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Randy,s Posts

The Nosema Problem: Part 3 – Seasonality and Effects of Nosema

Contents Requisites for nosema to gain a foothold. 2 The importance of pollen to Nosema transmission and reproduction. 4 The connection between nosema and dysentery. 6 putting it all together. 7 Coming. 8 citations and notes. 8   The Nosema Problem: Part 3 Seasonality and Effects of Nosema Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ...

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The Nosema Problem: Part 4 – Nosemosis

Contents Effects of nosema upon an individual bee. 1 Effects of nosema upon the colony. 2 Colonies can fight back. 2 Nosema and almond pollination. 4 Nosema and the queen. 7 How concerned should you be about nosema?. 8 The take-home message. 10 Coming. 11 citations and notes. 12   . The Nosema Problem: Part...

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Pesticides in the News

Pesticides in the News Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in August 2019 Our beleaguered Environmental Protection Agency, tasked with protecting man and the environment, is caught between an unsupportive Administration and a public that is becoming more and more concerned about the effects of pesticides and climate change. I plan to return to...

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The Nosema Problem: Part 6 – Treatment

Contents First a return to queens. 1 Treatments for nosema. 2 fumagillin. 3 Alternative treatments. 3 What else is on the market?. 6 Nozevit®. 6 Hive alive®. 9 Acids in syrup. 9 Possibilities on the radar. 9 What if you don’t want to treat?. 9 citations and notes. 10   The Nosema Problem: Part 6...

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The Nosema Problem: Part 7a – The Causes of Dysentery in Honey Bees — Part 1

Contents Why would a colony exhibit signs of dysentery?. 3 honeydew.. 4 Microbial dysbiosis or parastism.. 5 The link between pollen and nosema. 7 How about those “winter bees”?. 8 Literature cited. 10     The Nosema Problem: Part 7a The Causes of Dysentery in Honey Bees Part 1 First published in ABJ December 2019 Randy...

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Extended-Release Oxalic Acid Progress Report #5 – 2019

Contents Background. 2 The 2019 field test. 2 Results. 4 Those danged outliers!. 6 Overall efficacy. 7 Could there have been mite immigration from other colonies?. 8 Fate of the applied towels. 9 progression of action of treatment over time. 13 Results from others. 14 Mexico and uruguay. 14 Southeastern States with high humidity. 14...

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The Nosema Problem: Part 5 – Monitoring and Disinfection

Contents What the beekeeper can do. 1 seasonality. 2 detection and Sampling. 3 Queens And Nosema. 6 Deadout equipment. 7 citations and notes. 8   The Nosema Problem: Part 5 Monitoring and Disinfection First published in ABJ October 2019 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com Some beekeepers are concerned about the current unavailability of fumagillin. Although the Canadians...

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Randy’s Varroa Model

I feel that our industry and research community has long needed a useful, accurate, and user-friendly varroa population model–so I spent a year of early mornings and weekends creating this one.  You can use this model to predict what sort of mite management strategy will work in your area. For those who don’t have Excel...

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A Model for Oxalic Acid Vaporizations

A Model for Oxalic Acid Vaporizations The purpose of this model is to help you plan OAV application strategies during either summer or fall.  It cannot predict absolute values, but by holding all other variables constant, it allows you to compare the projected results of different OAV application schedules. Download the Excel file here. Or...

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Starting colony buildup calculator

I wrote about initial colony buildup at https://scientificbeekeeping.com/modeling-nuc-buildup/  I created a spreadsheet model that allows you to estimate and visualize how different methods of starting colonies affects the colony age structure and growth.  I works for package, nucs started with laying queens, queen cells, or walkaway splits. Nuc calculator May 2022

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Resources for beginners and those wishing to help pollinators

Your donations not only support our own research; we redirect a substantial proportion of donations to Scientific Beekeeping to organizations who we see making the most impact towards helping pollinators – notably those who work with farmers and landowners, or preserve critical habitat. The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else...

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The Nosema Problem: Part 7b – The Causes of Dysentery in Honey Bees:  Part 2

Contents The bees’ need for water. 1 Water and the winter cluster. 1 Water Balance. 2 Water homeostasis and buffering in the winter cluster. 3 Water in the gut. 3 Atmosphere and Humidity within the winter cluster. 3 Evaporation via respiration. 5 Defecation/Dysentery. 6 Literature cited. 8     The Nosema Problem: Part 7b The...

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Overwintering of Honey Bee Colonies

Overwintering of honey bee colonies This subject has long generated endless debate among beekeepers.  There are a few excellent resources by those who have collected hard data: Dr. Floyd Moeller was a USDA researcher who performed extensive field research to test various beekeeping management practices. This excellent publication covers practices to improve overwintering success, and...

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Practical Beekeeping Management

I find that many of the best management resources for professional beekeepers interested in best management practices for their managed livestock were written long ago, before all the hoopla about “The Decline of Bees.”  Those practices still apply — other than varroa mite, little has changed about beekeeping.  So the update is to keep varroa infestation...

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Nuc, package, and queen sales and pick up instructions

Scientific Beekeeping does not promote or endorse any particular stock 2024  Announcement:  Golden West Bees is collaborating with Olivarez Honey Bees to produce queens from our chosen breeders, mated in a dedicated isolated mating yard stocked with our own drone mother colonies.  Please contact them for large orders. For nuc sales, you can decide if...

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