Guttation is a natural process seen in many vascular plants whereby drops of xylem sap exude from leaf tips or margins. Honey bees are known to drink this water, especially in the early spring before large numbers of nectar-containing flowers are available to foragers. A problem with this type of water collection occurs in agricultural […] Read more
I see a lot of posts and tweets that seem to point to the mason bee as the answer to pollinator decline. Sure, I like mason bees, and here in the Pacific Northwest they have the added advantage of being native. However, we don’t yet have a consensus about what is killing the honey bee. […] Read more
The March issue of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry* has an article about the sublethal effects of two pyrethroids—bifenthrin and deltamethrin—on the growth and development of honey bee larvae. What the researchers found is scary and beekeepers should be aware of it. First I’ll back up. In case all this seems like a foreign language I’ll […] Read more
Water has several uses in a honey bee hive. During certain times of the year foragers find a source of water, fill their crops, and ferry it home. The number of bees foraging for water depends on the needs of the colony. If the in-hive workers accept the water quickly from the foragers, the foraging […] Read more