A new research paper by vanEnglesdorp et al. titled “Idiopathic brood disease syndrome and queen events as precursors of colony mortality in migratory beekeeping operations in the eastern United States” is getting a lot of attention. Boiled down to its essence, it states (among other things) that colonies diagnosed with idiopathic brood disease syndrome (IBDS) […] Read more
Rebecca Wilson, a beekeeper in southwestern Florida, sent me this photo of a honey bee crippled with deformed wing virus (DWV) and saddled with two Varroa mites. There were actually three mites to start with, but one fell off before she got a photo. I think the scene is heartbreaking and morbidly fascinating at the […] Read more
How can you tell if your bees absconded or disappeared due to colony collapse disorder? Many similarities exist between the two and it can be confusing. When a colony absconds, the entire colony leaves the hive including all the workers and the queen. The bees usually take everything with them, including the stored honey, and […] Read more
Deformed wing virus (DWV) is one of the viral diseases associated with Varroa mite infestations. Although the disease is also found in colonies not infected with Varroa, it appears to be both more common and more destructive in colonies where mites are well established. Other things can cause an occasional case of deformed wings and […] Read more
Hives can be split for many reasons. A beekeeper may split a hive in order to increase the number of hives, to raise queens, to increase the number of workers, or to keep a hive from swarming. There are dozens of ways to do a split, depending on what you are trying to do and […] Read more
Here in western Washington it is a great day for honey bees. The temperature is hovering around 55° F in the shade and my bees are out in droves. All my hives are misted with bees, but my two nucs—stacked one above the other—really surprised me. The great cloud of bees milling around them is […] Read more
While studying pesticides in pollen, I was always curious about the potential for pollen to carry disease organisms as well. Indeed, a new study that appeared in the December 22 PLoS ONE confirmed my worst fears—that pollen may be a major route of viral infection from managed honey bees to wild native bees. The authors […] Read more