American Bee Journal

You have undoubtedly read or discussed or listened to (one or more) YouTubes on varroa mites — perhaps you have digested a great deal about mites? August and September represent our last best chance to obtain varroa mite control. High mite numbers can lead to high deformed wing virus (DWV) levels and sudden colony death. Control of varroa mites in…

Researchers at Washington State University aim to develop the biocontrol agent as a commercial product Deep in the Brazilian rainforest, if you look closely enough, you might find a gruesome scene: Like a sinister sewing pin, a fungal plume sprouts from an ant’s body. The ant, still hopelessly clinging to a leaf even after death, finds itself in this position…

Q  Stubborn Bees I do approximately 100 or so removals each year. I have removed bees in some peculiar places. However, on this trap-out, the bees decided to thumb their nose at me and just move outside the trap (Figure 1). They will not quit! Two days later, after a good soaking rain, the bees decided to move on and…

While the varroa mite is the most important and widespread pest of honey bees across the world, a different mite, Tropilaelaps mercedesae, may be a bigger threat. Tropilaelaps (Photo 1) is smaller than varroa, has a faster reproductive rate, a shorter phoretic phase (i.e., the phase when mite is on adult bees and is most easily controlled), efficiently vectors viruses…

It wasn’t long ago that nearly all beekeepers came into the practice from some agrarian pursuit. These people were gardeners, farmers, orchardists, or dairymen who recognized the benefit of keeping honey bees. Later, others got into it because beekeeping was part of a treasured childhood. How often do you hear, “My father kept bees” or “My grandfather kept bees.” In…

Undoubtedly it was honey, one of the oldest natural sweeteners, that attracted the first humans to the honey bee. Other than ripe fruits in season, honey was just about the only sweetener in the human diet until cane sugar became common. In the early days many rural households kept bees. Bees and their hives were part of every monastery, castle…

New research is settling the debate over whether drone congregation areas really exist A common honey bee party fact is that drones fly to congregation areas to find a queen. But this nugget of knowledge is debated among scientists, since most of the data that led researchers to this conclusion used lures to attract the drones. Drones, therefore, may have…

Q  Mite controls Would you please set up a survey question for readers to respond to regarding their experiences using various mite control products? Ease or difficulty of use, pros and cons, etc. Most controls are relatively expensive in my opinion. Deciding which one to use based on the manufacturers’ advertisements can be deceiving. Recently I bought and used one…

One problem with chemical pesticides is although they work on the bad guys (i.e., the target pests), they also work on the good guys (e.g., the organisms you aren’t trying to harm, such as bees or butterflies). This means using chemical pesticides is a bit of a scorched-earth approach to managing problems. On the one hand, you get rid of…

I shivered in the evening wind as a full moon ripped through the horizon like the morning sun. It looked white hot, but no warmth followed it into the sky. Huddled in my sleeping bag, I made a mental inventory of the desert sounds. As a youngster, I always thought the desert would be quiet at night, but it’s anything…