Bee Behavior and Biology
These sets of articles offer methods from hundreds of hours of scientific trials for managing hive dynamics and maintaining colony health. It covers important topics like bee drift, mite migration, and seasonal population changes, offering insights on how these factors impact mite control, swarming, and hive organization. You can also learn how primer pheromones influence hive stability, and help you make informed decisions to manage mite spread, support strong colony buildup, and maintain hive stability through pheromone-driven bee behaviors.
A Survey on Robbing at Collapse
Contents Robbing is Governed by Olfaction Back to what happens upon colony collapse A Survey on Whether Robbing Takes Place at Collapse My Conclusions From the Survey Responses Relationship to Bee and Mite Drift A humorous anecdote regarding training bees to a scent Acknowledgements Citations and notes A SURVEY ON ROBBING AT COLLAPSE Randy...
A Study on Bee and Mite Drift: Part 2
Contents Questions to Answer 1 Materials and Methods 2 Placement of the hives 2 Preparation of the Mite Donor Colonies. 3 Tagging the bees 3 The Control Group. 7 Preparation of the Mite Receiver Hives 7 Eliminating the mites. 7 Magnetic tag recovery. 9 The stickyboards. 10 The hive scales. 10 Layout of the Donor...
A Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration: Part 1
Contents Introduction Was Another Field Study Justified? Background Research The Biology Behind Mite Transfer Between Hives How Much Mite Immigration Actually Occurs? How Do the Mites Get Transferred? How Important is the Drifting of Drones? How Much Drift is There of Worker Bees? How Important are the Guard Bees? Do Mites and Viruses Cause...
A Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration: Part 3
Contents The Donor Colonies 1 Tagging. 1 Results and Discussion. 2 Did the Tagged Bees Behave Normally?. 2 Progress of the Colonies. 4 Answering our Questions 4 Observations from the Donor Hives. 5 Correlation With Varroa Infestation. 6 Tag Recovery by Date. 8 Timelines of Recovery of Drifted Bees 9 Relevance to Mite Immigration. 10...
A Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration: Part 4
Contents Distance that Worker Bees will Drift 1 Effect of Distance upon Bee Drift 4 Hive-to-Hive Variation in Captured Tags 7 Validating our Methodology. 8 Mite Immigration: Results of the Stickyboard Counts. 10 Cumulative Mite Immigration. 11 Next Month. 12 Acknowledgements. 13 Citations and Notes 13 A Study on Bee and Mite Drift:...
A Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration: Part 5
Contents A Deeper Look into our Data. 1 Was Robbing Involved with Mite Immigration?. 6 Discussion on Robbing. 8 Study Wrap Up. 9 Review.. 10 Next Month. 10 Acknowledgements. 11 Citations and Notes 11 A Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration Part 5 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ June 2023...
A Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration: Part 6
A Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration Part 6 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ July 2023 In our 2018 study in the California foothills, we confirmed that bees indeed drift from collapsing colonies to other hives, even to those at considerable distance. And that drifting can result in a substantial...
Robbing Screens Part 9: Designing a Robbing Screen that Works in Conjunction with the Colony’s Guard Bees
Robbing Screens Part 9: Designing a Robbing Screen that Works in Conjunction with the Colony’s Guard Bees Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ March 2025 The defenders of a colony against robbing are its resident guard force. Do the current designs of robbing screens help or hinder those guard bees? Robbing Starts...
Robbing Screens: Part 8– Do They Work in Concert with Guard Bees
Contents An Unsuccessful Attempt to Create Robbing Field Observations of the Guards Behind Robbing Screens How Colonies Guard Themselves against Foreign Bees The Behavior of Guard Bees My Conclusions Next Month Acknowledgements Citations and Notes Robbing Screens Part 8: Do They Work in Concert with the Guard Bees? Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ...
ScientificBeekeeping is a not-for-profit enterprise, and I’m happy to receive notes of thanks for how information on this site has contributed to my readers’ success at beekeeping (and sometimes saved them hundreds or thousands of dollars). It is your support that allows me to devote my life to this site. All donations go towards website maintenance, bee research costs (typically tens of thousands of dollars per year), re-donations to fund research by others, and a small amount to partially offset the huge number of hours that I spend in research and writing. I guarantee that every penny is pinched and well spent!
I appreciate the notes of support that I receive from all over the world. Seeing who is donating, their locations, and the little notes that come with contributions help to let me know how I should direct my research and writing. In appreciation, and in order to show who is supporting my research and writing, I honor below those who have recently made substantial donations:
REGULAR SERIOUS DONORS
Tracy Fasanella
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* Homestead in the Hood, Colorado
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Conway Veterinary Hospital
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Yumei Xiong
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RECENT MAJOR SUPPORTERS
John Gaut
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Los Angeles County Beekeepers
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Victorian Apiarists’ Association
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Chrisensen Family Apiaries, Michigan
Nebraska Beekeepers Assoc.
Hiatt Honey LLC
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Paul Hosticka, Washington
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Colorado State Beekeepers Assoc.
