It’s about time that someone clearly and succinctly wrote about the “bee problem.” And someone finally did. Gwen Pearson, known for years as the Bug Girl, has a story in yesterday’s Wired that says it all, “You’re Worrying about the Wrong Bees.” I’ve been a fan of Gwen and her writing for a long time, […] Read more
Yesterday broke crystalline and balmy after a week of frosty nights and wet days. It could only mean one thing: swarms would be on a rampage. So I said to my dog, “Dog, we’ve got to have a look at number 4. I sense trouble.” A swarm in western Washington So I gathered some equipment […] Read more
Want to hear what the queen has to say? James Graham sent the following two short clips of queens piping in his top-bar hive. He said his bees swarmed about a week ago, and he believes these piping queens are the potential heirs. The first clip is short. The second is longer, with a silent portion […] Read more
Two papers published in the journal Nature earlier this week are causing quite a stir in the bee world. The first, “Seed coating with a neonicotinoid insecticide negatively affects wild bees” by Rundlof et al. is unique in that the authors were able to perform controlled field experiments. This is often difficult to do because […] Read more
I never go without a slatted rack in my beehives, and I extoll the virtues of them every chance I get. David Manning, a beekeeper in Missouri, makes some seriously good-looking slatted racks that you can see in the photos below. For those of you who are handy in the woodshop, David has graciously shared […] Read more
Here are some nice photos of Autumn Joy sedum with honey bees attached. It seems like everyone knew about this plant except me, so I’m happy to catch up. Beekeeper Marc Balboa, who made the photos, says: My bees are crazy over them. Native bees too, although I’m not sure which. Bumble bees for sure, […] Read more
Right now I’m totally fixated on Autumn Joy sedum as a honey bee plant. It began when I was typing the responses to the Honey Bee Suite plant survey. The same plant repeatedly cropped up in the responses, and it was unusual in that people were always very specific about the variety: it couldn’t be […] Read more