Beekeeping Through the Eyes of a Biologist
I’m clearly in the “minimal chemical” camp, yet all my commercial buddies, without exception, depend upon “off label” use of agricultural miticides to keep their colonies alive. These are top-notch beekeepers, and I greatly respect them, learn from them, and have no problems with their methods. The reality is, they would all likely have gone… Read More »
I welcome practical, tested tips, methods, and assessments from other beekeepers who are successfully keeping bees with varroa. I found this article to be a good reality check on certain varroa IPM methods. It was originally published in the March 2011 ABJ, and I asked the author if I could post it to this website. … Read More »
Randy Oliver Last month I was presumptuous enough to try to boil successful beekeeping down to four basic rules. Giving the bees a dry home with plenty of honey is pretty obvious, so I’m going to make the other three easy to remember. Think of them as the “Three P’s”—Protein, Parasites, and Pesticides (including miticide… Read More »
Randy Oliver Last month I showed how to make a mite shaker bottle, so that you could easily keep track of the actual mite levels in your hives. So now you may wonder, how do I use those mite counts to better manage my hives? I was recently speaking in New Zealand, where the beekeepers… Read More »
Randy Oliver In the February issue of this Journal, I wrote about a fall trial that I performed with the new formic acid delivery method—Mite-Away Quick Strips (MAQSTM). I had been impressed by their efficacy and ease of use. Imagine my surprise and dismay when I received a couple of phone calls from beekeepers in… Read More »
Be sure to read “Oxalic Acid – Questions and Answers” and “The Learning Curve – Part 3“ before using oxalic acid. It is critical to apply it correctly, or you risk seriously harming your bees!” Important Note: the following proportions refer to common oxalic acid dihydrate (wood bleach). If you manage to get your hands… Read More »
Supported by Jester Bee Co.
Supported by Häagen-Dazs loves Honey Bees™