NORTH AMERICAN BEE STRATEGY UNVEILED TO PROTECT POLLINATORS AND STRENGTHEN HONEY MARKET

Posted February 1, 2026

NORTH AMERICAN BEE STRATEGY UNVEILED TO PROTECT POLLINATORS AND STRENGTHEN HONEY MARKET

Four major North American beekeeping organizations released the first-ever North American Bee Strategy (https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/NABS/) this week, a coordinated, continent-wide plan to protect honey bees, strengthen the viability of professional beekeeping, and safeguard food security across the United States and Canada. The strategy is the result of a cross-border collaboration between the American Beekeeping Federation, the …

Posted February 1, 2026

INDIANA BEEKEEPERS ANNOUNCE SCHOLARSHIP

The Beekeepers of Indiana (TBoI) is pleased to offer a scholarship opportunity to provide tuition assistance to a junior or senior enrolled in an accredited U.S.-based undergraduate degree program that is preparing the candidate to pursue a career in apiculture. Candidate must have kept honey bees for a minimum of two (2) years by the …

Posted February 1, 2026

Contents – February 2026

THE CLASSROOM Jamie Ellis – 137 BEEKEEPING BASICS Have your cake and eat it, too Tina Sebestyen – 143 THE CURIOUS BEEKEEPER Decoding Your Apiary Ecosystem the iNaturalist Way Rusty Burlew – 147 The Tremble Dance: A Hidden Language of Honey Bee Colonies Katharine Julia Lanz – 153 The Spired Beehives of Rosslyn Chapel Samuel …

American Bee Journal Volume 166 No. 2 February 2026 Cover Callouts: The Tremble Dance: A Hidden Language - 153, honey bees search for sodium - 193, iNaturlaist on the Apiary -147

Posted February 1, 2026

ABJ FEBRUARY 2026 COVER

Bees of the borealis: Intense solar activity this past year causes several occurrences of aurora borealis, or northern lights, across much of North America. When solar particles ejected from the sun energize magnetic waves in the earth’s atmosphere, it can create dazzling, yet eerie, light displays. Chris Cecil took our cover photo during one such …

Posted January 1, 2026

Crop and Market – January 2026

Most areas are reporting colonies in fair to good condition going into winter. General inflation seems to have settled in at around 3%, but most consumers feel it is higher, especially when it comes to food. Yet most of our reporters still see strong demand for local honey at the retail level. Unfortunately, larger producers …

Posted January 1, 2026

The Classroom – January 2026

Q: Female Varroa Behavior What happens to a foundress Varroa after she emerges from the cell with an adult bee? A The word “foundress” is used to describe an adult female Varroa that invades a cell occupied by a honey bee larva and reproduces on the immature bee once the cell is capped. This mite …

Posted January 1, 2026

Treatment of a Colony’s Resident Queen After an Influx of Foreign Bees

Using locally reared queens selected for local conditions is a smart and proven way for bee businesses to thrive. My concern after studying bees for over 50 years regards a fundamental weakness in raising these queens. The queens are not available early in the spring In Virginia, unlike queens from the South. To have locally …

Posted January 1, 2026

Night Flight: A Beekeeper’s Guide to Zombie Flies

Watching a honey bee mulishly smash into a light bulb is disconcerting, surreal, as if the bee is shouting and pleading with the natural world: Hear me! Help me! I will never forget the bee tinking against the hot glass, desperate to evade the thing savaging her body, chewing her organs, hollowing her to a …

Posted January 1, 2026

Some Beekeeping Thoughts and Snapshots

Just a short time ago, as did you, I started another new year. What is it about a new year’s beginning? Maybe it’s just me, but I’m always reflective, optimistic — even sappy as the new year begins. Normally, I boldly predict major upcoming changes in my bee life that will — finally — make …

Posted January 1, 2026

Invisible Bee Communication

Honey bee dance communication is well known and intriguing, but there is a lot of communication going on in the hive that is invisible, and more important for us as beekeepers to be aware of and understand.1 Having a better understanding of the invisible ways that bees communicate with one another can be very helpful …

NORTH AMERICAN BEE STRATEGY UNVEILED TO PROTECT POLLINATORS AND STRENGTHEN HONEY MARKET

Posted February 1, 2026