Editor -

Eugene Makovec
Advertising Manager -
Marta Menn
Publishing Department -
Dianne Behnke & Susan Nichols
info@americanbeejournal.com
www.americanbeejournal.com CONTENTS
Volume 159 No. 3 March 2019
DEPARTMENTS
From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 ARTICLESS
• Bee Innovative: A Report on the 2019 ABF Conference
Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . 249 Charles and Karen Lorence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

News and Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 • Diagnosing a Dead-out

U.S. Honey Crops
and Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
NEW! From the Archives . . . . . . 345
Tina Sebestyen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
• Poland, The Only Country Where Instrumentally Inseminated Queens
Are Routinely Used In Commercial Production Colonies
Sue Cobey, Małgorzata Bieńkowska, Jerzy Wilde, Jakub Gąbka . . . . . . . 275

Classified • The Pesticide Situation — Part 3 — Future Directions

Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 Randy Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Advertising Index . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 • Are We Talking About Pesticides Too Much?

Zac Lamas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
COLUMNS • Swarm Control in Honey Bee Colonies
The Classroom Peter L. Borst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Jerry Hayes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
• A Visit to Buckfast Abbey
Notes from the Lab: The Latest Bee Jerry Hayes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Science Distilled
Scott McArt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281 • Modern Farm Myths — Part 3 —Basic Pesticides
Charles Linder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Bees and Beekeeping, Present and
Past • What Beekeepers Need to Know About Dicamba
Wyatt A. Mangum . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Raymond A. Nabors Ph.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
The Curious Beekeeper
Rusty Burlew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 • FieldWatch: Innovative Technology for Protecting Pollinators
Stephanie Regagnon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
The American Bee Journal
• The “Harmless” Bait Hive
ISSN 0002-7626
Phillip Harms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL (ISSN 002-7626)
is published monthly at American Bee Journal, 51
S. 2nd Street, Hamilton, IL 62341. Periodicals Post- • The Beekeeping Contiuum — What’s Your Philosophy?
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offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Robyn M. Underwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
American Bee Journal, 51 S. 2nd Street, Hamilton,
IL 62341. In the United States, $28.00 a year; two • What’s Eating My Bees — Part 2 — Robbers and Dragonflies
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Box 998, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. ©Copyright From sneezes to beezes: A honey bee collects bright yellow pollen from a
Dadant & Sons, Inc., 2017. All rights reserved, species of Ambrosia, commonly known as ragweed, in the Asteraceae (aster)
printed in USA. The Publishers cannot guarantee
advertisements in this magazine, but we ask that family. Ragweed is better known as an irritant for allergy sufferers, but as it
any advertising complaints be made known to us, turns out, our bees have some use for it as well.
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March 2019 243


My old neighbor had one of the
coolest jobs in the world. He man-
aged a fleet for the largest barge
company in the nation. Ed’s office
floated on the Mississippi River in
East Carondelet, IL, just across the
Jefferson Barracks Bridge from St.
Louis County.
Every few weeks, Ed would hop a
tugboat and travel with its crew for
a week or so, pushing barges of corn,
coal, pig iron and other commodities
throughout the great river system of
these United States.
One summer Sunday, Ed called
me with an urgent request. He’d
just heard from one of his tug pilots,
who was about to shove off from St.
Louis. Another crew had come up
the Mississippi the night before, and
they’d arrived with a swarm of bees
on one of the barges. To the best of
their knowledge, they’d picked them
up somewhere in Arkansas; the un-
wanted cargo had been on board for
at least three days.
A couple of pest control companies
had been called, but there were no
March 2019
FROM THE EDITOR
Eugene Makovec
editor@americanbeejournal.com
CAUTION: BEES ON BOARD
takers. One insisted that the honey
bee was protected and could not be
exterminated without just cause.
So they called Ed. “Well,” he said,
“it just so happens my neighbor is a
beekeeper. Let me give him a call and
get back to you.”
A half hour later I was standing in
Ed’s backyard. He was on the phone
with one of the crew. “There’s enough
bees here to fill a two-foot-by-two-
foot box,” the guy was saying. I’d
brought over a five-frame nuc box
to hive the swarm, but at this news
I walked home and grabbed a full
deep. Better safe than sorry.
Other details were sketchy, but they
made one thing perfectly clear: This
particular barge crew was not leaving
town with bees on board.
We drove the 30 or so miles to Ed’s
office, where we were each required
to produce a photo ID — Coast Guard
regs, post-9/11. We loaded all my
equipment, including a shop vac and
two extra bee suits. Again, better safe
than sorry, given the spotty informa-
tion and the distance from home.
We then boarded the tug, appro-
priately named the Erna E. Honeycutt,
and headed upriver in the direction
of the Arch. On the pilot’s radio, one
of the crew was saying, “Yeah, it’s
about the size of a football, or maybe
half that.” Hmmm, I thought.
As we neared the barges, the pilot
pointed. “You see the pump housing
sticking up from that barge? That’s
where the bees are.” We pulled along-
side, donned our life vests and head-
ed outside.
Three crew members stood a few
feet from the pump housing. An area
about 12x15 feet was taped off like
a crime scene. A sheet of cardboard
warned in black marker: “Stay Away
— Bees in Area.”
Three of the crew stood a few feet
away. “There they are,” said one as I
approached.
I took a step closer. “Where?”
“Right there,” he pointed.
Finally, I saw them. Hanging from
the bottom corner of the pump hous-
ing, about a foot off the ground, was
the swarm. I’d say it was the size of a
football, or maybe half that. They fit
in my nuc box with plenty of room to
spare.
It wasn’t a wasted trip. Ed gave me
a tour of the Honeycutt, then took me
to the galley where the ship’s cook
whipped up lunch for us. It was the
best meal I’d had in months — and
you can tell my ex I said so.
Since the weather was nice, the box
was screened and there was no dan-
ger of overheating, we stopped for a
beer on the Illinois side before head-
ing home.
Back at the bee yard I made a point
of requeening the itinerants. I’ve
never met a mean swarm, but there’s
no telling how far south this one had
originated, or what kind of genes they
carried with them. I probably should
have screened out any drones too,
but it didn’t occur to me at the time.
245
Maybe it’s not a concern, as I’ve since
heard three other beekeepers talk
about collecting barge swarms in the
St. Louis area. Apparently it’s not un-
common for honey bees to travel as
freight up the Mississippi, but there
are still no reports of Africanized bees
in Missouri.
What did occur to me was why the
swarm might have been so small. I
could easily imagine them board-
ing in New Orleans and sending out
scouts, who returned to find the barge
long gone. Over the course of three
days, who knows how many envoys
had left the nascent colony, never to
return. The stragglers were probably
happy to see me.
The best part was, a week later Ed
came by with a check for 200 bucks!
“We have a fund for unexpected ex-
penses,” he told me.
A free meal, a Sunday adventure,
and a nice payout on top of it? I’m on
board with that.
If you’re buying bees, Wyatt Mang-
um continues his series on package
installation and what can go wrong.
And Tina Sebestyen can help diag-
nose what may have gone wrong last
time around.
Winter finally arrived in early
January in eastern Missouri: thirteen
inches of snow, followed by weeks
of bone-chilling temperatures. Both
bees and humans had been tricked
into thinking that kind of thing didn’t
happen anymore. But it’s here now,
and we are not amused. Swarm sea-
son can’t come soon enough.

