Scientific Beekeeping

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Contents Review.. 1 Balancing moisture elimination and heat loss. 2 Broodrearing in the winter cluster. 3 So let’s do the arithmetic!. 5 Practical applications. 5 Optimal Cluster size. 5 Winter stores ― honey and beebread. 8 Hive placement. 8 Hive insulation. 9 Hive ventilation. 10 Literature cited. 11 Nosema and Dysentery: 7c The Prevention of The post Nosema: Part 7C…

I find that many of the best management resources for professional beekeepers interested in best management practices for their managed livestock were written long ago, before all the hoopla about “The Decline of Bees.”  Those practices still apply — other than varroa mite, little has changed about beekeeping.  So the update is to keep varroa infestation The post Practical Beekeeping Management…

Overwintering of honey bee colonies This subject has long generated endless debate among beekeepers.  There are a few excellent resources by those who have collected hard data: Dr. Floyd Moeller was a USDA researcher who performed extensive field research to test various beekeeping management practices. This excellent publication covers practices to improve overwintering success, and The post Overwintering of Honey…

For seasonally-appropriate varroa treatment recommendations, please scroll down to “Treatment Recommendations by Season.” Updated 18 Sept 2019.  I continually update this page, so please refer to the current version.  For mite treatment options, search “Varroa Mite Management” Beekeeping in a Nutshell I’ve attempted to distill 50 year’s of beekeeping experience into a short set of The post First year beekeeping…

Contents The bees’ need for water. 1 Water and the winter cluster. 1 Water Balance. 2 Water homeostasis and buffering in the winter cluster. 3 Water in the gut. 3 Atmosphere and Humidity within the winter cluster. 3 Evaporation via respiration. 5 Defecation/Dysentery. 6 Literature cited. 8     The Causes of Dysentery in Honey The post The Causes of…

Contents What the beekeeper can do. 1 seasonality. 2 detection and Sampling. 3 Queens And Nosema. 6 Deadout equipment. 7 citations and notes. 8   The Nosema Problem Part 5: Monitoring and Disinfection First published in ABJ October 2019 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com Some beekeepers are concerned about the current unavailability of fumagillin. Although the Canadians The post The Nosema Problem…

Contents Background. 2 The 2019 field test. 2 Results. 4 Those danged outliers!. 6 Overall efficacy. 7 Could there have been mite immigration from other colonies?. 8 Fate of the applied towels. 9 progression of action of treatment over time. 13 Results from others. 14 Mexico and uruguay. 14 Southeastern States with high humidity. 14 The post Extended-Release Oxalic Acid…

Contents Why would a colony exhibit signs of dysentery?. 3 honeydew.. 4 Microbial dysbiosis or parastism.. 5 The link between pollen and nosema. 7 How about those “winter bees”?. 8 Literature cited. 10     The Causes Dysentery in Honey Bees (Part 1) First published in ABJ December 2019 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com Okay, I’ve called The post The Causes Dysentery…

Contents First a return to queens. 1 Treatments for nosema. 2 fumagillin. 3 Alternative treatments. 3 What else is on the market?. 6 Nozevit®. 6 Hive alive®. 9 Acids in syrup. 9 Possibilities on the radar. 9 What if you don’t want to treat?. 9 citations and notes. 10   The Nosema Problem Part 6: The post The Nosema Problem…