The Beekeeper’s Companion Since 1861
American Bee Journal Volume 166 No. 4 April 2026 Cover features children's art work depicting honey bees. Callouts: Reduce Supersedure in Packages - 443, Why the hexagon - 419, Educating the Future - 403

A roadmap for how to minimize pesticide risk to bees

Dr. Doug Sponsler
Posted July 1, 2019

A roadmap for how to minimize pesticide risk to bees

Every three years, many of the main players who are working to understand and improve pollinator health get together at the International Conference on Pollinator Biology Health and Policy (also called the “International Pollinator Conference”). This year’s conference is from July 17-20 at the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center (https://honey.ucdavis.edu/pollinatorconference2019) and the theme is …

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Immigrant Bees that Colonized North America

honey bee apis melifera
Posted July 1, 2019

Immigrant Bees that Colonized North America

While humans were busy squabbling over the border between the United States and Mexico, a tiny black immigrant bee was discreetly homesteading in California. A new sighting of a Central American native bee, a member of the genus Plebeia, was recently reported in a genteel area of Palo Alto, some 500 miles to the north …

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The Classroom – July 2019

The Classroom - American Bee Journal
Posted July 1, 2019

The Classroom – July 2019

AGGRESSIVE POOP BOMBS I have said it before, anybody that says they know all about honey bees is a liar. Here is a ‘Jerry’ new experience that took 35 years to occur. You’ve got to be in the right place at the right time for this stuff. :) I went outside to look at colonies. …

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U.S. Honey Crops and Markets

US Crops and Honey Markets
Posted July 1, 2019

U.S. Honey Crops and Markets

United States Winter may have been long and cold (and very white in some places), and spring may have been late, cool and wet, but we’re hearing from most of the country that all that moisture in the ground points to a nice crop of 2019 honey. Northeast It was a cool, wet spring in …

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Winter in July?

powdered sugar mite test
Posted July 1, 2019

Winter in July?

We beekeepers breathe a sigh of relief once we make it past swarm and split season. It seems like we can take a little break and not worry about the bees. However, there are still things that need to be taken care of. First, if it is your colony’s first year in a new hive, …

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July 2019

Posted July 1, 2019

July 2019

The Enigma of Nosema Randy Oliver – 777 Management Style Comparison, Part 2 — Measurements and Conclusions Justin Kay – 803 Going to Apimondia? September 8-12 in Montreal – 809 Queen Quandary: Challenges in Honey Bee Queen Rearing in Atlantic Canada Robyn McCallum and Kathleen Glasgow – 813 The Spread of the Small Hive Beetle …

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July 2019

American Bee Journal July 2019 Cover
Posted July 1, 2019

July 2019

Water collection becomes increasingly important as we head into the hot summer months. Joan Fox took this exquisite photo of a honey bee on Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum) in Tucson, Arizona. Housebound after a serious car accident, Joan was led by her camera’s eye to her front and back yards and to a world of …

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Queen Forensics

Queen forensics
Posted July 1, 2019

Queen Forensics

We need better tools to diagnose queen failure The queen is special. So special, she is the only bee with the privilege of sporting a bright polka dot, marking her birth year. When we work through a hive, she is the only bee met with an exclamation — “Found her!” — upon spotting. And she …

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The Classroom – June 2019

The Classroom - American Bee Journal
Posted June 1, 2019

The Classroom – June 2019

Q  A Few Questions I  am back with a few questions. Now I don’t care if it is a long Jerry answer or a short one but if you know anything about answers I’d appreciate hearing from you. First question, why does sorghum honey ferment when granulating but not otherwise? Second question, does it work …

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Sex-switching Honey Bees

sex-switching honey bees
Posted June 1, 2019

Sex-switching Honey Bees

Disrupting a single gene causes genetically female embryos to develop as males. There’s a lot more to honey bee sex determination than most of us think. When we were new honey bee enthusiasts, what makes a bee male or female was probably one of the first bee biology facts that we learned: Eggs with one …

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