As we head into March, it’s time

for many of us to begin thinking
about swarms – how to prevent
our own, and maybe how to catch
someone else’s. There was a time
when people would run through the
neighborhood “tanging” – beating
pots and pans to announce owner-
ship of a swarm they were chasing.
But it’s sometimes better to have
a plan.
Peter Borst tells in this issue of how
to prevent colonies from splitting on
their own. Phillip Harms shares his
design for a trap to catch the ones that
do — whether they’re yours, or some-
one else’s.

246 American Bee Journal

 Send your letters to the editor,
Attn: Eugene Makovec,
Dadant, 51 S. 2nd Street,
Hamilton, IL 62341,
Fax: 1-217-847-3660,
or email: editor@americanbeejournal.com
Due to size and content, we may be unable to publish all information received.
We may also edit your letter to avoid offensive language. Thank You!

SLOVENIA LOVES BEES! resist crystallization because generally

Last May I went on a tour of Slo-
venia to visit beekeepers and learn
about beekeeping practices there.
We were there during the first World
Bee Day (which was proposed by
Slovenia to the United Nations) and
the dedication of the Carniolan bee
monument. In my opinion, Slovenia’s
love of honey bees is unsurpassed by
any other country and is shown in so
many ways. I wrote an article for a
local bee supply company’s e-News-
letter giving ten reasons why Slove-
nia should be the honey bee capital
of the world. If any of your readers
are interested, they can access it at
https://baileybeesupply.com/educa-
tional_resources/ under “Randall’s
Archives” for January 2019. I think
they will be as amazed as I was. The
ABJ has published several articles
over the years about beekeeping in
Slovenia. I have referenced these at
the end of my article in case anyone
wants more information. Thanks for
helping to spread the word about this
bee-loving country.
Suzy Spencer
Raleigh, NC
You are welcome, Suzy. You men-
tion in your article that you are Slove-
nian on your mother’s side. I am also
half Slovenian, but on my father’s
side as the name might suggest. My
grandfather kept bees there before
emigrating to this country, so I am in-
trigued by that country’s love of bee-
keeping. Thanks for sharing.
Eugene
OPEN AIR HIVE
Howdy American Bee Journal,
I took this photo of an open air hive
I rescued in December in Texas. It was
a real beauty. Found the queen in the
3rd sleeve of comb. Bees are safe and
sound inside a new box with plenty
of honey stores and drawn comb. Feel
free to use if you want. I love your
magazine … the best!!!
Take care!
Stan “da Bee Man” Gore
Texas Honey Bee Rescue
HONEY, OR HONEYDEW?
Hi Eugene
In your January 2019 ABJ issue, in
The Classroom by Jerry, one beekeep-
er from Boise, Idaho asked why his
honey did not granulate from 1994.
The answer is, he collected HONEY-
DEW! It is dark in color and never
crystallizes.
Senad Livadic
Beekeeper from Bosnia and Michigan
Jerry Hayes responds:
If it was, in fact, honeydew ‘honey’,
sometimes called Forest Honey, it is ac-
tually aphid poop. As aphids feed on
the sap of some trees, they excrete the
excess which can have a high enough
sugar content to attract ‘bees.’ It does
it has a higher fructose level and lower
glucose level which balances, and the
honey does not try to form crystals to
rebalance the ratio.
But, getting that volume of honey-
dew Forest ‘honey’ does not happen
in the U.S. very often as it does in
some parts of Germany, which is well
known for it.
And the question is, if honey is pro-
duced from flower nectar then any-
thing thing else which the bees might
collect like this aphid excretion would
not be honey.
I have honey from decades ago as
well that has not crystallized, simply
because the sugar ratios were bal-
anced from the time of collection of
the nectar as well.
Thank you for your comments. I ap-
preciate them.
Jerry
“THE BIG PICTURE” IS NOT
SO PRETTY
Dear Mr. Makovec,
I have never written a letter like this
before and now at 72 years of age with
43 years of beekeeping behind me, I
would like to thank the editors of the
ABJ for all of the inspiring articles
over the years. This includes the Janu-
ary 2019 issue with the new editor at
the helm. I look forward to each and
every issue.
However, there is an article in the
January issue that I question why
it was published. “Modern Farm
Myths” contains some important
truths such as understanding and ap-
preciating the landowner upon whose
land our bee yards are located. But to
say that crop acres are decreasing and
habitat is increasing at a million acres
per year makes me wonder what
world Mr. Linder is living in. USDA
statistics show that between 1970 and
2018 corn and soybean acres have
gone from 114 million acres to 197

