The Beekeeper’s Companion Since 1861
Cover for the November 2024 issue of the American Bee Journal. The cover depicts a painting of a bee hive in the foreground surrounded by lavender, with seveal white building with brown roofs in the background. Call-outs: The honey bee is not the enemy - 1185, DWV: Is there a vaccine for that? - 1175, Unlocking the sexuality of the honey bee - 1179

A Pathogenic Fungus Could Lead to a New Method of Varroa Control

Posted September 1, 2021

A Pathogenic Fungus Could Lead to a New Method of Varroa Control

Researchers at Washington State University aim to develop the biocontrol agent as a commercial product Deep in the Brazilian rainforest, if you look closely enough, you might find a gruesome scene: Like a sinister sewing pin, a fungal plume sprouts from an ant’s body. The ant, still hopelessly clinging to a leaf even after death, …

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Time to Control Mites

honey bee and varroa mites
Posted September 1, 2021

Time to Control Mites

You have undoubtedly read or discussed or listened to (one or more) YouTubes on varroa mites — perhaps you have digested a great deal about mites? August and September represent our last best chance to obtain varroa mite control. High mite numbers can lead to high deformed wing virus (DWV) levels and sudden colony death. …

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It’s All About the Flowers

bee on flower
Posted September 1, 2021

It’s All About the Flowers

It wasn’t long ago that nearly all beekeepers came into the practice from some agrarian pursuit. These people were gardeners, farmers, orchardists, or dairymen who recognized the benefit of keeping honey bees. Later, others got into it because beekeeping was part of a treasured childhood. How often do you hear, “My father kept bees” or …

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How Tropilaelaps mites reduce foraging efficiency of adult honey bees

tropilaelaps
Posted September 1, 2021

How Tropilaelaps mites reduce foraging efficiency of adult honey bees

While the varroa mite is the most important and widespread pest of honey bees across the world, a different mite, Tropilaelaps mercedesae, may be a bigger threat. Tropilaelaps (Photo 1) is smaller than varroa, has a faster reproductive rate, a shorter phoretic phase (i.e., the phase when mite is on adult bees and is most …

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Finding Queen Cells That are Almost Invisible

locating queen bee cells
Posted September 1, 2021

Finding Queen Cells That are Almost Invisible

One of my big bee management jobs begins toward the end of the swarm season. I inspect all my colonies to make sure each one has a laying queen. Definitely by the end of June when our spring nectar flow is winding down, I need to be finishing with my queen inspections. Especially for colonies …

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Letters to the Editor – September 2021

Posted September 1, 2021

Letters to the Editor – September 2021

You have undoubtedly read or discussed or listened to (one or more) YouTubes on varroa mites — perhaps you have digested a great deal about mites? August and September represent our last best chance to obtain varroa mite control. High mite numbers can lead to high deformed wing virus (DWV) levels and sudden colony death. …

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Contents – September 2021

Posted September 1, 2021

Contents – September 2021

A New Honey Label? Obstacles, Obfuscation and Optimism M.E.A. McNeil – 971 Build a Multi-use Robbing Screen Mike Haney – 979 How the Honey Bee Came to Mexico Peter L Borst. – 985 A Comparative Trial of the Pollen Subs 2020 — Part 3 Randy Oliver – 997 Observations on Pollen Subs — Part 2: …

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ABJ September 2021 Cover

ABJ September 2021 Cover
Posted September 1, 2021

ABJ September 2021 Cover

Sarah Adkins took this photo of her husband, Travis, working bees in southwestern Oklahoma. The hives were on an alfalfa field.

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The Classroom – August 2021

The Classroom - ABJ - Jamie Ellis
Posted August 1, 2021

The Classroom – August 2021

Q  Mite controls Would you please set up a survey question for readers to respond to regarding their experiences using various mite control products? Ease or difficulty of use, pros and cons, etc. Most controls are relatively expensive in my opinion. Deciding which one to use based on the manufacturers’ advertisements can be deceiving. Recently …

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The Secret Lives of Drones

honey bee drones
Posted August 1, 2021

The Secret Lives of Drones

New research is settling the debate over whether drone congregation areas really exist A common honey bee party fact is that drones fly to congregation areas to find a queen. But this nugget of knowledge is debated among scientists, since most of the data that led researchers to this conclusion used lures to attract the …

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