The Beekeeper’s Companion Since 1861
American Bee Journal Volume 166 No. 10 October 2026 Cover Cover Callouts: Apis mellifera, weather girl - 1077, Winter hive ventilation - 1093, 1101, 1105, How does the colony respond to OA? - 1127 Cover shoes a frame of brood with a queen cell and several bees near the center of the frame.

More on Comb Building: Wax Deposition, Cell Construction, and Emergent Properties

Posted January 1, 2016

More on Comb Building: Wax Deposition, Cell Construction, and Emergent Properties

Last month we talked about one of the many examples of self organization in the honey bee superorganism – comb construction and the dynamics that govern how and when bees engage in it. At this moment, self organization is a theme in our evolutionary history of the honey bee, and it follows the principle that …

Read More

The Honey Bee Sting

Honey Bee
Posted January 1, 2016

The Honey Bee Sting

Probably most people on the planet interact with honey bees at some point. Those of us who are beekeepers enjoy developed interactions with honey bees that arise out of a respect for and fascination of the bee. However, the interaction that many other individuals have with honey bees is quite negative, usually resulting from the …

Read More

My Two-Queen Hive Experiment and Comb Honey Care

Posted January 1, 2016

My Two-Queen Hive Experiment and Comb Honey Care

This column must include some comments about our 2-queen hive experiment and we shall get that out of the way first this month. It is now official; we have one full depth hive body in the middle of the East and West colonies that is full of honey. We made one shallow super of comb …

Read More

January 2016

Posted January 1, 2016

January 2016

International Honey Market Ron Phipps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …

Read More

Mead: The Old Fashioned Way

honey-mead
Posted January 1, 2016

Mead: The Old Fashioned Way

Mead is the spit of the gods. No, really. Norse legend has it that to end the Æsir-Vanir War, the gods gathered together and expectorated in a vat. From this spittle they created a man named Kvisar, a man so wise there was no question he could not answer, and this spittle-man traveled the world …

Read More

January 2016 Cover

ABJ January Cover
Posted January 1, 2016

January 2016 Cover

Pollination season will be upon us soon—starting with California almond pollination in February and March. These beekeepers are part of the LeFore Honey Farms crew checking colonies during last season’s almond bloom. This beautiful photo comes to us courtesy of photographer Clarke Sutphin of Billings, MT.

Read More

Missouri Beekeeper Increases His Bee Forage with Conservation Service Help

Posted December 1, 2015

Missouri Beekeeper Increases His Bee Forage with Conservation Service Help

by Emily Murray Public Affairs Specialist USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Columbia, MO The closing days of World War II brought sleepless nights to David Panahi, then a four-year-old Iranian boy living in what is now Azerbaijan near the border of Russia. His father away with the Army, Panahi remembers countless nights lying alone on …

Read More

These Social Bees Farm and Eat Fungus or Die

Posted December 1, 2015

These Social Bees Farm and Eat Fungus or Die

CELL PRESS Researchers have discovered that a social, stingless bee from Brazil feeds its larvae on a special type of fungus grown in the nest. Without it, very few young survive, according to a report in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 22. The discovery marks the first such relationship between a social …

Read More

U.S Honey Crops and Markets – December 2015

US Crops and Honey Markets
Posted December 1, 2015

U.S Honey Crops and Markets – December 2015

UNITED STATES Reports from beekeepers indicate a mostly strong market for honey at both wholesale and retail levels. However, the pressure on large lots of honey offered to packers continues and offering prices are down some from last year. Reporters blame this on both cheaper foreign honey, as well as larger stocks of new crop …

Read More

Letters to the Editor – December 2015

Posted December 1, 2015

Letters to the Editor – December 2015

Swarm Trap Article Was Helpful I want to thank Dr. Leo Sharashkin and ABJ for the article “A Swarm Trap On Every Tree.” This ingenious design has enabled me to expand my apiary almost 4-fold this spring. I have put up swarm traps in the past using 10-frame hives with a full deep and an …

Read More

VIEW SITE MAP