Low-impact Beekeeping – So much as possible, let your bees control their destiny

Posted July 1, 2025

Low-impact Beekeeping – So much as possible, let your bees control their destiny

The Beekeeping Journey A “beekeeper” is not a standard entity. There are many different versions and varieties of apiculturists. As we evolve in our beekeeping experiences, so do our specific interests. But interests come and interests go. As a neophyte, I built most of my wooden equipment. Indeed, I even built my frames. After hardly …

Figure 1: First Lessons in Beekeeping cover. Depicts a beekeeper inspecting his hive with trees in the background. The ttile is located above the beekeeper with the authors name off to the left of him.

Posted July 1, 2025

A Brief History of “First Lessons in Beekeeping”

In my historical work with American apiculture, I am working on dozens of reconstructions using primary sources when possible. Most of these endeavors are many years old. Usually they lack a certain old piece of equipment or a crucial literature reference, maybe from a pamphlet just a few pages long to help complete the story …

Posted July 1, 2025

Never Underestimate a Jar of Honey

This article will not reveal the origin of purple honey, nor will it explain its fantastical ability to alter human behavior. Like magic mushrooms, purple honey changes people from sane and sensible to illogical and irrational. Except, unlike magic mushrooms, you don’t need to eat it. Instead, you simply gaze, transfixed, into the depth of …

Posted July 1, 2025

A Year of Successful Beekeeping Starts in July

The funny thing about us Americans is that we think of the new year as starting in the middle of winter, while some cultures celebrate their new year in the fall, and others in the spring. However, since we are beekeepers, our new year needs to start when the bees begin a new year. It …

Posted July 1, 2025

Letters to the Editor – July 2025

Dealing With Loss Hi Tina, I saw myself in your May article (“Dealing with Loss”), lost all five hives last winter. One I think was queen failure in a hive I caught as a swarm, but the others were varroa that was totally my fault. I had a busy year and my treatments were later …

Posted July 1, 2025

FIELDWATCH® WELCOMES MANITOBA AS ITS 30TH PROVINCIAL / STATE MEMBER

Web-based mapping tool for beekeepers, crop producers and pesticide applicators WEST LAFAYETTE, IN (May 5, 2025) – FieldWatch, Inc., a non-profit company that promotes communication and stewardship among crop producers, beekeepers and pesticide applicators, announces that Manitoba has joined as the second member province. Manitoba joins FieldWatch along with 27 states, Saskatchewan, and the District …

Posted July 1, 2025

APIVAR 2.0: A NEW WEAPON AGAINST VARROA MITES SOON AVAILABLE IN THE USA!

by Véto-pharma On January 10, 2025, the EPA officially granted federal authorization for Apivar 2.0, a new amitraz-based slow-release treatment. State registration will follow according to the usual calendar. Apivar 2.0, as its name indicates, is the new generation of Apivar, a well-known varroa mite treatment that has helped millions of beekeepers across the globe …

Posted July 1, 2025

Contents – July 2025

Summer Reads Rusty Burlew. Carol Hrusovszky, Dewey M. Caron, Tina Sebestyen – 723 Alfalfa Leafcutter Bee Producers Need New Pest Treatment Options Alison McAfee – 739 The Pollen Frame – The making of an award-winning “Bee Bread” display Richard Dunnagan – 746 The Shift Toward Bioacaricides Randy Oliver – 751 Fast Food: Tear-drinking Bees in …

American Bee Journal Volume 165 No. 7 July 2025 Alfalfa Leafcutter bee on a thistle. Callouts: Splitting in July - 735, Leafcutter Bees Need Help, Too - 739, The Shift Toward Bioacaricides - 751

Posted July 1, 2025

ABJ JULY 2025 COVER

It’s been over six years (see April 2019) since we’ve run a non-honey bee on our cover, but this alfalfa leafcutter really caught our eye. It was provided by Shelley Hoover and Lynae Ovinge of Lethbridge, Alberta (Canada), to accompany Ali McAfee’s story about these bees, whose importance to the alfalfa and canola pollination is …

Posted June 1, 2025

The Classroom – June 2025

Q: Methane bio-digester I am a hobbyist beekeeper and live in Missouri. [A renewable-energy company] is building a methane bio-digester plant about one-eighth mile (0.2 km) from my home. Right now, I have four hives at my home. I am wondering if you have ever heard of the effects of hydrogen sulfide on bees. I …

Low-impact Beekeeping – So much as possible, let your bees control their destiny

Posted July 1, 2025