Beekeeping Through the Eyes of a Biologist
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A COMPARATIVE TRIAL OF THE POLLEN SUBS Part 4: Why did some Subs Outperform Others? Beekeeper-Funded Research Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com Contents Back to my 2020 california trial Have we been focusing on the wrong suspects? Protein in Animal feed formulations Mixing of protein sources Crude Protein and Amino Acids EAAs as percent of crude […]
Read MoreObservations on Pollen Subs: Part 3 Placement of the Pollen Patty First published in ABJ October 2021 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com There doesn’t appear to be a benefit from feeding pollen sub when there’s already a substantial natural pollen flow going on. On the other hand, during a dearth, pollen subs may perform better when the […]
Read MoreThis is a very contentious subject, but how much of the media alarm over glyphosate is based upon actual risk assessment? Having run my garden and orchard organically for many years, I was faced with invasive Vinca major and Himalaya blackberries that were taking an excessive amount of my time to control. Weed whacking, horticultural vinegar, […]
Read MoreObservations on Pollen Subs Part 2 Why Didn’t My Test Hives Grow? First published in ABJ September 2021 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com After the first of July we find it difficult to get nucs to grow, despite continual feeding. Is the lack of response to feeding due to the heat, the day length, the lack […]
Read MoreA COMPARATIVE TRIAL OF THE POLLEN SUBS 2020 Part 3 Beekeeper-Funded Research First published in ABJ September 2021 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com Some research institutions avoid the testing of name-brand products for obvious reasons, and some trade magazines won’t publish articles that might offend their advertisers. We beekeepers are fortunate that Dadant & Sons and […]
Read MoreA COMPARATIVE TRIAL OF THE POLLEN SUBS 2020 Part 2 First published in ABJ August 2021 Vincent Riciglianoa and Randy Oliverb aUSDA-ARS, bScientificBeekeeping.com Last month I described how we set up our comparative trial of several pollen subs. Now it’s time to bring in my collaborator, Dr. Vincent Ricigliano, to show the results of […]
Read MoreRefining the Mite Wash: Part 3 Dislodgement, Precipitation, and Separation Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in September 2020 In my last article I showed how mites will quickly drop off the bees’ bodies if immersed in 91% alcohol. But there are still more steps remaining to separate the mites from the sample of […]
Read MoreI Googled the word “beekeeping” today, which came back with 39 million results — far too many for most of us to read! The other issue is that with the advent of the Internet, those with strong opinions are free to upload their thoughts, without anyone first checking them for supportive evidence. And in beekeeping, there […]
Read MoreBelow are links to some classic beekeeping publications: Farrar 1944 Productive-management-of-honeybee-colonies USDA 1967 Beekeeping in the United States Scroll down to Moeller’s “Managing Colonies for High Honey Yields” Beekeeping-in-California_1987 I also recommend (or have had recommended): Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees, 2nd Edition: Honey Production, Pollination, Health, Malcolm Stanford. Malcolm has an easy-to-read writing […]
Read MoreBeekeeping is more difficult today than it used to be. Our changing agricultural landscape provides less forage, and growers still apply pesticides to freely (although the pesticide situation for bees today is far better than it used to be in the ’60s and ’70s). The main problem for honey bees worldwide is the recent invasion […]
Read MoreI created a handy spreadsheet in Excel for calculating Henderson-Tilton efficacies. Here’s a snip of it: If you wish, you can enter your raw data into the blue unprotected grid, and then calculate the means or medians (and standard errors of the means if you wish to display them) there. Then enter those calculated values into […]
Read MoreClick on the link below to view a ppt presentation. Being Part of the Solution
Read MoreI feel that our industry and research community has long needed a useful, accurate, and user-friendly varroa population model–so I spent a year of early mornings and weekends creating this one. You can use this model to predict what sort of mite management strategy will work in your area. Be sure to view the tutorials […]
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