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Randy,s Posts

Sick Bees – Part 15: An Improved Method for Nosema Sampling

Author’s Note Samples from Within the Hive Soundbite Science Infection Rate So How Did We Get on the Wrong Track? How to Determine the Colony Infection Rate So What if I Count the Number of Infected Bees out of 10? An Assessment of Our Situation One HUGE Assumption Validation of the Method Update Sequential Sampling...

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Sick Bees – Part 16: The “Quick Squash” Method for Determining Nosema Prevalence in a Colony

Infection Prevalence Sequential Sampling A Neat Little Shortcut Validation Summary (completely subject to revision) More Details Next Month Acknowledgements References 2019 Quick Nosema Prevalence Assessment Method First published in ABJ February 2012 Updated March 13, 2019 Randy Oliver Since the discovery of Nosema ceranae, I and many other beekeepers and researchers have been frustrated by...

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Sick Bees 17A: Nosema – The Smoldering Epidemic (Part 1)

Sick Bees 17a: Nosema—the Smoldering Epidemic (Part 1) Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ in March 2011   The “Invisible” Infection Something Changed This Decade Historical Prevalence of Nosema Was Nosema ceranae a Game Changer? References The latest National Honey Bee Diseases Survey found that as many as seven out of ten U.S. colonies...

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The “Rules” For Successful Beekeeping

Note:  I stuck my neck out a bit with this article, and if you’re easily offended perhaps you should skip it.  However, the feedback on this article has been overwhelmingly favorable.  The few that were offended apparently missed my point—which is that there are no rigid rules as to how you must keep bees! Beekeeping...

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The Rules Redux

My recent article, “The Rules for Successful Beekeeping,” got more response (overwhelmingly favorable) than all my previous articles combined!  (I’ve received requests to reprint it in several foreign countries, including a translation into Serbian!).  What I also discovered is that there are a few beekeepers suffering from advanced cases of HDD—Humor Deficit Disorder.  This is...

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Sick Bees – Part 17b: Nosema – The Smoldering Epidemic

Sick Bees 17: Nosema The Smoldering Epidemic Part B First published in ABJ April 2012 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com   The Scientific Method Effect of the Invasion Why Would Nosema ceranae Not Cause Problems? Understanding Nosema Understanding the Honey Bee Superorganism Energy and Protein Metabolism References You may have noticed that I’m doing a sort of...

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2012 Almond Pollination Update

2012 Almond Pollination Update ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in April 2012 Randy Oliver Who woulda thunk, what with all the lousy weather last spring, widespread summer drought, the reports of massive queen failures, the disastrous honey crop, and the high winter losses of the past few years, that there would have been enough colonies...

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Pesticide Incident Reporting

Pesticide Incident Reporting Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in May 2012 The EPA needs to know if pesticides are causing “incidents” involving honey bee mortality.  It is important for beekeepers to bring such incidents to the EPA’s attention, or they won’t know that there are problems! If your colonies experience a pesticide incident,...

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Sick Bees Part 17B: Nosema – The Smoldering Epidemic (Part 2)

The Scientific Method Effect of the Invasion Why Would Nosema ceranae Not Cause Problems? Understanding Nosema Understanding the Honey Bee Superorganism Nosema and Energy Metabolism Nosema and Protein Metabolism References Sick Bees 17B: Nosema—the Smoldering Epidemic (Part 2) First published in ABJ April 2012 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com You may have noticed that I’m doing a...

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Sick Bees Part 18A: Colony Collaspse Revisited

Gone, or Just Taking a Breather? CCD in Retrospect? The Anatomy of Colony Collapse Relative Risk The Holst Milk Test Treating for Nosema Pollen Supplement Patties Yet Another Sign of Impending Collapse Ag Exposure as a Risk Factor Reliving History Acknowledgements References [8] The Holst Milk Test Sick Bees Part 18a: Colony Collapse Revisited Randy...

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Sick Bees – Part 18A: Colony Collapse Revisited

Gone, or Just Taking a Breather? CCD in Retrospect? The Anatomy of Colony Collapse Relative Risk The Holst Milk Test Treating for Nosema Pollen Supplement Patties Yet Another Sign of Impending Collapse Ag Exposure as a Risk Factor Reliving History Acknowledgements References [8] The Holst Milk Test Randy Oliver In my article on almond pollination...

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Sick Bees – Part 18B: Colony Collapse Revisited

Sick Bees Part 18b: Colony Collapse Revisited Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in June 2012 The “Harvard” Study A Healthy Skepticism Reality Check A Critical Analysis A Clarification of Terms Can You Trust Your Spin Doctor? Some Helpful Advice Some Examples of Spin Doctor Malpractice Example 1 – GMOs as the Cause of...

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The Extinction of the Honey Bee?

The Extinction of the Honey Bee? Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in July 2012 We call on you to vote to stop production and sale of neonicotinoid pesticides until and unless new independent scientific studies prove they are safe. The catastrophic demise of bee colonies could put our whole food chain in danger....

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A New Large-Scale Trial of Clothianidin

A New Large-Scale Trial of Clothianidin Randy Oliver and Brett Adee First published in ABJ September 2012 The process for approving a new pesticide is similar to that of approving a new drug.  In the case of a drug, randomized controlled clinical trials are run to demonstrate efficacy and safety.  Then once the drug is...

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Neonicotinoids: Trying To Make Sense of the Science Part 1

Trying to Make Sense of It All Look and You Shall Find It Looking at Both Sides of the Issue The Regulatory Gauntlet A Balancing Act Who Does the Testing? Academic versus Field Applicable Field Relevance Problems in Methodology and Interpretation Recent Studies References Neonicotinoids: Trying to Make Sense of the Science Part 1 Randy...

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