Removing the First Difficult Frame from the Broodnest with All the Frames Welded in Tight with Propolis

Posted December 1, 2025

Removing the First Difficult Frame from the Broodnest with All the Frames Welded in Tight with Propolis

A subtle kindness when one’s first bees come from a package, or even from a nuc, is that the frames are easy to remove from the hive body. Then as the new beekeeper gains experience removing frames and handling them, the bees are collecting propolis, attaching the frames to the hive body more firmly. Gradually …

Posted December 1, 2025

Lower-energy Beekeeping: Making do with less

A small bee operation A small bee operation is not necessarily a subpar bee operation. Time and again, when I was conversing with beekeepers, they would say something like, “I only have three colonies,” as though that demeaned their contribution to beekeeping. Yet, it does seem to be a bit true. Beekeepers sometime speak with …

Posted December 1, 2025

Stem Cells, Weeds, and Honey Bees

“Do weeds have stem cells?” The question coming from my phone was a non sequitur, so unexpected that the only stems I could picture were the sort that support flowers, so I wavered. “Yes. No. What?” “I’ve been pulling weeds for days,” my husband complained, “and under the soil surface, there’s this white nodule. If …

Posted December 1, 2025

Just Keeping Your Bees Alive?

One December I was having coffee with someone I was mentoring when he asked a question that stopped me mid-conversation. He asked what I was planning to do with my bees in the next beekeeping season. There was an awkward pause while I frantically searched my mind for an answer that sounded halfway intelligent. The …

Posted December 1, 2025

Letters to the Editor – December 2025

Don’t Blame Hobbyists for Tropilaelaps Charles Linder in his column (ABJ August) wrote about biosecurity in the bee yard and the risk for Tropilaelaps arriving at ports. He commented on an East Coast port allowing local “hobbyist” beekeepers to remove “imported” swarms from the port. I don’t know which East Coast port Mr. Linder is …

Posted December 1, 2025

PNAS PAPER: FRANKLIN’S BUMBLE BEE DECLINE NOT DUE TO PATHOGENS, ACCORDING TO MUSEUM GENOMIC RESEARCH

The mysterious population decline of the imperiled Franklin’s bumble bee, which once flourished in a small area of northern California and southern Oregon, is not due to pathogens, but most likely to population bottlenecks and environmental issues, such as fire and drought stressors, according to newly published museum genomic research in the Proceedings of the …

Posted December 1, 2025

VARROA IN AUSTRALIA

September 2025 update Since its detection near Newcastle, New South Wales in 2022, Varroa destructor has extended its geographic range in spite of strong quarantine and movement restrictions on hives. At the beginning of September 2025, the mite was detected in an almond plantation in the Riverland area of South Australia. The infested hive was …

Posted December 1, 2025

“BEE CLUB” NOVEL WINS GOLD MEDAL AT APIMONDIA

“Bee Club,” a novel by bee journalist Mea McNeil, has been awarded a gold medal at the 2025 Apimondia World Beekeeping Awards. The presentation ceremony was a highlight of the Apimondia International Apicultural Congress in Copenhagen. Entries came from countries around the globe, celebrating “innovators, artisans, and visionaries shaping the world of beekeeping.” Among 20 …

Posted December 1, 2025

Contents-December 2025

THE CLASSROOM Jamie Ellis – 1303 BEEKEEPING BASICS Just Keeping Your Bees Alive? Tina Sebestyen – 1309 Apimondia 2025 Kris Fricke – 1315 Organic Colony Management … Managing Non-varroa Pests and Pathogens in Your Organic Apiary Laura C. McHenry, Margarita M. López-Uribe, Robyn M. Underwood – 1321 Oxalic Acid Titration Randy Oliver – 1327 THE …

Volume 165 No. 12 December 2025 Cover American Bee Journal. Cover features a queen bee surrounded by worker bees. Cover Callouts: Managing pests and pathogens organically - 1321 Stem cells, weeds, and bees - 1337 Lower-energy beekeeping-1343

Posted December 1, 2025

ABJ DECEMBER 2025 COVER

On the 12th day of the Christmas: A royal retinue! Jennifer Rasico of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, just took “a quick photo” for her bee-curious neighbors, and accidentally captured this classic queen retinue. They’re not always this cooperative, but it sure makes Her Majesty easy to find!

Removing the First Difficult Frame from the Broodnest with All the Frames Welded in Tight with Propolis

Posted December 1, 2025