March 2019 249

million acres! That is an 83-million-
acre increase.
Mr. Linder wrote that we need to
look at “The Big Picture.” He is ex-
actly right. But that picture needs to
include an awareness of where we
are going. As a boy growing up in the
1950s and ‘60s on a farm with dairy
cows, hogs, and chickens, I spent
countless days on the tractor cultivat-
ing corn because my father did not
want to contaminate the ground wa-
ter with Atrazine. My free time was
spent hunting and fishing. In early
summer we heard the whistle of the
bobwhite quail. In the fall we heard
the drum of the grouse. The pheas-
ant crowed year round. The chickens
needed to be locked up at night or the
red fox would have them. October
free time was spent in the backwaters
of the Mississippi River duck hunt-
ing. Now in Northeast Iowa, the quail
and grouse are gone. The red fox and
pheasant are rarely seen. And where
I threw out my decoys, the weeds
are growing in the silt that once grew
corn and soybeans upriver.
As a beekeeping operation with
2000 hives located on 60 farms, my
wife, son, and I pay particular atten-
tion to the purity of our products.
We have found a USDA lab in North
Carolina that will check honey and
beeswax (for a price). If your bees
are located near a soybean field, the
organophosphate chlorpyrifos (Lors-
ban) may be of particular interest to
you since it has been found exten-
sively in human tissue and is readily
absorbed in wax. It has an LD50 of .11
micrograms per honey bee. This insec-
ticide was on its way out until the EPA
under the new administration tried to
bring it back but got bogged down in
the courts. Another agricultural chem-
ical, glyphosate (Roundup) may be of
interest since it is being discovered ex-
tensively in our food supply including
honey. Even more basic to our future
generations is the report from NRCS
that we are losing at least five tons per
acre of topsoil per year from soil ero-
sion in this part of our state. These are
just a few indicators of where we are
going in “The Big Picture.”
I have run across some glimmers of
hope in the last few years. The CEO
of a large agribusiness company once
told me, “We cannot let every little
problem affecting honeybees get in
the way of increased production. We
have a starving world to feed.” Last
year that same person turned his new-
est farm into a giant milkweed planta-
tion because Monsanto told him, “We
250
cannot lose the Monarch butterfly on
our watch.”
A good friend of mine who works
for the Department of Natural Re-
sources in water quality says he is
absolutely convinced that habitat
will improve when people are made
aware of “The Big Picture.” That is
why I have written this letter.
Hopefully yours,
Robert Fassbinder
Charles responds:
Thanks for the comments, Robert.
You’re correct that corn and beans
have been on the rise, but we have
to look at the corresponding drop in
other crops — mostly wheat, but cot-
ton, hay, sorghum, and barley have
dropped accordingly. The USDA and
NASS do a darn good job of keeping
track of farmed acres and what crops
are on them. I would suggest a close
look at the following:
https://www.ers.usda.gov/web-
docs/publications/84880/eib-178.
pdf?v=0
That is “Major Uses of Land in the
United States, 2012 Daniel P. Bigelow
and Allison Borchers,” and is consid-
ered the bible of land use. You can
also dig up the NASS data, but it’s not
as easily summarized.
The quail and pheasant popula-
tions are down, and should we return
to 1970, when we dumped 5% of our
corn in the fields and hunted and
trapped the predators extensively —
like raccoons which eat a lot of eggs,
and coyotes which eat the foxes —
we would see drastic changes in bird
populations again. The country has
decided fur is no longer valuable, and
raccoons and coyotes are at the top of
the food chain. My chickens are con-
stant victims of the same problem!
The pesticide issues are deep and
complex; we replaced Atrazine as
we learned it was a huge problem as
you mentioned. We replaced it with
glyphosate, and now it seems many
are not happy with that change, so
many are returning to atrazine and
others.
It’s a complex picture. You men-
tion countless days on the tractor, I re-
member them too, gallons and gallons
of diesel fuel consumed to do that, so
what is the value of the trade? It’s
easy to say you saved the farm from
Atrazine, but you spent thousands
of gallons of diesel fumes to faraway
places instead. These are the tradeoffs
we have to weigh. If you look at the
cost of any product, which is directly
related to energy, then we know that
the methods we use today are more
efficient in energy cost. Many would
argue now that in order to curb our
global emissions, we need to use the
most efficient methods.
The glimmers of hope you mention
are what modern Ag is about, and
they are all around if we look, from
the change from Atrazine to glypho-
sate, to GMO developments, from
CRP to the current wildflower pro-
grams. We as a nation, with the help
of our farmers, are doing everything
we can to both feed the nation, and
keep its wildlife, not an easy balance
at all. Should you think we are fail-
ing, take a close look at other nations
like Brazil, Africa and Venezuela.
Thanks for the input, we all have to
keep vigilant and keep our eyes open,
and in order to do that we have to dis-
cuss the relevant facts.
Charles Linder
Hi Charlie. Just wanted to say that
it is a breath of fresh air to finally read
an article about farming written by
someone that knows what they are
talking about! I’ve been a large scale
farmer for 40 years and in the bee
game the last ten. Thank you so much
for taking the time to try to educate
some of these people.
From Wisconsin,
Lee Reynolds
FROSTY THE BEEMAN
Starting off the new year with a little
help from Frosty!
Adam Owen
Charlottesville VA
Sublime Bee Farm
American Bee Journal
 It would be interesting and helpful This article does not help us to un-
to know how many hives are being derstand the problem bees are now
MORE THAN BACKYARDS poisoned by ignorant gardeners as having with pesticides.
ARE DANGEROUS TO BEES opposed to how many by the pesti-
cides, especially the neonicotinoids, Jeff Murray, Classroom Hives Inc.
I must take issue with Rusty Bur- that are so prevalent in commercially Cambridge, Massachusetts
lew’s latest Curious Beekeeper en- cultivated land. Either directly or
titled, “The Pesticides in our Back- from run offs (as the neonicotinoids
yards.” are water soluble and can leach into
First let me say that I have had a the ground and effect wild plants).
short correspondence with Rusty last Another statement I take issue with:
year, on some problem I was having She says “We can’t expect commer-
with one of my observation hives. Her cial growers to operate without these
advice was helpful and her responses powerful products.” Evidently their
were always respectful and courteous. European colleagues have managed
That said, I found her piece on pes- quite well after the ban on neonicoti-
ticides confusing and incomplete. noids, that took place a few years ago.
Briefly she states that she lost a
healthy hive from pesticide poison-
ing, but since she doesn’t live near any
large agricultural exploitation, this
poisoning could only have occurred
through the misuse of pesticide by a
local homeowner in her/his garden.
Next she speaks of people who are
insect phobic and who overuse the
spray to kill “everything that moves.”
She goes on to talk about the lawn
issue. How so many people feel
obliged to have them. How it is the
most irrigated soil in the country.
How many pesticides are used to
keep them going, and how, in their
ignorance their owners tend to add
on any extra that is left over because
they haven’t really read their instruc-
tions. Which reminds me of one of the
common myths propagated by the
pesticide industry, namely: The dam-
age caused by pesticides is really due
to the ignorance of the misinformed
public, who does not bother to read
the instructions, as opposed to the
professionals who do, and never
make mistakes.
When you take each one of these is-
sues separately, they all make sense.
Of course, no one should apply pes-
ticides without reading the instruc-
tions, but the real problem is that
some pesticides are bee killers even
when applied according to manufac-
turers’ direction.
Ms. Burlew does not give us any
statistics on pesticide use on lawns
versus in commercial agriculture.
For example, what is the total annual
expenditure of “Big Ag” on the neo-
nicotinoid pesticides? I have read 68
Billion!! As of 2013, all corn in the U.S.
was treated with pesticide, and, if it
was seed, it was neonicotinoids. As
of 2014 a third of U.S. soybean acre-
age was planted with neonic treated
seeds. Let’s also not forget canola and
sunflower.

