Topics
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...
The Birds and the Bees
I was greatly concerned when I read that news item that the neonicotinoid seed treatments might be causing the decline of bird populations. I don’t know whether you read the referred paper (http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/toxins/Neonic_FINAL.pdf), which was earnest and detailed. Unfortunately, it was mostly speculative, as opposed to being based upon field evidence. The authors themselves, in...
The Harvard Study on Neonicotinoids and CCD
A recent press release by the prestigious Harvard School of Public Health claims that one of their researchers has found that Colony Collapse Disorder was caused by a common insecticide used on corn. As an informed beekeeper and environmentalist, I feel that this study calls for standard scientific scrutiny to see whether their claims actually...
Zombie bees
A parasitic fly was recently discovered to be infesting honey bees– the press wildly extrapolated it into being the cause of CCD. I’ve kept in touch with the researchers in San Francisco, and with beekeepers in the affected areas. The study is ongoing. The fly is a native parasite that normally parasitizes bumblebees and paper wasps....
What Happened To The Bees This Spring? (Part 1 & 2)
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...
Reflections on the Honey Bee Health Summit
Reflections on the Honey Bee Health Summit (And Other Random Thoughts) Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in August 2013 Into The Belly of the Beast Plant Breeders Drop the Demonization Let’s Be Logical Take Home Sound Bites Colony Health The Varroa/Virus Complex Pesticide Issues Agriculture and Nutrition Toxins Sentinel Apiaries Weighing the...
Queens For Pennies Powerpoint Presentation
Queens for Pennies pdf The above file is saved as a pdf. If you wish a Powerpoint version for audience presentation, please contact me. Updates: I recently tested several models of lighted magnifying headlamps available from Amazon and was most pleased with the: Carson Pro Series MagniVisor Deluxe Head-Worn LED Lighted Magnifier with 4 Different...
Small-scale Queenrearing
This page is not a finished product, but due to requests, I’ve posted a rough version. The Oliver “foolproof method” of queen rearing Step-by-step Oliver modification of the “Modified Swarm Box” Starter/finisher colony Click the link below to download my Powerpoint presentation, minus my voice. It is a large download and may take some time....
Updates
October 2014: Hi All, I’m freshly returned from the Western Apicultural Society Conference in Missoula, where we got to see the state of the art in remote hive monitoring. It won’t be long until we have some really user-friendly and affordable hive monitoring devices on the market. We’re also seeing a sea change in the...
Current update: Swedish Beekeeping journal
During my recent speaking engagement in Sweden I had the great pleasure of meeting Erik Österlund, editor of the Swedish beekeeping journal “Bitidningen.” Eric writes knowledgeably on many bee subjects. In follow up correspondence with him, I found his analysis of the studies to date on small cell size to be of interest. I’ve linked...
The Short Version
The Major Problems Facing Bees and Beekeepers Number one is varroa. Varroa changed the virus dynamics within the colony. If either the bees or the beekeeper don’t keep the varroa infestation rate down to fewer than 5 mites per 100 bees, colonies start to suffer. At about 15 mites per 100, viruses go epidemic, and...
GMO Updates
GMO updates Please don’t parrot misinformation–learn the actual facts! Introduction “GMOs” are a hot topic these days, due mainly to the media attention given to a few advocacy groups, as opposed to those who actually understand the science involved in the development of genetically-modified plants. I find this unfortunate, since the future of many species...
Pesticide exposure pathways
Sorry for the low resolution of this snip of this Powerpoint slide that I created for a presentation. I’ve color coded the ellipses and arrows. Red is the pesticide active ingredient. Blue is the initial mode of exposure. Orange are the ages/temporal tasks of the bees involved. Green are the contaminated foods or combs. Note...
International Websites of Interest
I’m open to suggestions for interesting websites on beekeeping in countries other than the U.S. to link to–please email me suggestions. Ukraine:A commercial honey sales website, but with a nice summary of the history of beekeeping in that country http://www.honey-export.com/
Tips for Citizen Scientists
Tips for Designing Bee Research Projects Beekeepers are known for being of curious and experimental minds. Since factors affecting beekeeping are continually changing, new unanswered questions are bound to arise; the beekeeper “citizen scientist” can often answer them himself by performing a well-designed experiment, and then share those results to the benefit of everyone. But...
ScientificBeekeeping is a not-for-profit enterprise. Our motivation is the notes of appreciation that we received from beekeepers worldwide, thanking us for how valuable my information has been to them. All donations go towards website maintenance, my hired help, research costs (thousands of dollars per year), and some re-donated to noteworthy projects by other groups. I guarantee that every penny is pinched and well spent!
Click on the banners above to go directly to these sponsors’ websites. Thanks to them and the supportive beekeepers below, you can enjoy this website without annoying popup ads!
Everything on this website is open access and freely given to beekeepers and researchers worldwide, on a not-for-profit basis. I gladly accept supportive personal gifts of appreciation from my readers. You can donate via Paypal below (or better yet via Venmo as a gift to @RandyOliverBeekeeper). I will treat all Paypal donations as “gifted grants to be applied towards beekeeping research” given by you with “detached and disinterested generosity out of affection, respect, admiration, charity or like impulses,” and not in the expectation of any goods or services. Since I am not a 501(c)(3), your gifts are not tax deductible.
Thank you and happy beekeeping!
Randy