USDA-ARS STUDY SHOWS AMYGDALIN IN ALMOND NECTAR CAN REDUCE VIRUSES AND GUT PARASITES IN HONEY BEES

Posted August 1, 2021

USDA-ARS STUDY SHOWS AMYGDALIN IN ALMOND NECTAR CAN REDUCE VIRUSES AND GUT PARASITES IN HONEY BEES

BELTSVILLE, Md., June 22, 2021 – Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have found that a component in almond nectar and pollen can reduce honey bee viruses and gut parasites, which are some of the leading threats to bee health and colonies. The study, published in the journal Insects, …

Posted August 1, 2021

OFF-LABEL VARROA TREATMENTS POSE LONG-TERM RISKS FOR BEEKEEPING INDUSTRY

Honey Bee Health Coalition Publishes Guide Documenting How Commercial Beekeepers Keep Healthy Hives without Consistent Use of Off-label Varroa Treatments DENVER, CO, Keystone Policy Center — Commercial beekeepers are finding success treating Varroa, a parasitic mite that kills honeybees, in their hives without relying exclusively on off-label chemical treatments, according to a guide published …

Posted August 1, 2021

Contents – August 2021

Uncapping Comb: Managing Beeswax on a Small Scale Mike Haney – 849 The Bee Informed Partnership: Exploding the Mite Bomb Myth and Further Adventures in Data Mining M.E.A. McNeil – 853 The Honey Bee Pest and Disease Survey: Over a Decade of Data Mary Reed – 859 A Comparative Trial of the Pollen Subs 2020 …

Posted August 1, 2021

August 2021 ABJ Cover

Mmm … honey. Day laborers draw pristine wax cappings over fresh food stores, as scores of reflecting pools capture caricatures of an inquisitive beekeeper, each from its own unique perspective. The subject, Denise Roesler-Cunningham of Ballwin, Missouri, posted this image to Facebook, and we discovered it there.

Posted July 1, 2021

The Classroom – July 2021

Q When not to merge bee colonies In a recent podcast [UF/IFAS: Two Bees in a Podcast], you discussed how bee colonies can be merged without newspaper. Is there a time when you should not just throw frames together? Howard Frysinger Pennsylvania, May A I combine colonies of all types, during all times of the …

Posted July 1, 2021

What if we could make bees immune to pesticides?

Since my lab currently conducts pesticide risk assessments for bees, I sometimes hear feedback along the lines of, “Scott, it seems like you’re always focusing on the problems instead of finding solutions.” While I’m certainly sympathetic to this criticism, I would argue we first need to understand if (or when) there’s a problem before coming …

Posted July 1, 2021

A Bear Kills an Apiary in Virginia, Leaving a Detailed Photographic Record

The destructive drama began this spring when I arrived at one of my more secluded apiaries. For reference, the apiary appeared as shown in Figure 1 a couple of years earlier when the apiary had only three two-foot long top-bar hives on two elevated hive stands. Figure 2 (left) shows the view from where I …

Posted July 1, 2021

The Vocabulary of Beekeeping – Different Things Need Different Words

This may be the last ABJ article I ever write. Why? I have a premonition that an article about English in a beekeeping journal won’t go over well with the readership. It might be a fireable offense, like writing about icing cupcakes in a wrestling rag. Nevertheless, I’m not easily deterred. Humans communicate through language. …

Posted July 1, 2021

The Legacy of the Mite-biting Bees

Grooming is an important varroa-resistance trait, and new research might make it easier to select in breeding programs According to the Centers for Disease Control, every year over 400,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease — a serious illness, caused by bacteria transmitted by ticks. Tick season is in full swing, and there are few …

Posted July 1, 2021

Are You Ready to Harvest?

Honey. Many of us will harvest honey in July. Honey is our reward for beekeeping. We look after and manage our colonies 24/7/52 hours/days/weeks of the year, with the expectation they will give us two weeks of surplus honey in return. One common concept of keeping bees is that colony populations increase with spring due …

USDA-ARS STUDY SHOWS AMYGDALIN IN ALMOND NECTAR CAN REDUCE VIRUSES AND GUT PARASITES IN HONEY BEES

Posted August 1, 2021