March 2019 251


‘BEE MAN’ NORMAN GARY SAYS
HOBBY BEEKEEPERS IN URBAN
ENVIRONMENTS SHOULD LIMIT
HIVES TO TWO
DAVIS—Pesticides, parasites, predators, and a mul-
titude of microorganisms threaten the survival of honey
bees, says retired apiculturist Norman Gary of the Univer-
sity of California, Davis, but so do hobby beekeepers in
urban environments who are rearing too many colonies
for bees to “survive and thrive.”
‘Bee Man’ Norman Gary clustered with bees (Photo by Kathy
Keatley Garvey)
March 2019
They should limit their hobby to two colonies, says
Gary, 85, whose expertise in beekeeping, including profes-
sor, scientist, author and professional bee wrangler, spans
seven decades.
“Increasing populations of bees can easily ‘overgraze’
the resources,” Gary explains. “Excessive competition for
limited nectar and pollen sources also threatens hundreds
of native bee species, such as bumble bees, that have simi-
lar dietary requirements.”
In his newly published second edition of his book, Hon-
ey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees (Fox Cha-
pel Publishing, East Petersburg, Pa.), he includes a chapter
on “Urban Entomology” that “treads on sacred beekeep-
ing ground by proposing a radical change to beekeeping
in urban environments.”
But it’s time “to recognize the realities of the urban en-
vironment and make appropriate changes in beekeeping
practices,” he declares.
Gary, a Sacramento-area resident known internation-
ally as “The Bee Man” says that urban environments vary
greatly, from the heart of New York City or San Francisco
where small residential lots typically have limited veg-
etation to smaller urban areas that that often have “open
countryside within the foraging area of your bees.”
“The yield of honey per colony is declining signifi-
cantly in urban environments,” he says. “These declines
leave no doubt that overpopulation of bees in urban set-
tings is the primary cause. Few beekeepers are aware
that each bee colony consumes at least 100 pounds of
honey annually, made from approximately 200 pounds
of nectar! When nectar is abundant and there is good
weather for foraging, a typical honey colony has the po-
tential to produce more than 100 pounds of harvestable
honey per year.”
“This is far more than typical hobby beekeepers are har-
vesting these days,” Gary relates. “It should be obvious
that hobby beekeepers are keeping too many colonies in
the typical urban environment.”
“Hobby beekeepers typically start out with one or two
hives, but that often leads to several more due to their en-
thusiasm for keeping bees and harvesting more honey and
equating the number of hives with elevating their status as
beekeepers.”
In his book, he shares his beekeeping knowledge, dis-
pels many beekeeping myths and provides science-based
information. He covers such subjects as “To Beekeep or
Not to Beekeep,” “The Bees’ Home,” “Reproduction,”
“Colony Defense and Sting Prevention” and activities in-
side and outside the hive.
New additions include chapters on beekeeping clubs,
entertaining with bees, and formal beekeeping education
(including the UC Davis-based California Master Bee-
keeping Course, headed by Extension apiculturist Elina
Lastro Niño).
Gary, who holds a doctorate in entomology from Cor-
nell University, joined the UC Davis entomology faculty
in 1962, retiring in 1994 after a 32-year academic career.
He has authored more than 100 publications, including
scientific papers, book chapters and popular articles in
beekeeping trade journals.
A 70-year beekeeper--one of the longest in the nation-
-Gary began keeping bees at age 15 in Florida. His career
includes hobby beekeeper, commercial beekeeper, deputy
apiary inspector in New York, honey bee research scien-
tist, entomology professor, author, bee wrangler and Guin-
ness World record holder.
253
 During his professional bee wrangler career spanning
four decades, “The Bee Man” served as a consultant and
bee stunt coordinator for 17 movies, 70 TV shows and six
TV commercials. Among his credits: “Fried Green Toma-
toes” and appearances with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno
on Tonight Shows.
He launched the Thriller Bee Shows, performing more
than 100 times in three western states, with venues that
included the California State Fair. He drew widespread
acclaim for wearing a head-to-toe suit of clustered bees
while “Buzzin’ with His Bee-Flat Clarinet.”
Gary once trained bees to fly into his mouth to collect
food from a small sponge saturated with artificial nectar.
His holds the Guinness World record (109 bees inside his
closed mouth for 10 seconds) for the stunt. He’s also the
person behind the “bee suit” record in the Guinness World
Records; Gary clustered more than 87 pounds of bees on
a friend.
Today, as a musician, he plays the clarinet, alto sax, ten-
or sax, and flute with several groups, and is updating his
website, http://www.normangary.com.
No more “Buzzin’ with His Bee-Flat Clarinet,” though.
ASHURST FAMILY OF CALIFORNIA
CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF BEEKEEPING
The Ashurst family of Westmorland, California, in De-
cember celebrated 100 years of involvement in beekeep-
ing. Julian Ashurst began working as a beekeeper in 1918
in Pomona, CA, before moving to the dryer climate of Im-
perial Valley for relief for his asthma. There, he started his
own beekeeping company, Ashurst and Son.
The “Son” in the company was Delvin Ashurst, who ran
the business with his Dad until the 1960s when they split it
into two separate companies – one concentrating on honey
production and the other pollination.
Delvin passed away in 2002 at age 84. He is survived
by his wife Frances – and by the family business, in the
form of three companies headed by three sons: Richard
and Kenneth run Ashurst Bee Co. and Ashurst Honey, re-
spectively, in Westmorland, while Buddy heads American
Honey in El Centro.
With over 50,000 hives among them, the Ashurst fam-
ily has been a force in the state’s beekeeping community.
Over the years, five separate family members have held
the post of President of the California State Beekeepers
Association.
ARS MICROSCOPY RESEARCH HELPS
UNRAVEL THE WORKINGS OF A
MAJOR HONEY BEE PEST
By Dennis O’Brien
Research by scientists at the Agricultural Research Ser-
vice (ARS) and the University of Maryland released to-
day sheds new light -- and reverses decades of scientific
dogma -- regarding a honey bee pest (Varroa destructor)
that is considered the greatest single driver of the global
honey bee colony losses. Managed honey bee colonies
add at least $15 billion to the value of U.S. agriculture
each year through increased yields and superior quality
harvests.
254
The microscopy images are part of a major study show-
ing that the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) feeds on the
honey bee’s fat body tissue (an organ similar to the human
liver) rather than on its “blood,” (or hemolymph). This
discovery holds broad implications for controlling the pest
in honey bee colonies.
The study was published on-line Jan. 15 and in today’s
print edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences. An image produced by the ARS Electron and
Confocal Microscopy Unit in Beltsville, Maryland is on the
cover of today’s journal.
Varroa mites have been widely thought to feed on the
hemolymph, of honey bees (Apis mellifera) because of
studies conducted in the 1970’s which used outdated tech-
nology. But today’s collaborative study, by University of
Maryland and ARS researchers at the ARS Electron and
Confocal Microscopy Unit, offers proof of the mite’s true
feeding behavior. Through the use of electron microscopy,
the researchers were able to locate feeding wounds on
the bee caused by the mites, which were located directly
above the bee’s fat body tissue. The images represent the
first direct evidence that Varroa mites feed on adult bees,
not just the larvae and pupae.
In addition, University of Maryland researchers con-
ducted feeding studies and found that Varroa mites that
were fed a diet of fat body tissue survived significantly
longer and produced more eggs than mites fed hemo-
lymph. The results show, mites fed a hemolymph-only
diet were comparable to those that were starved. Thus,
proving conclusively that the Varroa mite feeds primarily
on the fat body consumed from bees.
The results are expected to help scientists develop more
effective pesticides and other treatments to help bees cope
with a mite known to spread at least five viruses. They
also help explain why Varroa mites have such detrimental
effects on honey bees, weakening their immune systems,
and making it harder for them to store protein from pollen
and survive through the winter.
The study was part of the Ph.D. thesis of Samuel D.
Ramsey from the University of Maryland and was con-
ducted in collaboration with ARS researchers and study
co-authors Gary Bauchan, Connor Gulbronson, Joseph
Mowery, and Ronald Ochoa.
The study can be found here at https://www.
pnas.org/content/early/2019/01/08/1818371116?utm_
medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.
The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture’s chief scientific in-house research
agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural
problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in agri-
cultural research results in $20 of economic impact.
YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP
TO ATTEND EAS
Ages 18-25
(If veteran, age limit is 30.)
Win $1000 scholarship to attend entire week at Eastern
Apiculture Society conference.
Applications due by April 30, 2019.
Details at http://www.easternapiculture.org/. Click
“Master Beekeepers” and select “Scholarship.”
American Bee Journal

