The Beekeeper’s Companion Since 1861
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

Moons Bee World: A Southern Bee Journal from the 1800s.

vintage beekeeping article
Posted December 1, 2019

Moons Bee World: A Southern Bee Journal from the 1800s.

Old Southern bee journals are notoriously rare. Moon’s Bee World, published in Rome, Georgia, purely intrigued me from the first time I heard about it. Some decades later, I found just one year of the monthly journal, 1874, the second year of its publication. Artistically, the covers were ornately decorated (see Figure 1). In my …

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When is pollinating almond actually profitable for beekeepers?

bee hives in field
Posted December 1, 2019

When is pollinating almond actually profitable for beekeepers?

The California almond crop is worth $2.2 billion and is estimated to add an additional $21.5 billion to the economy via 104,000 jobs in production, processing, manufacturing, and marketing. Notably, this multibillion-dollar industry is more or less completely reliant on managed honey bees since pollination is required to produce almonds and there are almost no …

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How to Identify a Honey Bee

honey bee identification
Posted December 1, 2019

How to Identify a Honey Bee

Not long ago I received a mysterious-looking package in the mail, a small white box with lots of postage. Inside I found a plastic vial wrapped in sheets of newsprint from The Wichita Eagle. The vial was dressed in a yellow sticky note that read, “I found this honey bee on the porch of my …

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The Classroom – December 2019

The Classroom - American Bee Journal
Posted December 1, 2019

The Classroom – December 2019

Q  too much — or not enough Hi Jerry, One of our local beekeepers asked me the question below. I don’t know the answer so I am forwarding it to you for your expert advice/comment. We are located in Southeastern Pennsylvania. “I have noticed that my bees are coming in loaded with pollen, most of …

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Making it Last

bee hives in winter snow
Posted December 1, 2019

Making it Last

It is December, and you have completed your first, or another, year of beekeeping. Congratulations! A statistic frequently cited is that about 80% of the people who start beekeeping will quit. I can completely understand why this might be so. To the unsuspecting, it would seem like you could buy a colony and the equipment …

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Another Mite to Fight

honey bee larva
Posted December 1, 2019

Another Mite to Fight

Varroa isn’t the only mite that has jumped hosts to Western honey bees The video was nothing short of frightening. Tiny, brown, slender-bodied creatures were scurrying hither-dither on the rims of the comb, and they were scurrying fast. They were everywhere, and they had places to be. I listened, sitting in the audience at Apimondia, …

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Letters to the Editor – December 2019

Posted December 1, 2019

Letters to the Editor – December 2019

Queens “Playing Possum” In answer to Horace Huse’s question in the October issue about a queen temporarily appearing dead as a result of handling, it’s actually not uncommon for the occasional queen to “play possum” when handled. She may appear to have suddenly and inexplicably died, but just give her a few minutes to recover …

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BEE INFORMED PARTNERSHIP BLOG: STATE SPECIFIC COLONY LOSSES!

Posted December 1, 2019

BEE INFORMED PARTNERSHIP BLOG: STATE SPECIFIC COLONY LOSSES!

In beekeeping life, “Fall” means that nectar flows come to an end, queens lay fewer eggs, winter bees are being reared and we have to (still) deal with Varroa mites. All this is happening for a reason: To get the bees ready for and successfully bring them through winter. (Hard to believe here in Alabama …

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DEFORMED WING VIRUS GENETIC DIVERSITY IN U.S. HONEY BEES COMPLICATES SEARCH FOR REMEDIES

Posted December 1, 2019

DEFORMED WING VIRUS GENETIC DIVERSITY IN U.S. HONEY BEES COMPLICATES SEARCH FOR REMEDIES

BELTSVILLE, MARYLAND, October 24, 2019—Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), one of the leading causes of honey bee colony losses, is much more genetically diverse in the United States than previously thought, according to a study published by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in PLoS Biology. The diverse lineages of this virus are all equally bad for …

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December 2019

Posted December 1, 2019

December 2019

International Honey Market Ron Phipps – 1305 Black Box Beekeeping Peter L Borst – 1329 Extended Release Oxalic Acid Progress Report Randy Oliver – 1335 Breeding Bees: Old Sense Meets New Science M.E.A. McNeil – 1351 Bringing Apitherapy Into the Light Kristen Georgi – 1359 Nosema — The Causes of Dsyentery in Honey Bees Part …

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