to distinguish zero on the numerical spectrum. This finding raises questions of how a species that differs so much from humans – with fewer than one million neurons in …

Posted August 1, 2018

NATURE’S IRIDESCENT BEAUTY CONFUSES BUMBLE BEES

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 …

Posted August 1, 2018

August 2018

Deep 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 …

Posted August 1, 2018

August 2018 ABJ Cover

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 …

Posted July 1, 2018

How Regenerative Agriculture Can Help Save the Bees

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 …

Posted July 1, 2018

The Classroom – July 2018

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 …

Honey Bee Genetics: Why Breeding is So Difficult

Posted August 1, 2018