A queen bee indulges in many strange behaviors, not the least of which is choosing the sex of her offspring. Of course, this surreal proclivity is shared throughout the Hymenoptera, a fact that doesn’t make it any less mysterious. But even more perplexing than the deciding is the implementing. How does the queen fulfill her […] Read more
Last week I wrote that my hives smelled like meat. This created something of a stir. Some folks wanted to know why, while others wrote to tell me my hives were dead or dying. Others were confused . . . or thought I was. For many people, odors are strongly correlated with specific memories. Often, […] Read more
In third grade my best friend, Kristen, filled the bowl of a soup spoon with mustard. Then, using her finger as a catapult, she fired the mustard into the air. The glistening glob sailed silently above the clattering tables and hit the cafeteria wall just below the ceiling. Kristen spent the afternoon in the principal’s […] Read more
In the past couple of years I’ve spoken to a number of groups about bees, bee habitat, and pesticides. But on Thursday night I was once again invited to present my master’s thesis to a batch of graduate students in the Master of Environmental Studies program at The Evergreen State College. These students are by […] Read more
Grafting is the process of transferring young larvae from worker cells into special cups used for raising queens. Larvae used for grafting are selected from the offspring of a “breeder” queen, that is, a queen whose genetics appeal to the beekeeper. Larvae used for grafting must be between 12 and 24 hours old. These larvae […] Read more
Yesterday I when I pulled the drone frames out of the hives, I discovered the most populous hives were dripping wet under the cover. I had tried to prevent this by using upper entrances, but apparently the one-inch holes I installed were not big enough to keep the interior dry in spring. Part of this […] Read more
Once the brood comb is prepared, the queen lays one honey bee egg in each cell. Estimates vary widely as to how many eggs a queen can lay, but 1500-2000 per day is a reasonable assumption. Over the course of one spring and summer season, the queen probably reaches a maximum of about 200,000 eggs. […] Read more