AUBURN UNIVERSITY & APIARY INSPECTORS KICK OFF 2024 TROPILAELAPS TRAINING GRANT WITH SUCCESSFUL THAILAND TRIP

Posted June 1, 2024

AUBURN UNIVERSITY & APIARY INSPECTORS KICK OFF 2024 TROPILAELAPS TRAINING GRANT WITH SUCCESSFUL THAILAND TRIP

In the U.S. the Western honey bees, Apis mellifera, have been devastated by varroa mites, which jumped from the Asian honey bee species Apis cerana many decades ago and arrived in the U.S. in the ‘80’s. Given the history and impact of the varroa mite to the U.S. beekeeping industry, a growing concern among beekeepers, …

Posted June 1, 2024

Contents – June 2024

Microbiome of the Honey Bee Robert Owen – 607 Marking Queens: A Look Back Peter L Borst – 613 Effect of OAV on the Rearing brood Ernie Daley and Randy Oliver – 620 What Bison Did for the Bees: The Story of the World’s Greatest “Weed” Peter Keilty – 645 How Many Honey Bee Colonies …

Posted June 1, 2024

ABJ JUNE 2024 COVER

Our cover image comes to us from Denise Cocchiara of Sparta, New Jersey. Denise painted a series of beekeeping water colors – this one titled “Beekeeper III” – which won awards in the 2023 New Jersey watercolor Society Annual Juried Exhibition. We would like to thank her neighbor (and ABJ reader) Tom Makoujy for sharing …

Posted May 1, 2024

The Classroom – May 2024

Q Hive Configuration Question You have talked that you run deep + medium hive configurations, and that at a certain point, you shake down the medium and insert a queen excluder. You turn the medium into a honey super for the spring to get them to lay up the winter stores. At what point do …

Posted May 1, 2024

“Bees”: A Historical Bee Journal Full of Illustrated Apiculture

When historical bee journals can readily be found dating back to the late 1800s, finding one from the late 1940s to the early 1950s does not seem all that old. Production and dissemination of the journal are also important factors to consider; a fairly recent journal without a wide distribution can become quite rare. “Bees” …

Posted May 1, 2024

Should Beekeepers Rough Up Their Hive bodies to Promote Propolis?

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, most people invested time and effort into staying healthy. I’m guessing nearly everyone reading this article bought and used hand sanitizer and face masks. Plexiglass screens were erected at the check-in areas of businesses, and work surfaces were disinfected frequently. We did these things because we’re a social …

Posted May 1, 2024

Cutting Through the Weeds: Is No Mow May Pollinator-friendly?

Many of us delight in the crisp scent of a freshly mown lawn. The emerald fragrance of a spring breeze overlain with the citrus-and-cucumber aroma of cut grass signals a rebirth. As winter recedes, the dewy scent of wet soil and slinky earthworms overwhelms us with joy, hope, and a belief in the future. As …

Posted May 1, 2024

Maximize a Flow Hive Harvest with Gene Killion’s Comb Honey Production Method

We said it could never work! We fell out of our chairs when Stuart and Cedar Anderson touted a more “hands-off” method of harvesting honey and turned the Flow Hive tap to show it. And now, almost 10 years later, there are more Flow Hive users than ever. Some of them have great success and …

Posted May 1, 2024

The Old Craft of Box Hive Beekeeping: a bygone minimalist bee management technique

Here’s the truth There is a staggering amount of beekeeping lore and instruction on the internet. The recent addition of archived books, pamphlets, catalogs and publications has gone even further in adding to the stock of bee information — information that is both old and new. I have long since learned that the web has …

Posted May 1, 2024

Letters to the Editor – May 2024

Darwin Among the Hives In reference to my February article, a reader wrote to me: “I have read your many contributions over the years with both respect and admiration, and thus was a little surprised to find myself in some disagreement with the February contribution — ‘Darwin among the Hives.’ My impression is that you …

AUBURN UNIVERSITY & APIARY INSPECTORS KICK OFF 2024 TROPILAELAPS TRAINING GRANT WITH SUCCESSFUL THAILAND TRIP

Posted June 1, 2024