Land Use, Land Cover, and Pollinator Health: A Review and Trend Analysis

Posted August 1, 2017

Land Use, Land Cover, and Pollinator Health: A Review and Trend Analysis

A report summary from the Economic Research Service United States Department of Agriculture What is the issue? Crops that depend on pollinators account for up to one-third of total U.S. food consumption. However, honey bees and other pollinators face a variety of stressors, including diseases, insect pests, pesticide exposure, and changing landscapes. Over the last …

Posted August 1, 2017

U.S. Honey Crops and Markets – August 2017

UNITED STATES Early honey crops in the United States have been better this year due to favorable moisture and weather conditions over much of the country. Exceptions include Florida, where drought hurt honey crops, as well as some northern locations that had exceptionally high winter colony losses and a late spring. Early reports on honey …

Posted August 1, 2017

The Defense Cascade

In the life of every beginning beekeeper there is a moment of truth when he or she makes peace with the prospect of bee stings. Stings are, I believe, the biggest deterrent, the biggest moment of hesitation, the biggest obstacle to overcome. However, I also find that among newbies, talk of bee stings, worry about …

Posted August 1, 2017

Comb Honey Corner

One of the advantages of writing a column in the American Bee Journal is letters from readers. Most of the time a reader will have a question about one of the articles where that reader is trying to follow the directions for a particular recommendation in that article. Recently, the opposite was the case. There …

Posted August 1, 2017

Finding Apiaries: Back on the Ground (part two)

In the previous article, we saw how to use Google maps to evaluate potential bee forage surrounding a proposed apiary site, typically in a rural location. After I find a favorable foraging area, I need to look at the vicinity from the ground and verify that the general foraging terrain looks feasible for the number …

Posted August 1, 2017

August 2017

The Varroa Problem—Part 9—Knowing Thine Enemy Randy Oliver…………………………………………………………………………………..835 A Syrup Mixing System for Backyard Beekeepers William Blomstedt……………………………………………………………………………..853 Going Molecular: Insights into the Life of a Varroa Mite Alison McAfee………………………………………………………………………………….857 Honey Bee Nutrition—Part 4—Lipids Dale Hill…………………………………………………………………………………………861 Requeening Hot Hives T’Lee Sollenberger…………………………………………………………………………….873 David Burns of Long Lane Honey Farms Strives to Help Educate Beekeepers Mary and Bill …

Posted August 1, 2017

August ABJ Cover

Some beautiful black locust honey produced at the Dadant Research Beeyard in Hamilton, IL. Our black locust honey flow normally comes during an unsettled part of spring when rains almost always ruin this flow for us. This year, however, strong colonies were able to take advantage of early sunny weather to make a nice honey …

Posted July 1, 2017

Birds vs. Bees: Study Helps Explain How Flowers Evolved to Get Pollinators to Specialize

Work by Robert J. Gegear at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) shows that flowers that were thought to have evolved to lure hummingbirds, actually have combinations of traits that discourage wasteful visits by bumblebees. Worcester, Mass. – Ecologists who study flowering plants have long believed that flowers evolved with particular sets of characteristics–unique combinations of colors, …

Posted July 1, 2017

How Varroa Mites Take Advantage of Managed Beekeeping Practices

Closer colonies and less swarming allow mite populations to grow and spread Annapolis, MD — As the managed honey bee industry continues to grapple with significant annual colony losses, the Varroa destructor mite is emerging as the leading culprit. And, it turns out, the very nature of modern beekeeping may be giving the parasite the …

future beekeeper advocating for bee research at the March for Science even in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Posted July 1, 2017

Letters to the Editor – July 2017

Future Beekeeper I’m a former bee research technician at Virginia Tech. I’m now at UF as a technician and working on a PhD in termites, but I stay current in apiculture by keeping bees, reading ABJ & teaching for Jamie Ellis’ Bee College a couple of times a year. Rick Fell at VT saw this …

Land Use, Land Cover, and Pollinator Health: A Review and Trend Analysis

Posted August 1, 2017