Beekeeping News
A curated selection of worldwide feeds related around the topic of beekeeping and honeybees.
The financial outlay you need to make when starting beekeeping is less than the commitment the catalogues imply you should make. Buy wisely with compatibility and longevity in mind, but also invest in a couple of luxuries that will make your beekeeping easier.
Colonies can starve in early spring. It takes just a few days of adverse weather for colonies to run out of stores. This week I discuss preventing starvation in managed colonies, together with some observations on the survival of, and finding, overwintered free-living bees.
Don't believe everything you read in the catalogues. It's expensive to start beekeeping, so buy little, and buy wisely. The equipment should last — and be usable — for decades, so aim to make your beekeeping easier now, and in the future.
Identifying areas with endemic foulbroods, and the adjacent regions at risk from natural spillover through swarming. What choices are there in dealing with swarms originating from infected areas, including the options available for euthanising them?
Just because they contain an identical active ingredient don't assume they are equivalent. There are differences in the approved modes and frequency of administration, dosage, and shelf life … and significant differences in value for money (particularly for hobbyists).
Swarms may carry pests and pathogens. Mites are easily managed, but the notifiable foulbrood diseases are not. It is important to consider the risks, based upon swarm behaviour and the known distribution of disease locally. Is it a risk worth taking, and if not, what should be done with the swarm?
The age-related division of labour. Critical to colony survival and performance, disrupted every time you perform a split, but amazingly flexible so most splits (eventually?) are successful. What is it, why does it occur, and what happens when it is disturbed?
The Demaree method offers the tempting prospect of maximising your honey production and preventing swarming. Achieving both these things needs appropriate conditions, a strong colony, timely colony checks, and lots of lifting.
Colony temperament is determined by their genetics, the amount you disturb them, and the environment. You must select the first of these when rearing queens. To do that well you need to minimise the second, and understand the third. This post discusses all three, and the role of pollen availability.
Large, larger, largest. Some comparisons of honey bee egg sizes relevant to queen rearing. All other things being equal, the largest eggs are not laid in queen cups.
Recent studies show that queens can lay larger eggs under certain environmental conditions. This provides a fascinating insight into honey bee biology, and provides new opportunities to rear bigger, better bees … and queens.
I'm prepared for a bumper honey crop in 2026. It might not happen, but my supers are ready 'just in case'. Thoughts on tidying and storing your precious drawn comb, inexpensive protection from wax moth damage, and some musings on whether the weather can be used to predict the onset of swarming.
Recent research suggests that there may be better protein components than brewer's yeast and soybean flour for use in pollen sub patties.
Peace on earth, and goodwill to all men … and women. Particularly those that have to put up with a partner who keeps bees.
Time for the annual review of the season; the good, the bad, and the ugly … plus a sprinkling of science on 'enforced supersedure'. In summary … mostly good, a little bad, and only the yellow legged hornets were really 'ugly'.
How does the colony determine the queen should be superseded, and the implications this has for practical beekeeping? Plus the water preferences of honey bees, and some bumblebee-mimicking hoverflies.