Beekeeping News

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University of Otago  Researchers from New Zealand's University of Otago have discovered the molecular mechanism by which queen honey bees carefully control worker bees' fertility. It has long been known that worker bees have a very limited ability to reproduce in a hive with a queen and brood present, but in their absence, a third of them will activate their ovaries …

By Kim Kaplan USDA Agricultural Research Service WASHINGTON, August 2, 2016—Bacteria in the gut of young honey bees may provide clues about the impact parasites have on bee health. That and other experimental findings were published by U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Because young honey bees don't have gut bacteria, …

Véto-pharma, the makers of Apivar for varroa mite control, have released a new Varroa Guide. Interested beekeepers may download and print the new guide at www.veto-pharma.com.

Entomological Society of America This video shows the motion of a honey bee abdomen at a frequency of 500 frames per second. Credit: Entomological Society of America (Click here or on image above for video)   Honey bees are able to wiggle their abdomens in a variety of ways. Now new research published in the Journal of Insect Science shows how they are able …

Vita has created an infographic about varroa. It's free and downloadable from the Vita Gallery. It is the second in an infographic series; the first was a Swarm Infographic.   Go to the Vita Gallery to download the Varroa Infographic www.vita-europe.com/gallery Sebastian Owen of Vita (Europe) Ltd said: “Following the very positive response to the first Vita infographic on swarms, we’ve created another. We encourage anyone …

Preliminary results from an international study The honey bee research association COLOSS1 has today announced the preliminary results of their international study of colony losses over the 2015-16 winter. Data were collected from 29 countries in this initiative, which is the largest and longest running international study of honey bee colony losses. In total 18,693 respondents provided overwintering mortality and other …

University of Kansas LAWRENCE -- According the Environmental Protection Agency, the declining health of pollinators reported for the past decade is tied to a mix of factors, including habitat loss, pests, pathogens, viruses, poor nutrition and pesticides. "Insect pollinators are incredibly important for agricultural ecosystems," said Kathy Denning, doctoral student in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas. "A huge …