Q Can laying workers produce female offspring? I received two questions on this topic. I list both questions before providing my answer. I am a southern California backyard beekeeper and have been enjoying the hobby for ten years or so. The articles “The Honey Bees in Africa” & “The Cape Bee, an Unusual Pest of …
Read More
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 …
Read More
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 …
Read More
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 …
Read More
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 …
Read MoreNeed 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 …
Read MoreU.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 …
Read More
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 …
Read MoreBook 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 …
Read More
They’re not always this easy. Gary Stansbery, at the Dadant home office in Hamilton, caught this swarm in April of 2020.
Read More"I want the American Bee Journal to be the finest publication about bees and beekeeping in the world."
- C.P. Dadant, Editor of ABJ 1912-1938
THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
51 S. 2nd St., Hamilton, IL 62341
Phone: 217.847.3324
Fax: 217.847.3660
info@americanbeejournal.com
©2026 Copyright the American Bee Journal. All Rights Reserved.
website developed by CleverOgre
