Lots of new beekeepers ask how they can save a failing colony. But the real question, I think, is should you even try? Could you be doing more harm than good? If you find a colony that is obviously declining, you have three choices. You can let it collapse (or exterminate), you can combine it […] Read more
Beekeepers are frequently warned not to feed honey from untrusted sources to their colonies because it can carry the spores of American Foul Brood (AFB). Furthermore, we know the spores of AFB are not affected by standard pasteurization methods because they are highly resistant to heat. Pressure cooking at 250° F (121° C) for three […] Read more
Sunshine made an unexpected appearance, so I got my camera and went looking for . . . well, I really didn’t know. Just something. The trees were heavy with blossoms, the bees were soaring, and it seemed like an all-around good day for photos. What I found was completely unexpected. I started photographing a honey […] Read more
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
Why is this year so different? Every day I get messages that say basically the same thing: “I just checked my hive and all the bees are dead. They have plenty of honey and lots of pollen. What did I do wrong?” Some say their bees died in a small cluster; some say their bees […] Read more
Last night was great for TV bees. Quite by accident I stumbled across two pieces, one right after the other. The first, on Oregon Field Guide, was about the loss of the western bumble bee and how farmers are beginning to plant for wild pollinators to take over for the ravaged honey bee. Scott Black […] Read more
One of the worst parts of honey extraction is the accumulation of sticky, gooey frames that remains after the process. These frames of uncapped comb, known as “wet” frames, are a storage nightmare until they are cleaned of all traces of honey. Fortunately, honey bees are more than happy to do the job. They lick […] Read more