WSDA, USDA ANNOUNCE ERADICATION OF NORTHERN GIANT HORNET FROM THE UNITED STATES

Posted February 1, 2025

WSDA, USDA ANNOUNCE ERADICATION OF NORTHERN GIANT HORNET FROM THE UNITED STATES

OLYMPIA – After three years without confirmed detections, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have declared the northern giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia, formerly known as Asian giant hornet) eradicated from Washington and the United States. “We’re pleased to announce the eradication of the northern giant hornet …

Posted February 1, 2025

HONEY BEE HEALTH COALITION RELEASES TIPS FOR BEEKEEPERS ON NAVIGATING THE H-2A SEASONAL WORKER PROGRAM

The Honey Bee Health Coalition (HBHC) has published a new resource to help beekeepers understand and successfully navigate the H-2A process for securing seasonal workers. The two-page guide, titled “Tips for Getting the H-2A Process Started Right,” provides clear, actionable steps for beekeepers to meet labor needs while remaining in compliance with H-2A program requirements. …

Posted February 1, 2025

Contents – February 2025

Picture This: Bee Blessing Boys! Residential youth ministry teaches beekeeping and photography Steve “Mac” McNair – 153 The U.S. is Monitoring for Tropilaelaps. Why isn’t Canada? Alison McAfee – 157 A History of the Discoveries About the Sexuality of the Honey Bee – Part 4 Frédéric Eggers de Villepin – 161 Common is the New …

American Bee Journal Vol 165, No. 2 February 2025 Cover Callouts: Understanding honeybee castes - 171, Build a groovy shim for winter feeding - 183, How bee look to each other - 191

Posted February 1, 2025

ABJ FEBRUARY 2025 COVER

A long road: Springtime seems a long road ahead for much of the country. But on warm days, your bees are already out searching for early-blooming maples, elms and other pollen sources that will jump-start brood rearing for the coming season. Our cover photo was taken in January 2022 by Cheryl Burkhead of Berryton, Kansas.

Posted January 1, 2025

Ten Mini-lectures on Honey Bee Biology

It happens all the time Yes, it does frequently happen that you or I are asked to give a short overview of some aspect of honey bee biology or behavior. Maybe I’m sitting by a stranger on a plane flight. Maybe someone at church remarks that you’re the bee guy and then a question ensues …

Posted January 1, 2025

Looking to the Future

Bee classes are filling up and the new year is beginning. Those going into beekeeping for the first time are expecting some form of pleasure with eager questions for information. One can see it in their actions and faces. As the above weather map of the United States in January shows, there is not much …

Posted January 1, 2025

Managing Tropilaelaps via cultural and chemical controls

Pretty much every beekeeper in my orbit is asking me about Tropilaelaps mercedesae (from here forward called Tropilaelaps; see Photo 1). In fact, as I sit down to write this month’s column, outgoing American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) president Dan Winter just left the Dyce Lab and Tropilaelaps was a big part of our conversation for …

Posted January 1, 2025

The Appearance of Bees to Each Other (Conspecifics) in Ultraviolet Light, Part 1

Here I release the first results of one of my classified projects. These projects are serious scientific bee research endeavors usually with a high risk of failure (that is, finding nothing worth reporting). If a classified project works, however, the results could be useful from a basic science perspective (exploration) or from an applied science …

Posted January 1, 2025

The Classroom – January 2025

Q: Exclusions Cages As I prepare for the upcoming season, I have bought some exclusion cages to hold my queens. My goal is to use them for 14-day brood breaks to help control Varroa, followed by oxalic acid treatment. However, I am wondering if these cages might also be suitable for banking mated queens within …

Posted January 1, 2025

Tooling Around: How to Use, Lose, and Abuse a Hive Tool

I carried a tattered Amazon box from the cabinet above the wooden trap door to the kitchen counter. The box was leaden, brimming with tools my husband had gathered the last time he visited our “project house” in South Dakota. Just then, I needed a tool to lift an ancient tack strip from a wooden …

WSDA, USDA ANNOUNCE ERADICATION OF NORTHERN GIANT HORNET FROM THE UNITED STATES

Posted February 1, 2025