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The song “Dirty Water” was released by the Standells in 1966, but it could have been written by your local bee colony. It seems honey bees prefer water that most of us would consider unpalatable. I live in a place where water is not in short supply. There is a creek nearby—more like a [...] Bumble bee on clover Yesterday I wrote that bees need a continuous supply of flowering plants such that something is always in bloom. I also mentioned that different types of bees prefer different types of flowers. What I didn’t discuss was the importance of pollen variety in the bee diet. I think it [...] I am in no way an expert on honey bee nutrition. But in the past few years—especially since the advent of colony collapse disorder—many knowledgeable people have been studying bee nutrition under the theory that healthier bees are better able to withstand the onslaught of diseases and environmental stresses that face them. In my [...] I don’t know if this rumor is everywhere, but you certainly hear it here in the Pacific Northwest and in southwestern Canada. We have a lot of red alder (Alnus rubra) in this area, so that’s probably how it got started. I was reminded of the rumor when I saw my bees packing in [...] Last week a reader wrote in to ask why her bees weren’t more logical. She said her hive is full of honey and a lot of it is right next to the bees. But regardless of the vast supply of honey, her bees scarfed down sugar cakes as if there were no tomorrow. Is [...] A male pussy willow is one of the best trees for the bee yard because it will bloom especially early in the year. Beekeepers often plant them close to the apiary to help the bees through the pollen-scarce months of March and April when little else is in flower. The term “pussy willow” refers [...] A sidebar in the August 2010 Bee Culture created a lot of buzz about bee tea. The article claimed that bee tea boosts the immune system of honey bees, but it doesn’t say what in the tea helps the bees. It also doesn’t cite any studies that show a beneficial effect from its use. [...] To produce honey, bees collect nectar, add enzymes from their honey stomachs, and fan the mixture with their wings until it dehydrates to a moisture content of about 16 to 18.5 percent. If the moisture content is higher than that, the bees simply won’t cap it. If cold weather arrives before the honey is [...] One of the first thing beekeepers notice about pollen is its color. Depending on where you live, pollen loads come in many shades of yellow, white, orange, pink, blue, gray, and purple. And because honey bees visit the same type of flower during any one foraging trip, the pellets on their legs are the [...] |
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