WORLDWIDE
APIMONDIA
ON THE ROAD TO APIMONDIA MONTRÉAL 2019!
Register now!
To register for Apimondia Montreal 2019, simply go to
http://www.apimondia2019.com/ and follow the instruc-
tions. The cost to attend the scientific program and Api-
Expo from 8 to 12 September 2019 is $ 375 CDN. We have
negotiated competitive prices for accommodations near
the Palais des Congrès de Montréal with 3 to 5-star ho-
tels available. Montreal is a popular tourist city and we
anticipate several thousand delegates, so do not hesitate
to make your hotel reservations to ensure your desired
choices will be available (go to the “Accommodation” tab).
Our scientific program is fascinating with numerous
symposia, round tables and training workshops on hot
bee topics.
Excellent sponsorship options and several ApiExpo
spaces / kiosks are still available; we invite all beekeeping
stakeholders to take advantage of this unique opportunity
to promote your business or sell your products. Interest-
ed? Go to the website http://www.apimondia2019.com/
and look under the “Sponsor” tab for more information,
or write directly to Marguglio Marienza (m.marguglio@
aimgroup.eu).
Follow Apimondia Montreal 2019 on our facebook page
https://fr-ca.facebook.com/apimondia2019/.
Rod Scarlett, Steve Pernal and Pierre Giovenazzo
Apimondia Montréal 2019 executive committee
10TH INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF
YOUNG BEEKEEPERS - IMYB
BANSKÁ BYSTRICA, SLOVAKIA,
3RD JULY - 7TH JULY 2019
Dear beekeeping friends,
We are pleased to invite you to the International meet-
ing of young beekeepers IMYB 2019. After previous suc-
cessful years of IMYB held in Czech Republic, Austria,
Germany, Poland as well as equally successful events
held more recently in United Kingdom and France, it is
now possible to relive the experience in 2019 at the 10th
meeting held in Slovakia, in the region’s capital Banská
Bystrica, which will host IMYB for the second time. The
event will take place at Secondary Vocational School,
which is also the Centre for professional education and
training of beekeepers.
The aim of the event is to raise a generation of young
beekeepers who can follow in the footsteps of their more
experienced colleagues, and to help these young people
grow fond of this independent profession so beneficial
for the whole society. To achieve this, it is essential to
gain the necessary knowledge and skills of keeping and
understanding bees.
March 2019
The event combines a competition for young partici-
pants with a rich cultural and social program, which en-
ables them to meet other young people who share the
same interests. We believe the meeting in Banská Bystri-
ca will continue in the good traditions of previous years.
More information is available at http://icyb.cz/.
REGIONAL
EASTERN APICULTURAL SOCIETY
ANNUAL SHORT COURSE & CONFERENCE
South Carolina EAS 2019
July 15 - 19th
Greenville Convention Center
www.easternapiculture.org
First EAS in South Carolina
STATES
ARIZONA
Arizona State University has been teaching beekeeping
courses since 2009. In 2017 we also started to give some
continuing professional education courses on weekends to
bee lovers, beekeepers and other professionals. We offer
four courses in two seasons this year.
Spring session information is as follows:
1. Introduction to Beekeeping: March 2, 2019
2. Technical Beekeeping: March 30-31, 2019
3. Queen Bee Rearing: April 6 -7, 2019
4. Instrumental Insemination of Queen Bees:
April 20-21, 2019
There is more information on our website at https://
courses.cpe.asu.edu/?query=bee%20courses
CALIFORNIA
CalifOrnia state Beekeepers annual COnventiOn
Save the date for the 2019 Annual CSBA Convention.
Taking place November 12th -14th, 2019 at Pechanga Re-
sort and Casino in beautiful Temecula, California! Learn
about the latest bee research, trade ideas with fellow bee-
keepers, and explore innovative products at the Trade-
show.
Californiastatebeekeepers.com/events
COLORADO
Four Corners Beekeepers Assoc. will host an all-
day spring seminar by Meghan Milbrath, PhD. Topics
will include Towards Treatment Free; How a Colony is
Lost to Varroa; Swarm Biology; Sustainable Beekeep-
ing with Late Season Nucs; and Small Scale Queen
Rearing. March 2nd at Fort Lewis College. We’ll have
hands-on workshops during the breaks, and lunch will
be available. www.4cornersbeekeepers.com for more
information.
255
 GEORGIA
HOpe tO see yOu at tHe
2019 yOung Harris Beekeeping institute!
The University of Georgia offers an annual beekeeping
event at the campus of Young Harris College. The dates the
institute will be held are May 22-25. Our special guest in-
structors will include Dr. Francis Ratnieks, Dr. David Tarpy
and Dr. Wyatt Mangum, plus a whole host of talented and
experienced beekeepers. For more information please visit
www.ent.uga.edu/bees.
ILLINOIS
siBa spring fielD Day
March 31st, 2019 1:00- 4:00pm
University of Illinois Extension Office
402 AVA RD.
Murphysboro, IL 62966
The Southern Illinois Beekeeping Association will host
a field day on March 31 at 1:00 pm. A selection of classes
will be available for all skill levels from new beekeepers to
the advanced. For more information and class line up visit
www.siallabuzz.com or S.I. All-A-Buzz on Facebook.
ILLINOIS
illinOis Queen initiative & s. i. all-a-Buzz will HOlD a
Queen rearing Class
May 18 & 19, 2019
University of Illinois Extension Office
402 Ava RD
Murphysboro, IL 62966
Join the IQI & SIBA for a 2-day queen rearing class. This
class is geared towards anyone who wants to learn about
queens and how to make backyard beekeeping sustainable.
Instructors are The Egyptian Queen Breeders & IQI Presi-
dent, Scott Martin. Registration is required and available
through https://www.illinoisqueeninitiative.com
ILLINOIS
illinOis Queen initiative fielD Day
June 22, 2019 9am
University of Illinois Extension Office
402 Ava RD
Murphysboro, IL 62966
The IQI is hosting our annual field day in Murphysboro
on June 22nd. We will cover several topics including hands
on mite checks, how to verify VSH and chewing behavior,
drone health and importance and a live demonstration of
Instrumental Insemination by The Egyptian Queen Breed-
ers. More information and registration available at https://
www.illinoisqueeninitiative.com.
256
ILLINOIS
will COunty Beekeepers assOCiatiOn.
Bee prepareD 2019.
• A full day of workshops for all experience levels.
• A sustainable apiary is healthy bees all season long
• Meghan Milbrath, David Burns, Jim Lindau & others
• Bee Curious? Find out if beekeeping fits in your life-
style.
• Already doing it? Hear about the latest research in
IPM.
• Your partner does it but you don’t? There’s some-
thing here for you too.
Saturday March 23, 2019
8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Weitendorf Agricultural Education Center
Joliet Jr. College
17840 Laraway Rd., Joliet, IL 60433
Joliet is just down the road from Chicago. Well worth the
trip. Learn more and register at willbees.org
MICHIGAN
MiCHigan Beekeepers assOCiatiOn
2019 MBa spring COnferenCe
MarCH 8-9tH, 2019
Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center
219 S. Harrison Rd.
East Lansing
Keynote: Dr. May Berenbaum (Univ. of Illinois)
Breakout Sessions
Beginners Track
Trade Show
Registration opening soon at www.michiganbees.org
MICHIGAN
sOutHeast MiCHigan Beekeepers assOCiatiOn
seMBa annOunCes its
81st annual Beekeeping COnferenCe
Several hundred beekeepers are expected to attend the
81st Annual SEMBA Beekeeping Conference, which will
be held on Saturday, March 16th from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm.
This year’s event will have keynote speaker Kent Williams
who will be speaking on the topic Races of Honey Bees,
A year in the Life of a Beekeeper. Other speakers will in-
clude Meghan Milbrath, Jamie Walters, Rich Wieske, Dave
Pearce, Jim Ford, Earl Hoffman and more.
The conference will be held at Wayne County Commu-
nity College, 9500 Haggerty Road, Belleville, MI 48111.
Registration will begin after the first of the year. For
more information go to SEMBABEES.org
American Bee Journal
 MISSOURI
spring COnferenCe
MarCH 15-16, 2019
Southeast Missouri State University
1 University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, MO
Register online at: https://mostatebeekeepers.org/
The Southeast Missouri State University located in this
scenic, historical town will provide a comfortable setting
for conference attendees while talented guest speakers
will include Dr. Kirsten Traynor, Zac Lamas, PhD candi-
date; and Bob Finck, retired Food Chemist for Allen Foods.
Dr. Traynor will be speaking on “American Foulbrood”,
“Halting the Unstoppable Swarm”, and “Simple Smart
Beekeeping”. Zac Lamas will cover “Requeening a Hive”,
“Winter Prep Begins Mid-Summer”, and “Rapid Expan-
sion”. Bob Finck will present on “Moving From Hobby to
Sideliner”.
Breakout session speakers will include the following:
Gregg Hitchings “Local Club Speaker Development” and
“European Foulbrood”; Charlotte Wiggins “Native Plant-
ing for Pollinators”; Bernie Andrews “Setup for A Side-
liner Extraction House”; and Chef Bill Allinder “Cooking
With Honey Part Two”. There will be a group led “Spring
