LIZARDS, MICE, BATS AND OTHER VERTEBRATES ARE IMPORTANT POLLINATORS TOO

Posted June 1, 2018

LIZARDS, MICE, BATS AND OTHER VERTEBRATES ARE IMPORTANT POLLINATORS TOO

Study reviews the global importance of vertebrate pollinators for plant reproduction Bees are not the only animals that carry pollen from flower to flower. Species with backbones, among them bats, birds, mice, and even lizards, also serve as pollinators. Although less familiar as flower visitors than insect pollinators, vertebrate pollinators are more likely to have …

Posted June 1, 2018

NEW PESTICIDE AS ALTERNATIVE TO NEONICOTINOIDS

In February 2018, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed that the pesticide group of neonicotinoids is harmful to bees. A novel pesticide manufactured by Bayer AG is therefore being discussed as an alternative; it contains flupyradifurone from the class of butenolides. The product goes by the brand name of Sivanto. Sivanto is assumed to …

Posted June 1, 2018

June 2018

The Future of Organic Regenerative Certification Rusty Burlew – 637 Mining Website Traffic for Swarm Activity Bryan C. Hains – 643 Modeling Nuc Buildup Randy Oliver – 647 A Honey of a War Charles and Karen Nielsen Lorence – 655 More Fruitful Beekeeping with a Management Plan Tina Sebestyen – 665 Superorganism Resilience Bill Hesbach – 675 Envisioning the Future of Beekeeping Part 1 Tammy Horn …

Posted June 1, 2018

June 2018 ABJ Cover

Jonathan Willner, a California photographer, captured this photo early this spring “Right now in my backyard we have a tree stump that’s been gradually falling apart over the last year. A few months ago I started noticing a lot of bees flying in front of it. We’ve inherited a new bee colony that decided to …

Elizabeth Walsh Student Scholarship Winner

Posted May 1, 2018

ABRC at AAPA 2018

While many of you are busy enjoying much celebrated national beekeeping conferences, chances are you might not have even been aware that another beneficial and thought-provoking conference is taking place at the same time and most likely in the same place. The American Association of Professional Apiculturists (AAPA) has organized the American Beekeeping Research Conference …

Posted May 1, 2018

The Classroom – May 2018

Q LINSEED/FLAXSEED OIL…Its Natural Jerry: I have a student with a ton of linseed oil who wants to know if he can use it on his hives. Any idea if it is OK? I note that varnish is acceptable. It has a strong smell and a foul taste, so linseed might be OK. Your section …

Posted May 1, 2018

Notes from the Lab – May 2018

It’s spring and you survived the winter. As the sun re-emerges and the weather warms, honey bees begin taking their first real foraging trips to collect food for the colony. But of course, the flowers that are attractive to bees are also attractive to a broad range of other non-bee pollinators who are looking for …

Posted May 1, 2018

The Elusive Genesis of Apis mellifera

I was a young Assistant Professor, dark-haired, my PhD merely weeks old when I arrived, briefcase and 35-mm slide carousel in hand, for my first lecture to a beekeeping club in London. As soon as I entered the lecture hall I could tell something was up. There was a buzz of agitation in the air. …

Posted May 1, 2018

So Much Pollen, So Little Nutrition

In the back of the feed store, where pallets of fifty-pound sacks rise to the ceiling and a calico cat naps on a hanging scale, I watch two women obsess over brands of layer ration. From what I can hear, they are comparing the protein content of various brands. It makes sense. If you want …

Posted May 1, 2018

Swarm Catching: Experience from the Field and High in the Trees

The swarm season of 2017 started earlier than I expected. Swarm season typically begins well into April here in Piedmont Virginia, although one often hears about an unusually early swarm. At the end of March, news of my early swarm arrived. The sun was low in the sky when a truck arrived at the house. …

LIZARDS, MICE, BATS AND OTHER VERTEBRATES ARE IMPORTANT POLLINATORS TOO

Posted June 1, 2018