PNAS PAPER: FRANKLIN’S BUMBLE BEE DECLINE NOT DUE TO PATHOGENS, ACCORDING TO MUSEUM GENOMIC RESEARCH

Posted December 1, 2025

PNAS PAPER: FRANKLIN’S BUMBLE BEE DECLINE NOT DUE TO PATHOGENS, ACCORDING TO MUSEUM GENOMIC RESEARCH

The mysterious population decline of the imperiled Franklin’s bumble bee, which once flourished in a small area of northern California and southern Oregon, is not due to pathogens, but most likely to population bottlenecks and environmental issues, such as fire and drought stressors, according to newly published museum genomic research in the Proceedings of the …

Posted December 1, 2025

VARROA IN AUSTRALIA

September 2025 update Since its detection near Newcastle, New South Wales in 2022, Varroa destructor has extended its geographic range in spite of strong quarantine and movement restrictions on hives. At the beginning of September 2025, the mite was detected in an almond plantation in the Riverland area of South Australia. The infested hive was …

Posted December 1, 2025

“BEE CLUB” NOVEL WINS GOLD MEDAL AT APIMONDIA

“Bee Club,” a novel by bee journalist Mea McNeil, has been awarded a gold medal at the 2025 Apimondia World Beekeeping Awards. The presentation ceremony was a highlight of the Apimondia International Apicultural Congress in Copenhagen. Entries came from countries around the globe, celebrating “innovators, artisans, and visionaries shaping the world of beekeeping.” Among 20 …

Posted December 1, 2025

Contents-December 2025

THE CLASSROOM Jamie Ellis – 1303 BEEKEEPING BASICS Just Keeping Your Bees Alive? Tina Sebestyen – 1309 Apimondia 2025 Kris Fricke – 1315 Organic Colony Management … Managing Non-varroa Pests and Pathogens in Your Organic Apiary Laura C. McHenry, Margarita M. López-Uribe, Robyn M. Underwood – 1321 Oxalic Acid Titration Randy Oliver – 1327 THE …

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

Posted December 1, 2025

ABJ DECEMBER 2025 COVER

On the 12th day of the Christmas: A royal retinue! Jennifer Rasico of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, just took “a quick photo” for her bee-curious neighbors, and accidentally captured this classic queen retinue. They’re not always this cooperative, but it sure makes Her Majesty easy to find!

Posted November 3, 2025

The Classroom – November 2025

Q: Spotted Lanternflies Recently spotted lanternflies have started to make a frequent appearance where I live in Southwestern Virginia. I have read that they have been spreading in the U.S. for the past decade, but I am just now hearing about them. A lot of people I know are worried about what their impact could …

Posted November 3, 2025

Screened Bottom Boards, Honey Bees, and Mites

The cost of a screened bottom board is not that different from that of an assembled and painted solid one, though the Ultimate Screened Bottom Board1 (well worth the money) is a bit more, so the real question is, which one is better for my bees, and will it help keep mite numbers low? We …

Posted November 3, 2025

Tripping Through the Sunflowers: How I flip-flopped on a research paper

Back in 2023, a paper appeared in the Journal of Economic Entomology about how honey bee colonies exposed to sunflower pollen had fewer varroa mites than colonies not exposed to sunflowers.1 The story got a truckload of press, and beekeepers all over North America were told that scattering a few sunflower seeds around their apiaries …

Posted November 3, 2025

The Ageless Alley Queen and Drone Trap

I want to tell you a bee swarm story I have a swarm story that I have relived many times, but it requires some painful background. I want to tell you the tale here. My wife went through a debilitating illness for a bit more than three years. I readily devoted most of my time …

Posted November 3, 2025

A Small Colony of Queenless Bees: A Closer Look

This article shows some of my work with bees from the apiary to the bee house. Here I am handling bees that ordinarily would be merely united with another colony under normal beekeeping practices. Here, the reader can see how I handle bees when I want to study other options. During the spring of 2025, …

PNAS PAPER: FRANKLIN’S BUMBLE BEE DECLINE NOT DUE TO PATHOGENS, ACCORDING TO MUSEUM GENOMIC RESEARCH

Posted December 1, 2025