Hive Inspection” if weather permits.
Registration begins at 7:00 am Friday morning with a
vendor hall and Beehive Café with complimentary treats.
There is an evening banquet at 6 pm. Activities begin
again at 8:30 am Saturday and go until 3:30 pm. Lunch
will be offered both days at additional cost. For more de-
tailed information including meal and registration fees
and available hotel/motel discounts visit the web address
for the Missouri State Beekeepers listed above. Bruce Sna-
vely, Conference Chairman, will be available to answer
any questions at brucesnavely@hotmail.com.
OHIO
BEGINNING BEEKEEPING WORKSHOP
March 7, 2019 and April 11, 2019
geauga COunty Bee keeping assOCiatiOn
Dale Olson will be presenting this important beginning
bee keeping workshop in conjunction with the Geauga
County Bee Keeping Association education program. This
workshop is designed for people who would like to get
started in beekeeping, those who have had previous bee-
keeping experience and want to get back into beekeeping,
or those who just want to know more before taking the
plunge.
Topics covered will include basic honeybee biology,
races of bees, package bees versus nucs and where to
get bees, how to start a hive, new and used equipment,
keeping bees in a residential setting, feeding, inspec-
tions, swarm control, disease and pest management,
producing honey and other hive products and over win-
tering. Information on package bees, nuc’s and equip-
ment will be available at the workshop. Price includes a
book about bees
There will be a follow up meeting May 18, 9am-4pm
March 2019
to show how to install packaged bees and more use full
information.
Registration and agenda information can be found at:
www.kenstoncommunityed.org Phone (440) 543-2552
Fax (440) 543-2850. Course Cost: $45.00 per family. Course
Dates: March 7, 2019 and April 12, 2018, Time: 7 – 9:30pm
Kenston Middle School, Art room 231, 17425 Snyder Road,
Chagrin Falls, OH 44023
OKLAHOMA
The Northeast Oklahoma Beekeepers Association will
hold the Big Bee Buzz on the evening of March 29 and all
day March 30, 2019. The Buzz is one of the largest bee-
keeping conferences in Oklahoma and the region. The
event will be held at Venue 68, located at 6910 S 101st E
Ave Tulsa OK 74134.
There will be plenty of information for beekeepers of all
levels of experience, from seasoned beekeepers to people
who want to give it a try. Two lectures will be happening
almost all of the time, with one talk geared to beginner
topics and the other devoted to more advanced subjects.
This year’s speakers include Dr. Dennis Van Engles-
dorp, Jerry Hayes, Ed Levi and Katharina Davitt.
The price is $40.00 if you pre-register at a NEOBA
meeting or use online registration, which is available at
NEOBA.org. The price will be $50.00 at the door. Pre-
registration is not required, but greatly appreciated and
saves you $10.00.
PENNSYLVANIA
teMple university, aMBler, pa
intrODuCtiOn tO Beekeeping,
feB. 2-3, anD MarCH 23-24, 2019, 11 a.M.-3:30 p.M.
This two weekend course is designed for those who
want to learn about honey bees and beekeeping: begin-
ning beekeepers or relatively new beekeepers wanting re-
fresher training now that they are really into beekeeping.
In this course you will learn about:
• Honey bee biology and behavior
• Building an apiary and harvesting honey
• Apiary equipment and supplies
• Management practices for each season
Taught by Master Beekeeper Vincent J. Aloyo, PhD
For information or to register, see: http://vincem
asterbeekeeper.com/courses/ or https://noncredit.temple.
edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method
=load&courseId=90889
PENNSYLVANIA
tHe Capital area Beekeepers’ assOCiatiOn
is Offering its
32nD annual sHOrt COurse On
saturDay, May 4 & 11, 2019.
257
Part I: Will start at 8:00 AM at the Dauphin County Ag-
riculture & Natural Resources Center, 1451 Peters
Mt. Road, Dauphin, PA 17018.
Part II: Will start at noon at Strites Orchard, 1000 Strites
Rd., Harrisburg, PA 17111.
The cost of the Short Course is $50 which includes a
CABA membership and the Penn State Book, “Fundamen-
tals of Beekeeping”
For additional information visit cabapa.org, or email
deb.bee.caba@gmail.com.
SOUTH CAROLINA
NATURAL BEEKEEPING WORKSHOP
CHarlestOn, sC ~
MarCH 16-17, 2019
A comprehensive 2-day Natural Beekeeping Seminar
with Dr. Leo
Sharashkin. Program includes in-depth discussion of
successful natural methods and hands-on apiary visit –
see treatment-free horizontal hives in action.
This comprehensive two-day class attracts participants
from all over the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Leo is a full-time
natural beekeeper from southern Missouri, editor of
“Keeping Bees With a Smile,” and a regular contributor to
American Bee Journal.
ABJ readers get $50 off - use coupon code ABEEJAY
when you register at HorizontalHive.com
TENNESSEE
MarCH 21- 23, 2019
fOuntainHeaD COllege Of teCHnOlOgy
3203 tazewell pike – knOxville, tn, 37918
For more information and to register for this exciting
event please visit www.honeyconvention.com
The HONEY Convention is dedicated to educating all
beekeepers and people wanting to help honey bees. With
over 380 people last year at the convention, we are grow-
ing and will be even bigger in 2019. If you are just getting
started or even thinking about honey bees, we have classes
for you. If you are a beekeeper for a year to 50+ years, we
have classes for you. There will be over 20 speakers and
over 60 classes to pick and choose to attend.
There will be a FREE beginners beekeeping class that will
talk about what you need to become a beekeeper. We en-
courage all to come! This class is free and open to the public.
The HONEY Convention is a not for profit, 501C-3 chari-
table organization.
TEXAS
CENTRAL TEXAS BEEKEEPERS SCHOOL
NOW ACCEPTING STUDENTS
Learn how to produce your own honey and help save
the bees by attending the Eleventh Annual Central Tex-
as Beekeepers School on Saturday, March 23 at Brenham
258
High School in Brenham. The beekeeping school is open
to the public for anyone interested in keeping bees or who
wants to learn about bees.
Provide your family with this natural sweetener, in-
crease the number of bees to help pollinate our gardens
and help the dwindling bee population by raising bees in
your back yard, even in populated areas. Most cities allow
at least two bee hives per home depending on the size of
your lot. You can contact your city offices for regulations
in your area.
The beekeeping school will teach you the parts of the
hive, how to build or assemble your equipment, how to
install bees, the proper procedure for lighting a smoker
and how to inspect your bees. You will learn how to dress
to minimize the possibility of being stung and what to do
if you are stung.
You will see how to extract honey and how to care for it
before you eat it or give it to your family or friends. Weath-
er permitting, you can even “suit up” and be present while
a live bee hive is opened and inspected.
The cost is $65 for the first adult and $60 for additional
adults in the family. Cost for students (including college
students) is $25. Children under the age of 12 attending
classes with a parent are $10.
The school starts at 8:00 a.m. and will be over at 5:30
p.m. The cost of the school includes a catered Bar-B-Q
meal with Blue Bell Ice Cream and a “school book” with
information about beekeeping. Door prizes will be given
away and a drawing to give away complete bee hives will
be held at 5 p.m.
To register, go to: www.tinyurl.com/2019BeeSchool
For more information, call (979) 277-0411, or email: cen-
traltexasbeekeepers@gmail.com or visit our website at:
www.centraltexasbeekeepers.org
VIRGINIA
virginia state Beekeepers assOCiatiOn (vsBa)
suMMer Meeting
fri., May 31st (nOOn) – June 1, 2019
freDeriCksBurg HOspitality HOuse, freDeriCksBurg, va
Featuring Kim Flottum, Dr. Jennifer Tsurdua, honey and
hive product workshop, and more. See: https://www.vir-
giniabeekeepers.org/
VIRGINIA
Dr. leO sHaraskin’s natural Beekeeping
an all Day intensive wOrksHOp
april 6, 2019
Blue riDge COMMunity COllege (Off i-81)
weyers Cave, virigina
Keeping bees can be simple, healthful, and rewarding.
Dr. Leo shares time-honored methods that take the sting
out of beekeeping and make it fun and accessible to all.
Experienced beekeepers – from backyard hobbyists to
commercial – who seek ways to keep their bees treatment-
free with minimal intervention and expense will glean a
swath of ideas that can be applied to their existing opera-
American Bee Journal
tions. Dr. Leo Sharashkin is founder of HorizontalHive.
com and editor of Keeping Bees With a Smile, a compre-
hensive resource on keeping bees naturally in horizontal
hives. He is contributor to American Bee Journal, The Bee-
keepers Quarterly (UK), and Acres USA, and speaks inter-
nationally on sustainable beekeeping, organic growing,
and earth-friendly living.
For complete details http://shenvalleybeekeepers.org/
upcoming-events/ Discounted Early Bird tickets avail-
able December 1 until March 25, 2019 from the Shenan-
doah Valley Beekeepers Association website. Full price
tickets at the door.

WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
BEE LAB PRESENT:

Queen rearing anD Bee BreeDing wOrksHOp

June 14 & 15, 2019

Ready to take beekeeping to the next level? For those of
you who already have a working foundation in beekeep-
ing, the WSU bee team is offering an event to introduce
you to fundamental tools for stock improvement. This
workshop is designed to improve your understanding of
queen rearing, bee breeding systems and selection meth-
ods though a combination of presentations and hands-on
demonstrations. We will also introduce you to the more
advanced techniques of instrumental insemination and
cryopreservation.
Instructors: Susan Cobey, Brandon Hopkins, Tim Law-
rence, Steve Sheppard, Nick Naeger, Jennifer Han, and
Melanie Kirby. We will also have outstanding guest
speakers.
Location: Washington State University, Pullman campus
Plan on two all day meetings. The time of day and
schedule of activities will be sent with your registration
confirmation.
For questions, please call Department of Entomology at
509-335-5422.
For registration information, visit: http://bees.wsu.edu/
queen-rearing-and-bee-breeding-workshop/.

As bee clubs and beginners gear up for spring, your overwin-

tered bees are just as excited. A stretch of warm days melts the
snow and loosens the cluster, making possible long-awaited
cleansing flights, perhaps even the gathering of early tree pollen.

March 2019 259


A
United States
s always, weather plays a tre-
mendous part in our market
report. It’s been warm and
wet, for example, in the Mideastern
states, while drought-driven forest
fires disrupted markets out west.
Northeast—The good news in this
region is that the mild winter has al-
lowed plenty of “cleansing flights.”
The bad news is the bees are burn-
ing lots of fuel in the process. Over-
all honey sales seem to have fallen in
recent months in Maine. New York
beekeepers report higher public in-
terest in “raw” honey.
Mideast—Tennessee and Ken-
tucky beekeepers report very strong
demand for local honey has driven
up prices, but that this has also cre-
ated a market for cheap “fake honey.”
One Tennessee source expects
that, “with all the rain and normal
weather, we could have a great early
bloom of trees and flowers.”
In Kentucky, even Whole Foods
has jumped onto the “local honey”
bandwagon, and many local small
beekeepers are running out of honey.
Winter has also been “very mild but
wet,” according to one reporter who
expected to be feeding by sometime
in February.
Southeast—Colder weather has set
in in Florida. Retail sales have beeen
good, driven in part by specialty
items such as “honey on the go” —
small samples of honey in packets
or juice boxes that can be easily con-
sumed by joggers or backpackers.
But while retail sales in Florida are
going well (“consumers have money
in their pockets”), several large pack-
ers have reportedly stopped buying
wholesale honey due to low-price
pressure from imports and/or a lack
of cash.
An Alabama beekeeper reports
good sales results via marketing on
Facebook.
Southwest—Colonies were in
good shape going into winter with
plenty of stores.
March 2019
Demand for honey is strong, espe-
cially varietals.
New Mexico reports a colder-
than-usual winter, but with normal
moisture conditions, and many bee-
keepers plan on expanding in the
coming year.
East Central—Wisconsin beekeep-
ers report adequate stores going into
winter, but mostly mild temperatures
and little snow thus far. After a very
cold fall, this mild period has allowed
some operators to apply needed ox-
alic acid treatments.
Honey prices in the Badger State
remain steady as demand is high.
“Clean wax with no pesticide resi-
due” commands $7.00 to $10.00 per
pound.
An estimated 30,000 Wisconsin col-
onies left the state by mid-December
to overwinter in warmer climes prior
to heading to almonds and other pol-
lination crops in late winter/early
spring. The state’s Agriculture De-
partment recently met with honey
producers to stress the importance of
enforcing notifications and health in-
spections of colonies and used equip-
ment entering the state.
In Michigan, a source reports that a
“short crop” has led to strong whole-
sale prices.
An Indiana beekeeper says, “The
more the public hears about food and
honey fraud, the more they look for
local food and honey.”
West Central—Nebraska reports
an early, cold winter. Retail sales are
Northeast
Intermountain
West West Central East Central
Mideast
Southeast
Southwest
strong. Anticipated pollination fees
are about $75/colony each for apples
and pumpkins.
In northeast Kansas, hobby bee-
keepers were “caught by the early
cold and snow,” and have been
scrambling to feed their colonies
however they can. Commercial bee-
keepers in central and western parts
of the state had moved many of their
bees to California or the South, and
were better prepared to winterize
those that remained.
Nuc and package suppliers (mostly
middlemen) in Kansas are facing
more competition than ever, and
advertised packaged prices have
