The Beekeeper’s Companion Since 1861
American Bee Journal Volume 166 No. 10 October 2026 Cover Cover Callouts: Apis mellifera, weather girl - 1077, Winter hive ventilation - 1093, 1101, 1105, How does the colony respond to OA? - 1127 Cover shoes a frame of brood with a queen cell and several bees near the center of the frame.

Frames and Their Forgotten Diversity: Part 2 – Their Spacing

bee hive frames
Posted March 1, 2020

Frames and Their Forgotten Diversity: Part 2 – Their Spacing

In the previous article, we examined some various shapes of frames, ending with a hexagonal standing frame hive. Besides being the external wall of the hive, those frames also spaced themselves. Frame spacing is the topic of this article, except the frames are inside the hive body in the usual way. The movable frame, announced …

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Notes from the Lab – March 2020

pesticide residue in flowers
Posted March 1, 2020

Notes from the Lab – March 2020

Pesticide residues are common in soils surrounding corn and soybean fields and are associated with fewer species of native bees. Last month’s “Notes from the Lab” focused on how landscapes dominated by corn and soybeans can be both good and bad for honey bees. Good because colonies grow quickly when soybeans (at least some varieties) …

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How to Make Beeswax Food Wraps

making beeswax food wraps
Posted March 1, 2020

How to Make Beeswax Food Wraps

Everywhere you look these days, people are making, buying, and using beeswax food wraps. If the concept is new to you, a beeswax food wrap is a piece of beeswax-infused cotton fabric that is meant to be used in place of plastic or aluminum food wrap. Since they are reusable, beeswax wraps are thought to …

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Dealing with Deadouts

deadout beehive
Posted March 1, 2020

Dealing with Deadouts

Honey bee colonies die. At some point you will stand over the sad sight of a dead colony, and will have to make decisions about what to do with the equipment. Do you dump a new package of bees straight into the hive and move on with life? Do you burn everything in a fit …

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Beekeeping with Bacteria

Posted March 1, 2020

Beekeeping with Bacteria

Microbes are giving us a new wave of defenses against hive pests and pathogens   Bacteria are not something to be cringed at. Villains like E. coli, Listeria, and Staphylococcus aureus have given the whole bacterial kingdom a bad rap, but we can capitalize on beneficial microbes to work for us instead of against us. …

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March 2020 Table of Contents

Posted March 1, 2020

March 2020 Table of Contents

International Honey Market Report Ron Phipps – 259 Australia — Paradise Lost? Ron Miksha – 279 Re-evaluating Varroa Monitoring — Part 1 Randy Oliver – 289 Drones for Drones — A New Way to Find Drone  Congregation Areas Julia Mahood – 297 Maine’s Down East Wild Lowbush Blueberry Pollination Dewey M. Caron – 305 Mentoring …

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March 2020 ABJ Cover

Posted March 1, 2020

March 2020 ABJ Cover

Keith Penney shows a frame of bees to Bonnie Warzynski (right) and Emily Lukacs, at a Waupaca County Beekeepers Association event in central Wisconsin. Club-based mentoring can be a powerful source of support for new beekeepers. Photo by Kent Pegorsch, President, Wisconsin Honey Producers Association

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The Classroom – February 2020

The Classroom - ABJ - Jamie Ellis
Posted February 1, 2020

The Classroom – February 2020

Email Questions to Jamie at classroom@americanbeejournal.com Follow my lab on social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram Q  Trapping Small Hive Beetles Enjoyed your videoed viewpoint(s) from 2015. I’m an old hand beekeeper (New England) but new to Tennessee. Never saw small hive beetles (SHB) before coming here. Will step up to perhaps 40 hives this year …

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2020 WISCONSIN HONEY QUEEN

2020 Wisconsin Honey Queen
Posted February 1, 2020

2020 WISCONSIN HONEY QUEEN

Wisconsin Honey Producers Association is proud to announce that Jennifer Hinkel of Franklin, Wisconsin was selected as the 2020 Wisconsin Honey Queen. Jennifer is the daughter of Bill and Rose Hinkel of Franklin, Wisconsin. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee with a focus on marketing, communications, and entrepreneurship. Jennifer will …

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NEW IN-HIVE DEVICE “ZAPS” VARROA TRAVELING ON NURSE BEES

Posted February 1, 2020

NEW IN-HIVE DEVICE “ZAPS” VARROA TRAVELING ON NURSE BEES

On the occasion that you actually spy a Varroa destructor clinging to one of your honey bees, don’t you wish you could just zap it with a laser? A pair of Cornell graduate students have developed a device to do just that. Hailey Scofield and Nathan Oakes recently entered the Ithaca, New York-based university’s inaugural …

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