Beekeeping Through the Eyes of a Biologist
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The Elephant and the EPA Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ April 2024 A related pair of issues are coming to a head: (1) The “elephant in the room” that nobody wants to talk about –– that the EPA is feeling increasing pressure to ramp up enforcement against beekeeper use of unapproved treatments, […]
Read MoreContents Formic Vapors and their distribution. 1 Experiment #1: Applying Formic Pro on the bottom board, with a temporary top entrance. 2 Results. 5 Experiments on queen loss due to formic. 6 Experiment #2: Can you remove, and then reintroduce the queen?. 7 Experiment #3: Is it the formic or the bees that kill the […]
Read MoreContents A Large Field Research Project 1 Materials and Methods 2 Experimental design. 2 Surface Area of the Treatments 4 Justification for the Ratios Tested. 4 The Test Colonies 4 The Matrices 7 Dose applied to the bees 13 Results. 14 Summary of my interpretation of the chart 16 Discussion. 16 Musing on other studies […]
Read MoreHi, I registered these three domain names in the hope that some regenerative farming nonprofits might wish to use them. I’d be happy to give them to an organization promoting regenerative farming that, unlike “certified organic,” accepts precision-bred (Crispr-edited) plant cultivars, and synthetic eco-friendly pest control methods. earthfriendlyfarming.org workwithnature.org backtonatural.org If you’re interested, you can […]
Read MoreSelective Breeding Progress Report 2023 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ September 2023 In 2017 I proposed a simplified method for commercial queen breeders to select for varroa-resistant stock, and then undertook a demonstration project to see if it would work. After six years of strong selection, we appear to be making substantial progress! […]
Read MoreThere is a great deal of argument about how “naturally” we beekeepers should manage our colonies. But the mere act of “keeping” bees implies that it is unnatural. Truly natural “beekeeping” would be to set out empty cavities (hives or other hollows) for swarms to move into (but not more cavities than would “naturally” exist […]
Read MoreI liked this article by Ernie, since it well reflected the typical learning curve of a newbee. The article originally appeared in the Summer 2023 edition of BeesCene, the journal of the BC Honey Producers’ Association, and is here included by permission.
Read MoreContents 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: […]
Read MoreContents 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 […]
Read MoreDRAFT IN PROGRESS updated 24 June 2023 Suggested Text for an Amendment to FIFRA I have zero legal background, but suggest that we pitch a short and sweet amendment to be placed in the Farm Bill. There is already a section in FIFRA 40 CFR 152.25 regarding exemptions. § 152.25 Exemptions for pesticides of a character […]
Read MoreContents 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 […]
Read MoreContents 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 […]
Read MoreSupplementary material for A Study on Bee and Mite Drift, Part 5 Due to unfamiliarity with data preservation for the scale hives, we lost all our raw data when we removed the batteries from the scales at the end of the trial. Luckily, I had been following the weight data during the course of the trial, […]
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