The Beekeeper’s Companion Since 1861
American Bee Journal January 2025 Cover: A snow covered field in the foreground, with multicolored hives with snow on top in the middle-ground and bare trees in the background.

Beekeepers and Their Stuff: The Line Between Helpful Accumulation and Hoarding

A pile of repaired honey comb frames.
Posted October 1, 2024

Beekeepers and Their Stuff: The Line Between Helpful Accumulation and Hoarding

I was never a hoarder. As a child, my address shifted whenever a new sibling arrived or my dad’s employment changed. Later, as a camp counselor, my quarters moved along with each influx of new campers. In college, dorm rooms rotated for inexplicable reasons. And then, after graduation, I transplanted to find work and independence. …

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Letters to the Editor – October 2024

Posted October 1, 2024

Letters to the Editor – October 2024

Queen introduction method As usual, Tina Sebestyen’s article about discovering a better way to introduce queens to a colony (August issue) makes interesting reading and tempts me to suggest that some public-spirited beekeeper with nothing to do (ha-ha) should collect all the “how to do it” books on beekeeping and tear out the pages which …

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A TRIBUTE TO TROY FORE

Posted October 1, 2024

A TRIBUTE TO TROY FORE

January 29, 1945 — June 27, 2024 by Debbie Seib, Vice President, American Beekeeping Federation Troy Fore was the Executive Director for the American Beekeeping Federation for over 20 years, but he was so much more than that. He was a brother, a husband, a father, and a grandfather. In 2013, Troy was a Foundation …

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Contents – October 2024

Posted October 1, 2024

Contents – October 2024

Autumn Reads Rusty Burlew, Eugene Makovec, Tine Sebestyen – 1041 Legislative Update Charles Linder – 1059 Organic Colony Management … Preparing Honey Bee Colonies for Winter – What you Should Know Selina Bruckner, Robyn M. Underwood, Margarita M. López-Uribe – 1061 What’s Blooming in Your Neck of the Woods? October Ed Szymanski – 1065 A …

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ABJ OCTOBER 2024 COVER

American Bee Journal October Cover 2024 Call-outs: RNAi Varroa Treatment Getting Closer - 1081, CO2 in the Winter Hive - 1113, A Legislative update - 1059
Posted October 1, 2024

ABJ OCTOBER 2024 COVER

Softly … Joan Fox sent in our cover photo of a honey bee on desert milkweed (Asclepias subulata), which blooms in her Tucson, Arizona yard through much of the summer and fall.

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The Classroom – September 2024

The Classroom - ABJ - Jamie Ellis
Posted September 1, 2024

The Classroom – September 2024

Q Checkerboarding Frames My bee mentor (vast warehouse of knowledge) says to checkerboard frames of brood and honey, meaning to move full frames of honey to the outside of the nest and empty ones to center of the nest. I have been doing this for two years. It seems to be working. Do you have any …

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The Seasonal Battle for Control of the Hive: Wax Moths vs. Honey Bees

Posted September 1, 2024

The Seasonal Battle for Control of the Hive: Wax Moths vs. Honey Bees

The beekeeper’s trash pile I’m not proud of it but, since misery loves some company, I hope some of you have a bee equipment trash pile too. A pile of trashed bee equipment seems to go hand in hand with a long-time beekeeper. The longer one keeps bees, the larger the pile. You know the …

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How Bees Feed Their Young: Social Sharing to Solo Snacking

A beekeeper, whose face is hidden by a frame of honeycomb and bees inspects the frame. The beekeeper is in a yellow bee suit with white and yellow gloves in and are with trees in the background.
Posted September 1, 2024

How Bees Feed Their Young: Social Sharing to Solo Snacking

Imagine a photo of a beekeeper scanning a frame of brood. The beekeeper wears a multi-layered suit of armor and clutches the frame with thick gloves and a veiled expression. This posture, perhaps the most common image in beekeeping, makes me wonder if beekeepers do anything else. I’m especially perplexed by the TV commercial for …

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A Fungicide Commonly Used During Crop Pollination is Acutely Toxic to Honey Bee Larvae

Posted September 1, 2024

A Fungicide Commonly Used During Crop Pollination is Acutely Toxic to Honey Bee Larvae

Captan is the most-used fungicide during New York apple pollination, with over 307,000 kg applied in 2018 (Wieben, 2021). In fact, the next five most-used fungicides (mancozeb, copper sulfate, thiophanate-methyl, cyprodinil, and myclobutanil) combined for only 207,000 kg of use, meaning captan is not only the most-used fungicide, it’s by far the most-used fungicide. Countrywide …

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W.T. Falconer Manufacturing: A Once Thriving Producer of Beekeeping Equipment

Figure 1: The 1888 catalog cover of the W.T. Falconer Manufacturing company. Text on the cover says: W.T. Falconer Manufacturer of Simplicity Hives of all styles, one piece sections, "Falcon Brand" comb foundation, and general dealer of Apiarian supplies, Jamestown, N.Y. 1888. The cover is a grayish brown with an ornate rectangular border around the text.
Posted September 1, 2024

W.T. Falconer Manufacturing: A Once Thriving Producer of Beekeeping Equipment

The history of American apiculture has left a long list of bee supply companies that once were part of the growing honey industry. In the 1860s, these businesses began appearing, and they became more numerous in later decades. Some of the smaller suppliers may only be known from the literature from their catalogs and pamphlets. …

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