If you haven’t heard, the Purina company is marketing a new protein supplement for honey bees, called Hearty Bee. The ingredients include something called “spray dried poultry blood,” which may sound unsettling. Since my mail is running strongly against feeding animal blood to vegetarian bees, I decided to look at the issue more carefully. Rewriting […] Read more
Many of my web visitors are soon-to-be beekeepers preparing for their first delivery of honey bees. They have read, attended classes, and talked to other beekeepers. Some write to me with a few last-minute questions. But what they envision and what I foresee are completely different. I was reminded of this beekeeping reality while watching […] Read more
This week my inbox is choked with questions about using lithium to treat varroa mites. Although I don’t know a thing about lithium, I feel compelled to answer. If you haven’t heard, a paper was published on January 12 about lithium chloride as a possible treatment for varroa mites. The peer-reviewed work with the alluring […] Read more
This striking bee foraging on a drumstick allium is Halictus farinosus, also known as the brown-winged furrow bee. Showing off his bright yellow legs, the male in the first photo is tanking up on nectar. He was not alone but accompanied by several other males doing the same. In the second photo, a female also enjoys […] Read more
As you might imagine, I read bee-related articles constantly. I find them in magazines, newspapers, journals, websites, presentations, and everywhere else you can image. Usually, these articles include photos, and this is where the common drone fly, Eristalis tenax, has made its mark. On countless occasions I have written to a publisher and said, “Nice […] Read more
Like every other question in the bee business, this one can be answered with two words: “It depends.” In short, the stability of infused honey varies with the amount of water added during the infusion process. Fresh fruits, vegetables, roots, stems, and leaves are all loaded with water. Honey is hygroscopic, meaning it draws water […] Read more
Do you think of rats as honey bee predators? I never once considered it until I saw these photos taken by Tracy Klein of Seattle. I know that rats are considered intelligent and innovative, and Tracy’s photos seem to prove it. Her rats learned how to take out both the entrance reducers from the front […] Read more