The Beekeeper’s Companion Since 1861
American Bee Journal Volume 166 No. 1 January 2026 Cover Callouts: Invisible Bee Communication - 45, Vadescana: A new varroa control - 51, The impacts of pollen trapping - 61 Cover depicts a honey bee with propolis on its legs.

Colony Collapse Disorder – Eight Years Later

bee bread collection
Posted March 1, 2016

Colony Collapse Disorder – Eight Years Later

Over 3,000 entomologists and insect scientists from around the world descended on Minneapolis, MN to participate in the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America (ESA). The four day Synergy in Science conference ran from November 15th-18th, 2015. Bright and early on Sunday morning honey bee researchers convened in the convention center to …

Read More

Letters to the Editor – March 2016

Patricia Bohls, the recent recipient of the AAPA Scholarship Award
Posted March 1, 2016

Letters to the Editor – March 2016

AAPA Scholarship Award Recipient I am Patricia Bohls, the recent recipient of the AAPA Scholarship Award. I have attached for you a picture, a brief biography, and a summary of my proposal for your publication. Patricia Bohls Bohls, PA. – PROTEOMIC AND COMPARATIVE GENOMIC ANALYSIS OF SEMINAL FLUID IN APIS MELLIFERA DRONES FROM REGIONS WITH …

Read More

U.S. Honey Crops and Markets – March 2016

US Crops and Honey Markets
Posted March 1, 2016

U.S. Honey Crops and Markets – March 2016

UNITED STATES Almond pollination in California this year may very well turn into a mud derby for beekeepers. Some of our reporters indicated very wet conditions in the almond groves, which is something beekeepers will have to readjust to after several years of having passable roads into the groves. Some reporters were also worried about …

Read More

The classroom March 2016

Posted March 1, 2016

The classroom March 2016

Q AFRICANIZED HONEY BEES Many moons ago, you may or may have not written a letter to a queen breeder in Arizona about the queens mailed to a beekeeper in FL, who, as I recall, ended up with such “hot” hives, he had to call in reinforcements from your department to help him deal with …

Read More

More on My Two-queen Colony

new bottom board with conjoined hive bodies on top
Posted March 1, 2016

More on My Two-queen Colony

One of our readers wanted to know why I am experimenting making a new two-queen system instead of simply using the existing tried and true management scheme already incorporated for many years to have two-queen systems: a traditional hive that incorporates a double screen and an extra hive body?  With this traditional two-queen system, the …

Read More

Honey Bee Colonies as Superorganisms: The Hive or the Honey Bee?

bees drinking honey
Posted March 1, 2016

Honey Bee Colonies as Superorganisms: The Hive or the Honey Bee?

I travel quite a bit, giving lectures about bees to various interested groups. One of the lectures that gets requested of me quite often is the one that I give on superorganisms. This is a topic that I have found quite interesting myself, after being introduced to it about 15 or so years ago. At …

Read More

How Superorganisms Think

waggle dance
Posted March 1, 2016

How Superorganisms Think

For several months I’ve been talking about the honey bee colony as a superorganism: a group of individuals living together and resembling what humans would call a “society,” but which for various reasons is better understood as a special case of organism. For one thing, the group as a whole, not the individuals that make …

Read More

Even in Cool Conditions, Hot Bees Continue Hauling Water

bees loading water on edge of tub
Posted March 1, 2016

Even in Cool Conditions, Hot Bees Continue Hauling Water

Having survived the winter, bees begin foraging with the return of warm temperatures. Even before the early spring flowers yield nectar and pollen in abundance, the colony has begun rearing brood, jump-starting their population growth even in the cold of winter. That is one advantage of wintering as a large warm family unit, instead of …

Read More

Serviceberry

other side of beekeeping march 2016
Posted March 1, 2016

Serviceberry

Saskatoon serviceberry, Saskatoon berry, Western service berry, Saskatoon, June berry, shadbush, poirier, petites poires; Cusick’s serviceberry (a particular variety) Scientific name: Amelanchier alnifolia Synonyms: Amelanchier cusickii, Amelanchier florida Origin: The species is native to at least North America Plant description: Amelanchier alnifolia is a clustered shrub or small tree generally with a height of 2-5m …

Read More

March 2016

Posted March 1, 2016

March 2016

Obituary—Colin Butler, Entomologist Telegraph Media Group Limited…………………………………………………………..261 Following the Wild Bees—Tom Seeley on Honeybee Democracy, Responsible Swarm Trapping and His New Book Leo Sharashkin………………………………………………………………………………287 Understanding Colony Buildup and Decline—Part 10—Summer Downsizing and Varroa Randy Oliver…………………………………………………………………………………..293 BIP Takes on a NASA Project—How Big Data Can Inform the Way We Keep Bees and How We Can Opt …

Read More

VIEW SITE MAP