American Bee Journal

The ongoing pandemic continues to put a crimp in beekeeper education throughout the country. With that in mind, we are making the December issue of American Bee Journal available for all beekeepers to view on our website as a PDF. Please feel free to share it with local club members and online workshop attendees. You will need Adobe Acrobat, which…

After fielding beekeeper questions for eleven years, I have a decent idea of what confuses beginners. When it comes to puzzlement, nothing generates more than sugar syrup. On my website, questions such as “How do I make sugar syrup?” outnumber “How do I control varroa mites?” about 2:1. And there it is, one of syrup’s revered ratios, along with 1:1,…

The spring flowers have withered away, typical for a late June dearth in Piedmont Virginia. As the heat of the summer begins to surge, the bee flight in my apiaries has waned from the zeal of the spring nectar flow. Now in the mornings, the bees begin collecting water to cool their hives. I know the rhythm of their work,…

If you overuse antibiotics on your bees, your colonies may fail due to inadequate gut microbes. Nowadays it seems like there’s a new paper published every week showing how a robust gut microbiome is critical to honey bee health. Last month, we highlighted a paper showing that gut microbes shape how workers smell, which determines whether they’re recognized as colony-mates…

 Q  Apivar’s shelf life  Yesterday and again today, the bees on one of my hives covered the entire front from top to bottom in a heavy mass. Clear skies and 70 degrees. The hive consists of two deep supers and both are full of honey for winter. Also, after treating the bees with Apivar, I have some left. Can I…

Beginning in late June, well after our spring nectar flow, comes the time I call usurpation season. I stop the truck well away from my hives and walk slowly into my research apiaries looking down, searching. I keep the area clear around the hives so I can spot any unusual bee behavior –– especially on the ground (see Figure 1).…

Honey bees recognize their sisters because their gut microbes make them smell similar Serious question: If you close your eyes, can you imagine the smell of your brother, sister, mother or father? My guess is you probably can, even if it’s been a few years since you’ve thought about it. That’s because each of us has a characteristic smell, some…

Countless bee organizations have lists of “honey bee facts” that are entertaining, if not exactly factual. Many such lists claim that honey bees are the only insects that produce food that’s eaten by humans. That might seem true if you’re looking only as far as your local grocery store, but lots of insects collect nectar or other plant exudates that…

It might make us feel like good beekeepers, but fall protein supplementation doesn’t produce more winter bees  Many beekeepers do it. Local bee clubs suggest it to their members, and some old-timers have done it for decades. Even some apiculture authorities suggest it. But it might not be providing our colonies with the benefits that we think it is. Feeding…