Practical Beekeeping Management

Is Our Party Winding Down

Contents Professional Beekeeping 2 The Beginning of a Boom 3 Indicators of Change 4 The Four Booms, Sprees, and Joyrides that We’ve Been Enjoying 5 I’ll Go Over Each of the Above in Turn, and Point out Early Indicators and Preparation. 6 The Demand for Bees for Almond Pollination 6 Early Indicators and Preparation 8 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Honey Cleanup without Robbing

Honey Cleanup without Robbing Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ September 2023 I’m often asked how to “clean up” the honey in cut-out burr or volunteer combs, spilled honey, sticky extracted combs, or other honey that we’d like to recycle back into hives — without initiating robbing and the potential transfer of pathogens. […]

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 […]

What Happened To The Bees This Spring? (Part 1 & 2)

First published in: American Bee Journal, June 2013

Part 1: Environmental and Biotic Factors Setting the Stage The Lead Up The Drought Lack of Good Forage Varroa Diseases Other Indicators of Impending Collapse An Unexpected Chill Feedback from Brokers The Silent Majority Beekeeper Management Part 2: The Contribution From Pesticides The Lynch Mob Debunking The Myths The Precautionary Principal See For Yourself Be […]