March 19, 2025 was California Ag Day. Representatives of the CA State Beekeepers Association (CSBA) visited 126 legislative offices in Sacramento to invite legislators to the annual event at the capital. Our plea was simple this year: California’s overtime laws are increasing the cost of our food and decreasing pay for our workers. Commercial beekeeping …
Read MoreInternational Honey Market Report Ron Phipps – 489 What do Tariffs Mean for the Canada-U.S. Queen Trade? Alison McAfee – 509 Dealing with Loss — Feel Like Quitting? Tina Sebestyen – 515 A Commercial Perspective: CCD, Politics, and Business as Usual Charles Linder – 518 The BeeMD — A New Resource for Identifying Hive Issues …
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Michael Dinsmore took our cover photo at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is one of several varieties that feed monarch and other caterpillars in his yard, along with a host of pollinators like this honey bee.
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Q: Preserving sugar syrup with thymol I note in the February edition of American Bee Journal some correspondence about preventing sugar syrup from fermenting. One way is the addition of a small amount of thymol. It will not readily dissolve in syrup, but it will in alcohol: one ounce of thymol crystals in five fluid …
Read MoreReaders, the following saga is an amalgamation of my own colony split experiences and those of others whose stories I was told. Actually, I have never had a bad experience when buying splits from other beekeepers, but unlike purchasing packages, buying and initiating colony splits is not an exact procedure. I suppose that, at this …
Read MoreIt was the craziest of times. It was the most exhausting of times. I was trying to hold back the swarming power of 200 top-bar hives, each having only the comb space equivalent to about a deep and a shallow super. These top-bar hives were only two feet long. Why have such a small (short) …
Read MoreKnowledge about keeping bees, like so many other things, is learned by degrees. Mistakes are sure to be made, and I have made many. April is an interesting month. There are so many things going on at the same time. Management techniques at this time are concerned with three things: colony health, food, and population …
Read MoreAmber shards of molten sunshine — morning rays tinged with warmth — bedeck a cheery tablecloth. Aligned just so, near the center of the drape, a phalanx of pristine jars, each clearly labeled, dazzles a curious crowd of Saturday morning shoppers. “Oh look! Big Leaf Maple!” says one. “Does it taste like syrup?” While onlookers …
Read MoreCanadians not worried about Tropilaelaps In response to Charles Linder’s February article: Canada imports honey bees from New Zealand, Italy, Australia, Chile, and Ukraine. And the danger of importing the new, devastating Tropilaelaps mites. While at the Alberta Beekeepers meeting, one of the provincial apiculturists told Charles Linder flat out: “Tropi is not a problem …
Read MoreA nationwide survey of beekeepers has revealed catastrophic honey bee colony losses across the United States, with commercial operations reporting an average loss of 62% between June 2024 and February 2025. These alarming losses, which surpass historical trends, could significantly impact U.S. agriculture, particularly crop pollination for almonds, fruits, vegetables, and other essential food sources. …
Read More"I want the American Bee Journal to be the finest publication about bees and beekeeping in the world."
- C.P. Dadant, Editor of ABJ 1912-1938
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