The Beekeeper’s Companion Since 1861
American Bee Journal Violume 166 No. 6 June 2026 Cover Call-outs: Surprising Bee Venom - 611, The Beehive Apothecary - 615, Bees in Space- 673

U.S. Honey Crops and Markets – February 2017

US Crops and Honey Markets
Posted February 1, 2017

U.S. Honey Crops and Markets – February 2017

UNITED STATES February signals the beginning of the pollination season for migratory beekeepers who start the season with the largest crop pollination event in the country—California’s almond crop. An estimated 1.7 million colonies will be needed to pollinate California’s most valuable crop. Early indications are that demand and prices for almond pollination will be similar …

Read More

Unknown Smokers

The first unknown smoker, which I am calling the John Doe smoker. This smoker is made from copper, a soft metal easy to bend, but also delicate and easy to destroy.
Posted February 1, 2017

Unknown Smokers

Since the mid 1970’s, I have collected bee smokers. Along with acquiring smokers, I try to identify who or what company made them. Over the years, I have managed to identify many of my manufactured smokers. To identify old smokers, I search through the historical beekeeping literature. In the past, numerous small bee supply companies …

Read More

Supering Your Colonies for the Honey Flow

honey-super-beekeeping
Posted February 1, 2017

Supering Your Colonies for the Honey Flow

First I must thank Jerry Hayes. His Classroom questions and answers often inspire my Beekeeping Topics and that will be the case this time. At some point in the Comb Honey Corner, I touched on this topic. At that writing we covered the topic but only as it related to comb honey production. The topic …

Read More

Elm (Ulmus americana)

Ulmus Americana
Posted February 1, 2017

Elm (Ulmus americana)

Scientific name: Ulmus americana (Ulmaceae) Synonyms: Ulmus floridana Origin: North America The USDA Plants Website[18] lists five native Ulmus species. I have chosen to write primarily about Ulmus americana for several reasons. In the beekeeping literature where the full species name is provided, it is this species that seems the most often mentioned. It is …

Read More

Improved Stock

map of geographical distribution of honey bees
Posted February 1, 2017

Improved Stock

More beekeepers need to use bee stocks that do not require miticides to control varroa mites. There may be a different race, selected stock or improved queen strain that meets your needs to mate with the best of your localized survivor bees. My intention is not to eliminate anyone’s locally adapted, survivor stock. If you …

Read More

February ABJ Cover

LeFore Honey Farms Crew placing pallets of bees in blooming California almond groves
Posted February 1, 2017

February ABJ Cover

  This great photo was taken by Clarke Sutphin of Billings, Montana. It shows a LeFore Honey Farms Crew placing pallets of bees in a blooming California almond grove near Hughson, CA. This scene is typical of hundreds of beekeeping operations placing nearly two million colonies in the California almond groves this month.

Read More

February 2017

Posted February 1, 2017

February 2017

The Varroa Problem—Part 5—Striking a Deal with Varroa Randy Oliver…………………………………………………………………………………..147 Improved Stock Lawrence John Connor………………………………………………………………………155 Surveying and Reporting Bee Losses William Blomstedt……………………………………………………………………………..167 Pesticide Policy Proposal for Pollinators Michele Colopy…………………………………………………………………………………173 Building Decorative Hive Tops Andy Hemken………………………………………………………………………………….181 Experimenting with Bees Successfully Tina Seybestyen………………………………………………………………………………..189 Hobby Beekeeping and the Law—Issues to Consider Rich Schell………………………………………………………………………………………193 Exclusivity [or Not] Howard Scott…………………………………………………………………………………..197

Read More

Krispn Given Promoted to Apiculture Specialist at Purdue

Posted January 1, 2017

Krispn Given Promoted to Apiculture Specialist at Purdue

Recently Krispn Given was promoted to Apiculture Specialist at Purdue University, for the past thirteen years Krispn has been working with Dr. Greg Hunt at Purdue University’s department of entomology. His responsibilities include, maintaining the 120 research colonies, running the Purdue honey bee breeding program, teaching an annual queen rearing short course, managing the honey …

Read More

The Classroom – January 2017

Posted January 1, 2017

The Classroom – January 2017

Q Jerry, I’ve been beekeeping for about 3 years. I have been lucky to have help from a veteran beekeeper. I had noticed a mite problem in a few of my hives so I treated with an unnamed acid strip. I had split off a few hives and installed new queens after treating for seven …

Read More

U.S. Honey Crops and Markets – January 2017

US Crops and Honey Markets
Posted January 1, 2017

U.S. Honey Crops and Markets – January 2017

UNITED STATES As reported by author Ron Phipps in his excellent “International Honey Market Update” this month, “If the combination of 1) more powerful and sophisticated technologies for assessing adulteration and 2) climate change and other environmental factors reducing both total production and productivity/hive of honey manifest themselves during 2017 and 2018, it will become …

Read More

VIEW SITE MAP