The Beekeeper’s Companion Since 1861
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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 …

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Bees Use Multiple Cues in Hunt for Pollen

Posted January 1, 2017

Bees Use Multiple Cues in Hunt for Pollen

University of Exeter Bees use a variety of senses and memory of previous experiences when deciding where to forage for pollen, research by the University of Exeter suggests. The researchers believe pollen-collecting bees do not base their foraging decisions on taste alone, but instead make an “overall sensory assessment” of their experience at a particular …

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Hawaiian Study Highlights a New Threat to Bees Worldwide

Posted January 1, 2017

Hawaiian Study Highlights a New Threat to Bees Worldwide

Earlham Institute, Norwich, England Particularly under threat are honey bees, which are as vital to our food systems as the crops they pollinate, and which are prone to a range of emergent diseases including Moku and Deformed wing virus (DWV). The Moku virus was identified on Moku Island in Hawaii through a collaboration of institutes …

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New Findings About the Honey Bee Infecting Deformed Wing Virus

Posted January 1, 2017

New Findings About the Honey Bee Infecting Deformed Wing Virus

  New Findings About the Honey Bee Infecting Deformed Wing Virus The honey bee Apis mellifera plays an important role for the pollination of fruit and vegetable plants, besides its significance for the production of honey and wax. Losses of entire bee colonies during winter have economic and — in particular — ecological consequences as …

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Letters to the Editor – January 2017

Posted January 1, 2017

Letters to the Editor – January 2017

Accommodations for Beekeepers A very good friend is going through some serious health problems, and cannot lift very much. He has been beekeeping in his back yard for many years, but has had to stop, and misses the bees. I put together a modified hive, using one deep brood box, and seven, 4-1/2” shallow supers. …

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Raising a Few Queens for Your Own Use

Posted January 1, 2017

Raising a Few Queens for Your Own Use

Making a few queens for the hobby beekeepers can be a simple affair. It was the original intent of this column to use a method that has been in use since the invention of the movable frame hive by Langstroth in 1850. Now there is another method developed that may be easier and better. Why …

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Immunity in the Superorganism – the Mechanisms

Posted January 1, 2017

Immunity in the Superorganism – the Mechanisms

This month marks the two-year anniversary of the start of my serial history on the evolution of the honey bee. It has been my wish to explore the deep origins of things we regularly observe in our colonies and to give the biological bases for the practices beekeepers do to maximize bee health and honey …

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A.E. Manum: A Famous Vermont Beekeeper

Posted January 1, 2017

A.E. Manum: A Famous Vermont Beekeeper

Although his name has drifted into obscurity, in the first half of the 1880’s, A. E. Manum was nationally known (see Figure 1). Manum was a beekeeper selling honey by the ton and manufacturing beekeeping supplies on a large scale in Vermont. His origins, however, were humble, and he did not come from a beekeeping …

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Chinese tallow tree, Florida aspen, chicken tree, gray popcorn tree (Euphorbiaceae)

Posted January 1, 2017

Chinese tallow tree, Florida aspen, chicken tree, gray popcorn tree (Euphorbiaceae)

Scientific name: Triadica sebifera Synonyms: Sapium sebiferum Origin: China, Japan [5 &13]. Plant Description: The ultimate height of the tree is generally 30 to 40 ft and occasionally 60 ft. Dirr[3] states that the national champion is/was 76 ft in height and was located in Polk County, TX. The leaves are about 3.5 to 7 …

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International Honey Market Update

Posted January 1, 2017

International Honey Market Update

A Point of Inflection or turning point has been reached in global honey prices. The incentive to produce pure honey is being restored. More powerful and sophisticated scientific techniques and a more comprehensive global data base to assess the adulteration and circumvention of honey are being developed. The integration of the incentives to produce and …

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