Honey Bee Health Coalition Ready to Provide Leadership in Implementing National Pollinator Health Strategy

Posted July 1, 2015

Honey Bee Health Coalition Ready to Provide Leadership in Implementing National Pollinator Health Strategy

Strategy Highlights Coalition as Platform for Public-Private Coordination to Accelerate, Achieve Task Force Goals [Keystone, Colorado, May 19, 2015] – The Honey Bee Health Coalition applauded the announcement of the National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and other Pollinators (https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/05/18/announcing-new-steps-promote-pollinator-health) and the accompanying Pollinator Research Action Plan, released today by President Barack …

Posted July 1, 2015

Some More Members of the Salicaceae

Poplar, Aspen, Cottonwood in general Scientific name: Populus sp. From the beekeeper’s perspective members of this group of plants seems much the same and here are treated as a group. Synonyms: In my view, taxonomically the genus Populus is a bit messy. My interpretation of the USDA Plants website[21] is that it currently lists a mix of 25 …

Posted July 1, 2015

July 2015 Cover

Photographer Michael LaSpina of Lincoln, CA took this excellent photo of a honey bee working his organic lavender. We thank him for sharing it with our readers.

Posted July 1, 2015

July 2015 Table of Contents

Understanding Colony Buildup and Decline—Part 6—Hiccups in Colony Linear Buildup Randy Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …

Posted June 1, 2015

Small Hive Beetle Behavior with Movie Clips

With summer approaching, the hotter temperatures bring on the beetles, small hive beetles. Beekeepers need to be aware of small hive beetles, especially if the pests are endemic in their local areas. In my location of Piedmont Virginia, I regard small hive beetles as more of a problem than the greater wax moths. Quite often …

Posted June 1, 2015

The Classroom June 2015

Danielle Downey, Hawaii, Apiary Section Chief Imagine no winter! But then imagine…. a never-ending field season! Hawaii’s conditions make for top-notch queen rearing and honey production year-round. Hawaii’s large queen producers provide about 30% of the queens used in the USA and 75% of those used in Canada. Honey production per hive is 2nd nationally …

Posted June 1, 2015

The Members of a Honey Bee Colony

There is a lot of information one needs to know before keeping bees. Perhaps the most difficult part of getting started is learning all of the terminology associated with beekeeping. Beekeeping is, in fact, full of jargon. We put frames in supers. Bees pull comb and apply propolis to cracks and crevices around the hive. …

Posted June 1, 2015

EPA Announces It Is Unlikely to Approve New Outdoor Neonicotinoid Pesticide Uses

As part of EPA’s ongoing effort to protect pollinators, the Agency has sent letters to registrants of neonicotinoid pesticides with outdoor uses informing them that EPA will likely not be in a position to approve most applications for new uses of these chemicals until new bee data have been submitted and pollinator risk assessments are …

Posted June 1, 2015

Honey Bees use Multiple Genetic Pathways to Fight Infections

PENN STATE Honey bees use different sets of genes, regulated by two distinct mechanisms, to fight off viruses, bacteria and gut parasites, according to researchers at Penn State and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The findings may help scientists develop honey bee treatments that are tailored to specific types of infections. “Our results indicate that …

Posted June 1, 2015

Rapid Increase in Neonicotinoid Insecticides Driven by Seed Treatments

(Courtesy of PENN STATE) Use of a class of insecticides, called neonicotinoids, increased dramatically in the mid-2000s and was driven almost entirely by the use of corn and soybean seeds treated with the pesticides, according to researchers at Penn State. “Previous studies suggested that the percentage of corn acres treated with insecticides decreased during the …

Honey Bee Health Coalition Ready to Provide Leadership in Implementing National Pollinator Health Strategy

Posted July 1, 2015