USDA REPORTS DEMAND FOR HONEY REACHES ALL-TIME HIGH

Posted October 1, 2022

USDA REPORTS DEMAND FOR HONEY REACHES ALL-TIME HIGH

In USDA Sugar and Sweeteners Report, honey consumption totals 618 million pounds for the first time Erie, Colorado, August 16, 2022 — U.S. honey demand reached an all-time high, according to the latest Sugar and Sweeteners Outlook report (https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/outlooks/104129/sss-m-406.pdf) published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In a special article on the U.S. …

Posted October 1, 2022

CONTENTS – OCTOBER 2022

International Honey Market Report Ron Phipps – 1063 Autumn Reads: Book Reviews Carol Hrusovszky and M.E.A. McNeil – 1077 A Year As a Commercial Beekeeper — October Charles Linder – 1085 Colony Confidential … What Really Goes on Inside the Hive Chapter 9: A Chance Meeting Peter Keilty, with illustrations by Bridget White – 1098 …

Posted October 1, 2022

ABJ Cover October 2022

Goldenrod (genus Solidago), consists of over 100 species, and is native across broad swaths of North America. For many beekeepers, especially in rural areas, goldenrod is the last major nectar flow before winter. Our cover photo was taken in October 2020 by Jamie Jackson of Brewton, Alabama.

Posted September 1, 2022

The Classroom – September 2022

Q Queen questions Does the presence of a well mated, good laying queen delay maturation (mating/development) in a virgin queen? Is this perhaps why the mature queen usually leaves with a swarm prior to the virgin queen hatching? I have created multi-queen colonies using queens of various developmental ages. Each queen has a different medium …

Posted September 1, 2022

Fall Season Bee Colony Management

A series of beekeepers’ “best guesses” It’s a fact Yes, it’s a fact. Honey bees are perfectly capable of managing themselves. Yet here I am — offering advice to both new and experienced beekeepers on typical colony fall management protocols. Left to their decisions, honey bees would swarm more often, select much smaller nest domiciles …

Posted September 1, 2022

Braula Basics: A Pest Worth Worrying About?

These clingy flies might not be as harmless as they seem As varroa pops up in ever more Australian apiaries, it is becoming increasingly likely that this time, the parasite will not be contained. Though previously famous for being one of the last places in the world untouched by varroa, Australia is quickly losing hope …

Posted September 1, 2022

A Slovenian-style Apiary Overlooking a Mountain Top

A Slovenian-style apiary is a magical place where art, nature, beekeeping, and practicality coalesce into a pollinator haven. Overlooking Mount St. Helens in sleepy Onalaska, Washington, artist and entrepreneur Kay Crawford and her husband, Robbie, created an idyllic kingdom. Here, honey bees and dozens of native species commingle among acres of flowers and enjoy a …

Posted September 1, 2022

When do honey bees compete with native wild bees? Part 2

In the March 2022 issue of Notes from the Lab [162(3):325-327] I summarized a study from Marseille, France, which showed that when there were greater numbers of managed honey bees at a national park, native wild bees visited flowers from different plant species. One interpretation of the study is that honey bees outcompeted the wild …

Posted September 1, 2022

Seeing Finer Details in Honey Using a Polariscope

When I kept bees in the 1970s, 125 hives along the James River west from Richmond, Virginia in several apiaries for about 40 miles, the spring wildflower, mostly tulip poplar, made dark honey. A polariscope seemed exotic, and I did not know how it worked. I made honey by the ton, but demand was weak …

Posted September 1, 2022

BE INFORMED PARTNERSHIPSURVEY RESULTS

United States Honey Bee Colony Losses 2021-2022: Preliminary Results show losses down from last year Note: This is a preliminary analysis. Sample sizes and estimates are likely to change. A more detailed final report is being prepared for publication in a peer-reviewed journal at a later date. The Bee Informed Partnership (http://beeinformed.org) has monitored managed …

USDA REPORTS DEMAND FOR HONEY REACHES ALL-TIME HIGH

Posted October 1, 2022