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New Mexico Beekeepers Assoc
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Help Save the Bees Foundation, Nevada
James Jakim, Pennsylvania
RECENT $100+ SERIOUS SUPPORTERS
Rick Hyde
Mohawk Valley Trading Company
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Perry County Beekeepers Club
Lawrence Huba
Charles Reichert
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Charlean Andes
Always Summer Herbs, Florida
Bill Hall
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Jersey Cape Beekeepers Association
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New Hampshire Beekeepers Association
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Debbie Hewitt, Maryland
Mile Hive Bee Club, Colorado
Dale Lesser, Minnesota
Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild, California
Stevan Huffman, Alaska
Flower Street Farm
Cara Ching, California
Terry Barrett
Robert M Simonson
Vincent Aloyo, Pennsyvania
Byron Godard
Southern Oregon Beekeepers Association
Lawrence Chismar
Middlesex Beekeepers Association, Massachusetts
Montgomery County Beekeepers, Maryland
Charles Clarke, California
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Ralph Carter, California
Barnstable County Beekeepers Association
Mary Aho
Sonja Percival
New York Bee Wellness
Liz and Terry Huxter
David Ball
Paul W. Garges
Andrew Levi
Jim Veitch, California
Mark Simonitsch, Massachusetts
Kenneth Sallitt
Kelle Frymire
Tamiko Panzella, California
Rodd Hall, Wisconsin
James Baerwald
Jean Knudsen
Yosef Shochat, Israel
Nicolas Geant
Charles Clark
Merrimack Valley Beekeepers
Michael Cummings
Bryce Lord
Jersey Cape Beekeepers
Busy Bee Honey, Vermont
Rick Anderson
Steve Sweet, Idaho
Ulster County Beekeepers Association
Jan Lawson
Honey Bee Club of Stillwater, Minnesota
Black Hills Area Beekeeping Club, South Dakota
Richard Ozero, Alberta
Paul Yanus, Vermont
Suddabees Honey LLC
Dean Christie
New Hampshire Beekeepers Association
Jane Sebring
Vincent Aloyo
Connecticut Beekeepers Association
Jim Lyssy
Wyoming Beekeepers Association
Tualatin Valley Beekeepers, Oregon
Yosef Shochat
Dale Lesser
Jill Lambie-ponce
Deborah Corcoran
Justin Ray
Idaho Honey Producers Association
Capital Area Beekeepers Association, PA
Mark Simonitsch, MA
Central Maryland Beekeepers Association
Roy Manicke
Kansas Honey Producers Association
Charles Bailey Jr
Richard Reed
Gregory Quinn
John Allison
Joshua Sewell
Chris Abbot, Virginia
Owyhee Honey Company
Idaho Honey Ranch
Mount Diablo Beekeepers Association, California
Charles Bailey Jr
Raritan Valley Beekeepers Association
Mike Tooley
Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association
Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild
Pamela Stegemerten
Vermont Beekeepers Association
Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association
Michael Kurtz
Dan Geer
Ross Honey Company
Steven Greenwood
Julie Spezia
Stephen Lamb, California
Pam Rogers, Indiana
El Dorado Beekeepers, California
Bill Mares, Vermont
Mike Stoops
Adam Bagerski, Oregon
Dorothy Hammett
Janine Cohen, California
Neil Nordquist, California
Richard Hyde, California
Bonnie Bee & Co., California
Merrimack Valley Beekeepers Association, New Hampshire
Laura Risk, Colorado
Capital Area Beekeepers Association, Pennsylvania
West Sound Beekeepers Association, Washington
Beekeepers’ Guild San Mateo, California
Omaha Bee Club, Nebraska
Joplin Area Beekeepers Association
Steve Sweet, Idaho
Bill’s Bees
Rich Blohm, New York
James Baerwald
Kip Glass, Missouri
Charles Vorisek
Carlos Perez, California
Debra Morey
Margaret Varney
Chester County Beekeepers Association, Pennsylvania
Thomas Dahl
Vince Aloyo, Pennsylvania
Charles Bureau
Help Save the Bees Foundation, Nevada
Aaron Bergman, Florida
Alan Herzfeld, Idaho
Eli’s Bees, California
Ghislain De Roeck, Belgium
Buncombe County Beekeepers, North Carolina
Robert Holcombe, Rhode Island
Alex Naumenko, Florida
Honey Bee Club of Stillwater, Minnesota
New Hampshire Beekeepers Association
Merrimack Valley Beekeepers, New Hampshire
Blossomwood Honey, Al
Bee Thankful Raw Honey
Skip Smith
Jean Knudsen
Jason Hough, Maryland
Tualatin Valley Beekeepers, Oregon
Craig Falls, New York
Michael Aaby, Maryland
Keith Scott
Randall Carter, Alabama
Thomas Kirwan
Nicolas Geant, California
Lee Bussy
Jean Knudsen
Andrew Dewey, Maine
Jason Wester, Michigan



