April 2017

Posted April 1, 2017

April 2017

The Varroa Problem—Part 6b—Small-scale Breeding Randy Oliver…………………………………………………………………………………375 In Search of the Best Swarm Lure Leo Sharashkin……………………………………………………………………………….381 America’s Sweetest Honey Ron Miksha……………………………………………………………………………………393 Harvesting Honey: Let Me Count the Ways! Peter Borst……………………………………………………………………………………..399 So You Want to Sell at the Farm Market? Andy Hemken………………………………………………………………………………….405 A Test of Using CO2 for Bee-friendly Mite Monitoring Randy Oliver…………………………………………………………………………………..411 Mechanisms of Hygienic …

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April ABJ Cover

April ABJ 2017 Cover

Posted April 1, 2017

April ABJ Cover

Mark Fletter from Carbondale, Illinois sent us this colorful photo of a swarm in a redbud tree that he took on April 4th of last year. It came too late for our spring 2016 issues, so we are sharing it with you now. Enjoy!

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U.S. Honey Crops and Markets – March 2017

US Crops and Honey Markets

Posted March 1, 2017

U.S. Honey Crops and Markets – March 2017

UNITED STATES Colonies had been placed in holding yards in California and were scheduled to be moved into the almond groves later in February. Prices for almond pollination have increased by $10 to $15 per hive, bringing the average price to between $180 and $190. Premiums are being paid for strong colonies with more frames …

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Letters to the Editor – March 2017

Posted March 1, 2017

Letters to the Editor – March 2017

January 2017 Articles An open letter to all in the beekeeping world: It was with great anticipation that I read the second part of Mrs. McNeil’s article: Bond vs. Bomb and Randy Oliver’s Part 1 of The Varroa Problem in the November issue of ABJ. Being both encouraged and disappointed, I decided to wait until …

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The Classroom – March 2017

Posted March 1, 2017

The Classroom – March 2017

Q Monsanto Varroa Research Jerry, I have read the Classroom for the last few years with interest. Your responses to questions have been meaningful, insightful, helpful and entertaining. My question is: How close is Monsanto to coming up with a product that will be efficient in the control of varroa? Ben Roundy A We had …

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Weather Prediction Technologies Improving the Care of Honey Bees

Maple Tree in Bloom

Posted March 1, 2017

Weather Prediction Technologies Improving the Care of Honey Bees

In late February, certainly by early March, the bees and I have become restless. We both feel it. Early Spring has finally arrived to the woods around the hives in Virginia, the eastern Piedmont region. Contemplating the first hive inspections of the season, the nagging worry would be: how well did my bees survive the …

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What Social Immunity can Teach us about Honey Bee Health Management

Propolis

Posted March 1, 2017

What Social Immunity can Teach us about Honey Bee Health Management

In my third installment in a mini-series on social immunity I want to give a summary of what this knowledge can teach us about practical honey bee health management. It’s useful to remind ourselves that agriculture, by definition, is the management of food plants and animals to achieve unnaturally high productivity. For example, a typical …

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Improving Our Bee Forage

Grass dominates our highway rights-of-way

Posted March 1, 2017

Improving Our Bee Forage

In this article is a proposal. I am not a proponent of big government. It is obvious the bigger the government intervention, the less efficient the country’s production. I am not referring to the United States, but any nation. You show me a communist or socialist country and the people there are inevitably poor. Compare …

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Antibiotics and the Beekeeper

American Foulbrood (AFB)

Posted March 1, 2017

Antibiotics and the Beekeeper

Before the advent of the Varroa bee mite (Varroa destructor), the biggest challenge to honey bee health was American foulbrood (AFB), caused by the rod-shaped spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae (formerly classified as Bacillus larvae and Paenibacillus larvae ssp larvae/pulvifaciens). It is the most widespread and destructive of the brood diseases, according to Wikipedia.com: “Larvae up …

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March 2017

Posted March 1, 2017

March 2017

Antibiotics and the Beekeeper—The FDA’s Veterinarian Feed Directive (VFD Malcolm T. Sanford…………………………………………………………………………259 The Varroa Problem—Part 6a—Bee Breeding for Dummies Randy Oliver………………………………………………………………………………….265 Darwinian Beekeeping: An Evolutionary Approach to Apiculture Tom Seeley……………………………………………………………………………………..277 The African Bee Story Peter Loring Borst…………………………………………………………………………….285 Hyenas in our Midst—The Small Hive Beetle Problem Charles Linder…………………………………………………………………………………291 A New Look at Splits Jerry Freeman………………………………………………………………………………….307 Package …

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