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. …
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THE SPIRIT OF BEEKEEPING I felt the need to share a picture I took. The man in the picture is Santos Alonso. As a child he started keeping bees with his father in Mexico. Eventually he came to California and found himself keeping bees for a company in Stanislaus County. Soon after, he decided to …
Read MoreHoneybee larvae develop into queen bees only when they are fed large quantities of royal jelly. But royal jelly does more than determine whether a larva becomes a queen: it also keeps her safely anchored to the roof of the queen cell in which she develops. Research published in Current Biology on March 15 explains …
Read MoreLack of information on the effects of all pesticide ingredients makes them appear safer than they are — potentially causing serious harm to people and the environment. New regulations are needed to protect people and the environment from toxic pesticide ingredients that are not currently subject to safety assessments. This is the conclusion of the …
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These are new close-up images of one of the mites responsible for killing billions of honey bees around the world. The magnified photographs of the pinhead-sized mite, aptly named Varroa destructor, were captured by Dr. Jonathan Salvage of the University of Brighton (UK), using a state-of-the-art scanning electron microscope (SEM). Dr. Salvage, a Research …
Read MoreHoney Harvest in a City Jim Fisher – 511 ABRC at AAPA 2018 Elina L. Niño – 515 Are Inferior Queens a Result of Contaminated Pollen? Karen Pedersen and Gil Pedersen – 521 The Varroa Problem Part 16b: Bee Drift and Mite Dispersal Continued Randy Oliver – 527 Gaining New Insights on Honey Bees and Hive Health Katie Coleman – 535 Blue Ribbon …
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Sarah Rath, wife and partner of Jack Rath of Betterbee, during a queen catch. The photo was taken by Jenny Dunn last summer at the Rath apiary in Vermont. Sarah is wearing one medical glove, so she can easily pick up queens. Check out Dunn’s article on varroa in this month’s issue.
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Q Lithium Chloride Have you ever seen this article about Lithium killing varroa? Is there any truth to what it is saying about treating varroa mites? http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/chance-discovery-could-tackle-the-honeybees-worst-enemy/ Thank you! Steve A I copied Section 11 of the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for Lithium chloride for you. It is waaaay too early to tell if …
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The honey bee gut is more than just a food processing chamber. It’s also home to hundreds of millions of microbes – some of which help the host, and some of which destroy it. Has a round of antibiotics ever given you an upset stomach or an uncomfortable yeast infection? These are common side effects, …
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Here is the problem. Over there, just beyond a tall hedgerow, is a vast field of wildflowers. Many of those plants need insect pollinators to move their pollen from flower to flower. Over here, just outside your garage, is a thriving honey bee colony with lots of brood to feed. Pollen is an essential part …
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- C.P. Dadant, Editor of ABJ 1912-1938
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