You’ve seen posters and read bumper stickers. You’ve watched news videos and opened colorful solicitations for money. Cries of “Save the bees!” and “Protect our pollinators!” are ubiquitous, having replaced pleas for pandas, whales, and spotted owls. But wait. How can you save a bee? The truth is, you can’t. Not really. If you catch […] Read more
It’s a strange new world out there, that’s for sure. I am writing today to thank all of you who have written in the past few weeks asking how we are and wishing us well. The truth is we are both fine, at least so far. Since I tend to be the more careful one, […] Read more
Not long ago I received a mysterious-looking package in the mail, a small white box with lots of postage. Inside I found a plastic vial wrapped in sheets of newsprint from The Wichita Eagle. The vial was dressed in a yellow sticky note that read, “I found this honey bee on the porch of my […] Read more
Beekeepers sometimes report unusual behaviors in their bees, everything from fore-and-aft convulsions to unmitigated quaking anger. I’ve collected three of these observations below, each from a new beekeeper: “Today a bee on the landing board was trying to vomit. Her whole body was wracked with convulsions that moved in waves. When I opened the hive, […] Read more
As the vernal equinox approaches, I like to remind beekeepers that spring can be tricky. If you’re not paying attention, it’s easy to lose a colony to starvation. In spring, several different things happen all at once to overwintered colonies. Most experienced beekeepers know what to look for, but it can be a little overwhelming […] Read more
I awaken on summer mornings to the sound of bumble bees. Bizz. Stop. Bizz. Stop. Bizzzzzz. Stop. The morning cuppa they seek is found in the figwort blossoms below my open window. The figworts, genus Scrophularia, belong to the family Scrophulariaceae. I love that name. I love it because it sounds like a whole sentence […] Read more
Over the past year, Randy Oliver has published several informative articles in the American Bee Journal about the relationship between nosema disease and honey bee dysentery. If you haven’t read these pieces, you should. His message is simple: there is no evidence to support the theory that nosema disease causes dysentery. I’m dismayed, however, that […] Read more