The Beekeeper’s Companion Since 1861
Volume 165 No. 12 December 2025 Cover American Bee Journal. Cover features a queen bee surrounded by worker bees. Cover Callouts: Managing pests and pathogens organically - 1321 Stem cells, weeds, and bees - 1337 Lower-energy beekeeping-1343

Reversing Hive Bodies in the Spring: Shown with Large Observation Hives

Posted April 1, 2023

Reversing Hive Bodies in the Spring: Shown with Large Observation Hives

Last year I installed bees in large multi-comb (wide and tall) observation hives with frames (when a usurpation swarm interrupted my work). [See “An Illuminating Encounter with a Usurpation Swarm,” December 2022.] This article continues that work, showing one of its benefits. These observation colonies went in my bee house, originally designed to house 30 …

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Hiving a Swarm of Bees

Posted April 1, 2023

Hiving a Swarm of Bees

A hallmark of beekeeping Swarming, a complicated bee behavior A swarm of honey bees is a biological wonderment. For most people who don’t keep bees, a single encounter with a swarm becomes a lifelong memory. For the established beekeeper, hiving a swarm is an economical moment — free bees. For the public, it’s a spicy …

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Witch Hazel: A Pollinator Feast that Breaks All the Rules

Posted April 1, 2023

Witch Hazel: A Pollinator Feast that Breaks All the Rules

Witch hazel has always flustered me. As a kid, witch hazel-scented products reminded me of a suffocating aunt who delivered too many perfumed hugs. If I smelled it at a picnic or a church supper, my stomach would flip-flop. Even the name tormented me. For decades, I avoided anything to do with witch hazel until …

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Too many honey bees can interfere with native wildflower reproduction

Posted April 1, 2023

Too many honey bees can interfere with native wildflower reproduction

One of the more controversial topics among beekeepers, conservationists, and land managers is the impact that managed honey bees can potentially have on native wild bees and native plants via competition for resources. I decided to wade into the science on this topic in last year’s March and September Notes from the Lab columns [162(3):325-327 …

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Letters to the Editor – April 2023

Posted April 1, 2023

Letters to the Editor – April 2023

Need advice on hive monitoring systems I have been exploring the value of various hive monitoring systems for my two hives. I was given a BuzzBox Mini for a present and proceeded to install following instructions, in fact repeated the various steps many times only to get fault messages. I have reached out several times …

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DNA RESEARCH FINDS LOW GENETIC DIVERSITY AMONG U.S. HONEY BEES

Posted April 1, 2023

DNA RESEARCH FINDS LOW GENETIC DIVERSITY AMONG U.S. HONEY BEES

U.S. agriculture owes many thanks to the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), as it plays the crucial role of pollinator within the nation’s food supply. Some of the nation’s food industries rely solely on the honey bee, and it’s estimated that the economic value of its pollination role is worth well over $17 billion each …

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2023 AMERICAN HONEY QUEEN AND PRINCESS

Posted April 1, 2023

2023 AMERICAN HONEY QUEEN AND PRINCESS

The American Beekeeping Federation is proud to announce that Selena Rampolla and Allison Hager were selected as the 2023 American Honey Queen and Princess. Queen Selena is the 21-year-old daughter of Faye Turke and Renato Rampolla of Lutz and Tampa, Florida. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s …

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Contents – April 2023

Posted April 1, 2023

Contents – April 2023

Book Reviews: Spring Reads Carol Hrusovszky – 371 Package Installation Using the Current Research Eric Talley – 389 Beekeeping Traditions of Ukraine Peter L Borst – 393 American Beekeeping Federation Urges Opening of Canadian Border ABF – 399 American Honey Producers Conference Wrap-up Mattie Joiner – 401 A Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration …

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ABJ April 2023 Cover

ABJ April 2023 Cover
Posted April 1, 2023

ABJ April 2023 Cover

They’re not always this easy. Gary Stansbery, at the Dadant home office in Hamilton, caught this swarm in April of 2020.

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ABJ MARCh 2023 Cover

ABJ March 2023 Cover
Posted March 14, 2023

ABJ MARCh 2023 Cover

Austėja is the goddess of honey and bees in Lithuanian lore. Patron of both bees and honey, her cult flourished from hunter-gatherer days to the 16th century. See Peter Borst’s “Beekeeping in Lithuania” in this issue. Illustration by VIKOBELO.

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