American Bee Journal

Due to the shelter in place declaration for the State of Illinois, the Illinois State Beekeepers Association asked if we could make the April issue of American Bee Journal available to their members. We know that many other areas also have shelter in place declarations. Many bee meetings have been cancelled, yet beekeepers still need to know about beekeeping. So…

Email Questions to Jamie at classroom@americanbeejournal.com Follow my lab on social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram Q Suggestion for The Classroom I just read your first Classroom column and I look forward to reading more. I do have a suggestion, however. As you know, context is so important when dealing with honey bee issues, particularly as season and location may impact…

Our reports from the field continue to reinforce the old saw that “all beekeeping is local.” As a vivid example, a correspondent in southwestern New Hampshire reports lower-than-average honey crops for 2019, while less than two hours to the east we hear of “once-in-a-lifetime” crops for some beekeepers. Northeast Adequate ground moisture in New Hampshire bodes well for spring pollen…

First Beehive Uses of the Currently Registered Active Ingredient Bacillus thuringiensis, subsp. aizawai strain ABTS 1857 EPA is proposing to register a pesticide product containing Bacillus thuringiensis, subsp. aizawai strain ABTS 1857 (Bta ABTS 1857) to prevent and control wax moths in beehives. This product offers beekeepers a new tool against destructive wax moth larvae. EPA has opened a 15-day…

The Greatest Generation Per Meghan Milbrath (“The Greatest Generation,” January 2020 ABJ): “The reason we have such high winter losses is … we do not put enough attention into making sure that we have enough healthy winter bees. We know that varroa peak right when winter bees are getting formed.” Well, to compensate for that, I subscribe to the method…

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Bee lovers can now start their journey to becoming Master Beekeepers through a new online training program from the UF/IFAS Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab. “The number of people keeping bees in Florida increased about 500% since 2006, so there is a demand and need for beekeeper education,” said Jamie Ellis, the Gahan professor of entomology…

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 Grow-NY business competition, billed as…

Midwestern corn and soy landscapes can be good for bees when native prairie habitat is included. If you live in the Midwest, or anywhere else where corn and soy dominate the landscape, you’re aware of what a “green desert” looks like. It’s a landscape that’s filled with single-species monocultures of plants that provide bountiful food for humans, but very little…

This month, WSDA entomologists identified a large hornet found near the Canadian border as an Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), an invasive species not previously found in Washington State. Although it is not typically aggressive toward humans, this unwelcome pest can inflict a powerful sting and also represents a threat to honeybees, for which they have a voracious appetite. On…

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 depending on winter losses. Limiting…