Scientific Beekeeping

Refining the Mite Wash: Part 3 Dislodgement, Precipitation, and Separation Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in September 2020 In my last article I showed how mites will quickly drop off the bees’ bodies if immersed in 91% alcohol.  But there are still more steps remaining to separate the mites from the sample of The post Refining the Mite…

Refining the Mite Wash : Part 4 Comparing the Release Agents Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in September 2020 As I tested different release agents for varroa monitoring, I was often surprised by the results, which then raised new questions about why some worked better than others. So I ran a number of The post Refining the Mite…

I wrote about initial colony buildup at http://scientificbeekeeping.com/modeling-nuc-buildup/  I created a spreadsheet model that allows you to estimate and visualize how different methods of starting colonies affects the colony age structure and growth.  I works for package, nucs started with laying queens, queen cells, or walkaway splits. Nuc calculator share version The post Starting colony buildup calculator appeared first on…

Refining the Mite Wash- Part 2 Mite Release Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in August 2020 The high efficacy of hand dishwashing detergent at getting mites to release their grip on bees bestirred me to investigate this finding more deeply.  What I’ve come to realize is that there are four steps involved between The post Refining the Mite…

The math is sometimes confusing for the mixing of sugar syrups. I’ve created a calculator that allow you to quickly determine how much granulated sugar or commercial 77% solids sugar syrup to add to create a specified amount of sugar syrup at any desired concentration. Download the spreadsheet here:  @Syrup calculator The post Sugar syrup calculator appeared first on Scientific…

Refining the Mite Wash Part 1 Treatment Threshold and Solutions to Use Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ July 2020 Once you’ve shaken a sample of bees, you then need to separate the mites from them.  There are various recommendations for using alcohol, detergent water, powdered sugar, ether, or CO2.  I’ve been using inexpensive The post Refining the Mite…

2009 Almond Pollination Outlook Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ November 2008   This is again the time of year when beekeepers want someone to look into the crystal ball and make predictions about the upcoming pollination season.  No one that I know of has such a clairvoyant device, but we can certainly discuss The post 2009 Almond Pollination…

Re-Evaluating Varroa Monitoring Part 4 WHAT ABOUT LETTING THE SHOOK BEES FLY OFF? Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First appeared in ABJ June 2020 In my previous article I showed how the varroa infestation rate of bees varied by comb type, with those on brood frames having higher mite counts, but those on storage frames, despite showing The post Re-Evaluating Varroa Monitoring:…

   Re-Evaluating Varroa Monitoring Part 3 HOW DOES MITE DISTRIBUTION VARY FRAME-TO-FRAME IN A HIVE? Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ May 2020 In the previous articles in this series I evaluated the different methods for varroa monitoring, and then discussed the state of our knowledge as to where mites would be most prevalent The post  Re-Evaluating Varroa Monitoring:…

Re-Evaluating Varroa Monitoring Part 2 QUESTIONS ON SAMPLING HIVES FOR VARROA Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ April 2020 In order to monitor the varroa infestation rate of the adult bees in a colony, one must take a sample of bees from somewhere in the hive. But how to decide which comb to take The post Re-Evaluating Varroa Monitoring:…