Bee Culture

ARS News Service Pearl Millet Wins Approval From Honey Bees and Other Pollinators USDA – For media inquiries contact: Jessica Ryan, (301) 892-0085 Bees collect pearl millet pollen. (Photo by Karen Harris-Shultz, ARS) Pearl millet, an annual grass used for grain and forage, can be a good food source for honey bees and hover flies, according to a recent study.…

By: Dr. Tracy Farone Honey bees are one of the most important agricultural animals on Earth. These tiny creatures often fly around unnoticed, doing work they have mastered to provide not only for themselves, but for the plants, animals and humans that make up our shared home. Given the complex and increasing health challenges that honey bees face, the importance…

Episode 173: The Nutritional Landscape in Agroecosystems In this episode of Two Bees in a Podcast, released on July 16, 2024, Dr. Jamie Ellis and Amy Vu welcome Dr. Pierre Lau—a research entomologist/ecologist at the Pollinator Health in Southern Crop Ecosystems Research Unit which is part of the USDA ARS—to talk about the research paper, “The nutritional landscape in agroecosystems: a…

Please accept our invitation to attend! The North Dakota Beekeepers Assn. Annual Meeting will be Friday, September 27, in Minot, N.D.: The Grand Hotel is the host facility. info@grandhotelminot.com 701 852 3161 P.O. Box 777 1505 N. Broadway, Minot, 58703 Reservations locator: North Dakota Beekeepers Assn. We have room for vendors, and the NDBA registration desk. NDBA is charging a…

By: Devon Zapatka As a student in beekeeping working for The Humble Bee Honey Company, I adore the warm weather. As I move into the working season, I am excited to open up the hives with the vibrant sun pouring into nectar rich frames. Without the slush from a dark depressing winter, the spring brings out why I cherish my…

University of Montana Summer Intermediate Beekeeping Camp, UM and Fort Missoula, July 27-28th. https://www.umt.edu/bee/summer-field-days.php We are finishing development and delivery of our new, OnLine Introduction to Commercial Beekeeping Courses. In Celebration, we are re-starting our Summer Field Camp, face-to-face beekeeping instruction. The first of these will be the weekend of July 27-28. This is an Intermediate Beekeeping camp, focused on…

S2E4: Insect Pollination: It’s Not Just Bees! In the last decade there has been a HUGE (& successful) push for people to appreciate bees & the work they do to pollinate not just flowers in the wild, but food crops to feed ourselves & it’s not surprise why the bee was chosen. They are fluffy. They are cute. They are…..sexy,…

Episode 172: Breeding for Varroa Resistance In this episode of Two Bees in a Podcast, released on July 9, 2024, Dr. Jamie Ellis and Amy Vu welcome back Dr. Marla Spivak—a distinguished McKnight professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Minnesota—to talk about breeding for Varroa resistance. This episode concludes with a Q&A segment. Check out our…

The findings revealed regional occurrences of amitraz resistance, with a less severe decrease in treatment efficacy compared to other pesticides. Notably, the genetic analysis showed that the previously identified mutation at position 260 may not directly cause amitraz resistance, questioning the role of this genetic marker and suggesting a more complex resistance mechanism. The study can be viewed in its entirety at this…

By: Pierre Lau This article was originally published in Entomology Today. Elizabeth (Liz) Walsh, Ph.D., is a research scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), in the Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Research unit in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Here, Walsh poses beside a small honey bee swarm on a tree branch on her first day…