Beekeeping Through the Eyes of a Biologist
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IPM 7 Fighting Varroa The Arsenal: “Natural” Treatments – Part 2 © Randy Oliver 2007 ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in September 2007 (Tenth in a Series on Integrated Pest Management of Varroa) Let me tell you, researching and writing this series has been an education for me! Several of my preconceived notions have […]
Read MoreIPM 7 Fighting Varroa 7 The Arsenal: “Natural” Treatments Part 1 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in August 2007 (Ninth in a series on integrated pest management of Varroa) Disclaimer: I am not licensed to make any pesticide recommendation. I am merely reporting on information from appropriate authorities. You should consult your local authority […]
Read MoreOxalic Acid: Part 2 Heat Vaporization and Other Methods Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com Originally published ABJ Jan 2007 Update December 2016: I suggest that you view my oxalic acid Powerpoint presentation, which I will try to keep up to date–https://scientificbeekeeping.com/oxalic-acid-powerpoint-presentation/ In my article last month, I detailed the use of the oxalic acid sugar syrup “dribble” […]
Read MoreOxalic Acid: Part 1 (of 2) Questions, Answers, and More Questions Why Oxalic Acid? ©Randy Oliver 2006 ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in December 2006 European beekeepers, who have dealt with varroa much longer than we have, and who often face regulations that do not look favorably upon chemicals that may contaminate honey, noted that […]
Read MoreThe Learning Curve: The Future Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in Nov. 2009 “I look to the future because that’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.” – George Burns Miticides in Development There are a number of new varroacides currently in development by various parties—some fairly close to release. […]
Read MoreThe Learning Curve: Part 4–The Synthetic Miticides Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in Sep. 2009 Paradise Lost The overall impact of the varroa mite upon beekeeping was recently brought home when I spent time with beekeepers on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Until recently, these lucky beekeepers enjoyed a true beekeeping paradise—abundant nectar […]
Read MoreThe Learning Curve: Part 3 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in July 2009 I added a number of updates on May 2015, marking 15 years of successful commercial beekeeping in my operation without the use of synthetic miticides. “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent […]
Read MoreThe Learning Curve, Part 2 Killing Mites without Killing Your Bees Randy Oliver First Published in ABJ in May 2009 “U.S. beekeepers crossed the Rubicon of pesticide application when Varroa mites were introduced in the late 1980s. They literally “tore down the fence,” as one wag put it, quickly transforming themselves from anti-pesticide fundamentalists into […]
Read MoreThe Learning Curve—2009 Randy Oliver Scientificbeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in April 2009 Physicist Neils Bohr once quipped, “An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.” This definition clearly excludes me from being any sort of expert, since I exuberantly continue to make […]
Read MoreMiticides 2011 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in American Bee Journal February 2011 Colony health and production these days is largely a function of varroa levels in the hives—the more mites, the more problems. It is no longer a matter of simply knocking the mites back once a year with a “silver bullet”—it is becoming […]
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