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

J.S. Harbison and Moving Bees to California in the 1800s Part 1

Posted October 1, 2022

J.S. Harbison and Moving Bees to California in the 1800s Part 1

Moving beehives is a laborious job for most any beekeeper today even with modern trucks and paved roads. Imagine moving bee colonies in the 19th century. In 1857, J.S. Harbison began moving beehives from Pennsylvania to California, quite a bold move for those times. At the beginning of this western migration, Harbison learned about arguably …

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EFB: A Disease to be Taken Seriously

Posted October 1, 2022

EFB: A Disease to be Taken Seriously

EFB might be the lesser of two foulbroods, but it is foul all the same Opening a hive that smells sweet with honey stuffed in every cranny is among the most pleasant sensations. But unless you’re a very lucky beekeeper, you also know the dreadful feeling of being greeted with the sick stench of rotting …

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The Puzzling Pupa and its Cryptic Cocoon

Posted October 1, 2022

The Puzzling Pupa and its Cryptic Cocoon

We all know honey bees spin cocoons, right? It’s a fact backed by every beekeeping book ever published. But talk to enough beekeepers, and you will soon learn most of them have never seen a bee cocoon, at least not one they remember. Intrigued by this anomaly, I read everything I could about cocoons and …

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Bungled Queens and Laying Workers

Posted October 1, 2022

Bungled Queens and Laying Workers

A failed colony’s last gasp This is how this laying worker story started Earlier this summer, I was under a tent at a rainy outdoor field day where I had just given a general spring/summer presentation that essentially required me to shout at my audience for about fifty minutes. Afterwards, a couple of new beekeepers …

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Letters to the Editor – October 2022

Posted October 1, 2022

Letters to the Editor – October 2022

A California Honey Cave? As a follow-up to my article on “The Texas Honey Caves,” I stumbled upon this from California: A MINE OF SWEETNESS. “Generally, when we hear of rich strikes, it is in the gold or silver line; but this time it turns out to be honey, pure and sweet. A few days …

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LUTHER COLLEGE STUDENTS UNCOVER NEW IOWA BEE SPECIES

Posted October 1, 2022

LUTHER COLLEGE STUDENTS UNCOVER NEW IOWA BEE SPECIES

Decorah, Iowa, August 15, 2022 — Of the 55 species of bees found living on the Luther College campus this summer, seven have never been recorded in Iowa. Emmelyn Cullen ’24 and Gwen Coleman ’24 spent the summer surveying bee diversity at Luther. “The objective of the research is to make recommendations so that we …

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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. …

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CONTENTS – OCTOBER 2022

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 …

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ABJ Cover October 2022

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.

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The Classroom – September 2022

The Classroom - ABJ - Jamie Ellis
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 …

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