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Randy,s Posts

Beginning Beekeeping Class Notes

I’ve taught beginning beekeeping classes for many years.  Over those years, I’ve made an outline of notes.  I’ve put them into pdf format for your viewing or printout.  These are rough notes, but are searchable for subject matter, as well as having a table of contents. (more…)

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California Dreaming vs. California Reality: The Status of Almond Pollination for 2007 – Part 1

California Dreamin’ vs. California Reality: The Status of Almond Pollination for 2007 Part 1 By Randy Oliver with Keith Jarrett © Randy Oliver 2007 ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in October 2006 Photos to be added Last year California relived the Gold Rush of 1849. But this time the rush was not for the precious...

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California Dreaming vs California Reality: The Status of Almond Pollination – Part 2

California Dreamin’  Part 2 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in November 2006 The almond pollination market is dynamic, but I haven’t heard of much change since last month. It appears that beekeepers affected by drought and heat have taken their losses and readjusted their expected numbers of colonies. Many who hoped to make...

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Almond Pollination 2008 and Beyond

Almond Pollination 2008 and Beyond The Game Continues Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ Oct 2007   As I write this, it’s mid August, and a beekeepers thoughts turn toward almonds.  Not the nut, but the beautiful blossoming trees, and especially their need for pollination.  My friends in Chile and Australia have already moved...

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A Test of Using Synthetic Pheromones to Initiate Midwinter Broodrearing

Research Note A Test of Using Synthetic Pheromones to Initiate Midwinter Broodrearing Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ July 2010 Objective: to determine if the addition of either ethyl oleate (EO) or synthetic brood pheromone (BP) to colonies prior to the winter solstice would stimulate broodrearing, with the potential practical application towards producing stronger...

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Miticides 2011

Miticides 2011 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in American Bee Journal February 2011 Colony health and production these days is largely a function of varroa levels in the hives—the more mites, the more problems. It is no longer a matter of simply knocking the mites back once a year with a “silver bullet”—it is becoming...

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Trial of HoneySuperCell® Small Cell Combs

A Trial of HoneySuperCell® Small Cell Combs Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in May 2008 Introduction There has been considerable discussion as to whether “small cell” foundation (4.9mm diameter vs. the industry “standard” of approximately 5.4mm) has potential as a means of controlling varroa reproduction.  Research on Africanized bees in South America indicates...

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The Learning Curve – Part 1: 2009 Progress Report

The Learning Curve—2009 Randy Oliver Scientificbeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in April 2009 Physicist Neils Bohr once quipped, “An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.” This definition clearly excludes me from being any sort of expert, since I exuberantly continue to make...

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The Learning Curve – Part 2: Killing Mites without Killing Your Bees

The Learning Curve, Part 2 Killing Mites without Killing Your Bees Randy Oliver First Published in ABJ in May 2009 “U.S. beekeepers crossed the Rubicon of pesticide application when Varroa mites were introduced in the late 1980s. They literally “tore down the fence,” as one wag put it, quickly transforming themselves from anti-pesticide fundamentalists into...

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Powdered Sugar Dusting – Sweet and Safe, but Does it Really Work? Part 1

Powdered Sugar Dusting – Sweet and Safe, but Does it Really Work? Part 1 By Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in Dec. 2008 Updated 9 March 2017 The dusting of colonies with powdered sugar as a means of varroa control has become quite popular with hobbyists. Unfortunately, there is precious little published data...

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The Learning Curve – Part 3: The Natural Miticides

The Learning Curve: Part 3 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in July 2009 I added a number of updates on May 2015, marking 15 years of successful commercial beekeeping in my operation without the use of synthetic miticides.   “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent...

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Powdered Sugar Dusting – Sweet and Safe, but Does it Really Work? Part 2

Powdered Sugar Dusting—Sweet and Safe, but Does it Really Work? Part 2 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in Jan. 2009 One beauty of science is that it is anti-authoritarian. Physicist Lawrence Krauss put it well: “There are no scientific authorities. There are scientific experts, but there should be no authority figures whose statements...

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The Learning Curve – Part 4: The Synthetic Miticides

The Learning Curve:  Part 4–The Synthetic Miticides Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in Sep. 2009 Paradise Lost The overall impact of the varroa mite upon beekeeping was recently brought home when I spent time with beekeepers on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Until recently, these lucky beekeepers enjoyed a true beekeeping paradise—abundant nectar...

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The Learning Curve – Part 5: The Future

The Learning Curve:  The Future Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in Nov. 2009 “I look to the future because that’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.” – George Burns Miticides in Development There are a number of new varroacides currently in development by various parties—some fairly close to release....

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Powdered Sugar Dusting – Sweet and Safe, but Does it Really Work? Part 3

Powdered Sugar Dusting—Sweet and Safe, but Does it Really Work? Part 3 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in Feb. 2009 Update 2016: although sugar dusting can indeed cause a substantial proportion of the phoretic mites to drop off the bees, in order to effectively manage varroa, dusting requires more effort and repetition than most...

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