Archive - April 2017

beekeepers

Are you one of the 80% who will quit?

4 years ago

137 Comments

wild bees and native bees

Nomada bees prey on the real pollinators

4 years ago

12 Comments

wild bees and native bees

A garbage can for the mason bees

4 years ago

13 Comments

wild bees and native bees

Should I grow native plants for honey bees?

4 years ago

46 Comments

extra

Complete beekeeping kit at Costco

4 years ago

25 Comments

honey bee management

Overwintering success: zero loss and healthy bees

4 years ago

84 Comments

guest posts

What to do when your dog gets stung

4 years ago

36 Comments

physics for beekeepers

Freezing wax moth eggs: how long does it take?

4 years ago

26 Comments

wild bees and native bees

Here comes the sun: a mason bee sees the light

4 years ago

12 Comments

Beekeepers have a responsibility to each other to not let the mites be mites.

rants

“Let the mites be mites” is no longer an option

4 years ago

105 Comments

Regardless of dictionaries, we have in entomology a rule for insect common names that can be followed. It says: If the insect is what the name implies, write the two words separately; otherwise run them together. Thus we have such names as house fly, blow fly, and robber fly contrasted with dragonfly, caddicefly, and butterfly, because the latter are not flies, just as an aphislion is not a lion and a silverfish is not a fish. The honey bee is an insect and is preeminently a bee; “honeybee” is equivalent to “Johnsmith.”

—From Anatomy of the Honey Bee by Robert E. Snodgrass

The non-native European Honey Bee is the state insect of:

Arkansas
Georgia
Kansas
Louisiana
Maine
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
New Jersey
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Not one native bee is a state insect. The closest relative of a North American native bee to make the list is the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, the state insect of New Mexico.

Update! Minnesota now has a state bee as well as a state insect. Bombus affinis, the Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee, has been so honored. Good work, Minnesota!