After mosquito spraying in his neighborhood, Jim Metrailer of Little Rock, Arkansas, discovered a pile of dead bees. He wondered if his bees got into the spray itself or if they ate poisoned nectar. He also wondered if his bees had succumbed for another reason entirely. Many choices The answer to the first question is […] Read more
In the sunny and tranquil village of Islamorada in the Florida Keys, beekeeper Jamie Hulet was caught off guard by a spray of pesticide. She writes: “We had a mosquito plane fly overhead this morning around 0700 and the chemicals they released killed thousands of bees. I have four Langstroth hives and all of them […] Read more
“Got one!” said the robber fly, carting off its prey. “Oh no!” cries the beekeeper as another worker bites the dust. As if honey bees and their keepers don’t have enough to worry about, we have scads of robber flies all over the continent from sea to sea. Although you may not be familiar with […] Read more
Silence is a powerful thing. I was on my way to the compost bin when I noticed an enormous mound of dead bees in front of my strongest hive. No buzz issued from the landing board. No industrious thrum from above. The absence of sound shattered the morning. I was dumbstruck. When I opened that […] Read more
Alfred Hitchcock would have loved the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida. If he had only known, he might have scrapped his movie The Birds in favor of The Beetles. Small hive beetles lead a horror story life, fraught with mystery, intrigue, and destruction. The beetles, aided by their partner in crime—a symbiotic yeast—produce slime, mimic […] 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
Elena Campbell protected her colonies from just about everything. She installed electric bear fencing, robbing screens, insulating wraps, candy boards, ant moats, weights, and tie-downs. She thought she had everything covered until an unexpected Eastern Washington wind laid them flat. Elena explained that her day started out a crisp 20°F. Although the forecast called for […] Read more