dropped slightly from last year
(about $125-140 as opposed to $140-
150 for a three-pound package).
Iowa honey crops were down for
the year, but demand for honey has
been high, especially over the holi-
days.
One Iowa reporter says, “... the
closer we look at the mite load the
more disappointed we get,” but
“Randy Oliver continues to reinforce
our hopes!”
From South Dakota we hear crops
are down significantly, with harvests
only at 60% of what was produced
last year. The movement of honey at
the wholesale level is poor, due pri-
marily to cheap imports. A large pro-
ducer reports: “The U.S. crop is very
short. Prices are weak but have to go
up unless they fill the gap with im-
ports. We are holding out for $2.25.
Same as last year.”
Mite counts are reportedly better in
Illinois, and loss predictions are about
10 percent, leading to high hopes for
the coming season.
Intermountain—Fall was relatively
warm, and bees looked good going
into winter.
West—A Washington reporter says,
“Forest fires created a lot of smoke
and depressed late nectar flows,”
and also affected farm crop produc-
tion. Add to that the warm winter,
causing colonies to eat up their stores,
and winter losses are expected to be
higher than normal.
The good news is, strong holiday
sales buoyed the Washington retail
market. One source reports that the
“rising tide” of public awareness
“keeps lifting all boats.”
But unfortunately some retailers
are not altogether honest in their
marketing of local or “artisanal”
honey — for example, a Washington
store places a “local honey” sign over
honey from Washington, Oregon,
Idaho and Colorado, and new lines
of “local” honey are being rolled out
by large-scale operators.
261
 U.S. HONEY PRICES FROM OUR REPORTERS
North- Mid- South- South- East West- Inter-
HONEY MARKET FOR THE
east east east west Central Central Mountain West MONTH OF DECEMBER 2018
In volumes of 10,000 pounds or greater
Wholesale unless otherwise stated
White lb. Blk.$2.00-$3.00 $1.95-$4.25 $1.60-$2.70 $1.95-$2.30 $2.05-$4.00 $1.80-$3.60 $1.60-$2.60 $1.75-$2.50 (Courtesy December 2018
Amber lb. Blk $1.80-$2.25 $1.95-$4.25 $1.70-$2.50 $1.90-$2.25 $1.95-$3.00 $2.10-$3.50 $1.50-$2.50 $1.60-$2.35 USDA National Honey Report. January re-
1 lb. CS 24 $ 60.00- $ 55.00- $ 60.00- $ 80.00- $ 75.00- $ 84.00- $ 60.00- $ 58.00- port not yet available due to partial federal
$119.76 $102.00 $132.00 $120.00 $102.00 $110.00 $180.00 $276.00 government shutdown.)
Prices paid to beekeepers for extracted, unprocessed
2 lb. CS 12 $ 60.00- $ 60.00- $ 60.00- $ 90.00- $ 60.00- $ 60.00- $ 57.00- $ 60.00-
honey in major producing states by packers, handlers
$ 112.20 $ 90.00 $ 120.00 $ 120.00 $90.00 $ 96.00 $ 110.00 $ 84.00
& other large users, cents per pound, f.o.b. or delivered
5 lb. CS 6 $ 72.00- $ 60.00- $ 60.00- $ 58.00- $ 75.00- $ 84.00 $ 60.00- $ 60.00- nearby, containers exchanged or returned, prompt de-
$128.10 $127.50 $ 150.00 $ 98.00 $90.00 $134.00 $103.00 $104.00 livery & payment unless otherwise stated.
Retail
-Report includes both new and old crop honey-
Jars 8 oz. $ 1.45- $ 2.40- $ 2.50- $ 2.50- $ 3.19- $ 3.25- $ 2.00- $ 2.25-
$ 3.50 $6.00 $ 4.00 $ 4.50 $ 5.00 $ 4.00 $ 6.00 $ 12.00 California
Squeeze $ 3.10- $ 3.00- $ 3.69- $ 2.80- $ 3.00- $ 4.25- $ 3.50- $ 4.80- Orange Blossom Light Amber $2.25
Bear 12 oz.$ 6.00 $ 7.00 $ 6.00 $ 4.75 $6.95 $ 5.60 $ 4.85 $ 6.00 Valley Light Amber $1.80
Jars 1 lb. $ 4.85- $ 5.55- $ 5.69- $ 6.00- $ 4.00- $ 4.65- $ 3.75- $ 12.00- Valley Amber $1.80
$ 7.00 $ 8.25 $8.00 $ 12.00 $ 8.00 $ 10.00 $ 10.00 $ 14.00 Dakotas
Jars 11/2lb.$ 5.50- $ 5.25- $ 5.69- $ 5.45- $ 6.00- $ 6.00- $ 4.75- $ 8.40- Buckwheat Light Amber $1.60 - $2.05
(Pint) $ 13.00 $ 10.00 $ 8.55 $ 10.00 $ 8.00 $ 12.00 $ 10.00 $ 10.25 Clover White $1.83 - $2.05
Jars 2 lb. $ 11.00- $ 6.95- $ 9.79 $ 7.00- $ 9.79- $ 9.30- $ 6.25- $ 10.00- Clover Extra Light Amber $1.80 - $2.05
$ 16.00 $ 16.00 $ 13.00 $ 18.00 $ 22.00 $ 12.00 $ 11.25 $ 22.00 Clover Light Amber $2.00
Jars 3 lb. $ 9.50- $ 13.00- $ 8.79- $ 8.25- $ 11.00- $ 11.50- $ 12.00- $ 14.30- Mixed Flower Extra Light Amber $1.83
(Quart) $ 20.00 $ 27.00 $ 14.99 $ 21.00 $ 25.00 $ 24.00 $ 23.00 $ 30.00 Mixed Flower Light Amber $1.75 - $1.80
Jars 4 lb. $ 10.00- $ 10.00- $ 11.00- $ 18.00- $ 13.50- $ 14.00- $ 11.00- $ 10.00- Sunflower Extra Light Amber $1.80
$ 35.00 $ 30.00 $ 22.00 $ 30.00 $ 20.00 $ 16.25 $ 28.50 $ 32.00 Florida
Jars 5 lb. $ 23.00- $ 15.00- $ 15.50- $ 16.25- $ 17.00- $ 19.00- $ 16.00- $ 10.99- Mixed Flower Extra Light Amber $1.70
$ 40.00 $ 39.50 $ 35.50 $ 32.00 $ 25.00 $ 25.00 $ 33.25 $ 40.00 Mixed Flower Light Amber $1.70
Pepper Light Amber $1.68 - $1.70
Creamed $ 5.50- $ 5.50- $ 5.49- $ 5.25- $ 2.60- $ 6.50- $ 4.75- $ 5.25- Idaho
12 oz. $ 7.50 $ 8.00 $ 6.95 $ 6.99 $ 9.00 $ 8.25 $ 7.00 $ 7.25 Clover Extra Light Amber $2.01
Comb $ 6.00- $ 5.50- $ 5.25- $ 5.50- $ 8.00- $ 8.00- $ 5.50- $ 5.75- Iowa
12 oz. $14.00 $13.00 $13.25 $13.50 $12.00 $15.00 $12.00 $13.50 Clover $1.55
Minnesota
Round $ 5.00- $ 4.50- $ 4.50- $ 4.00- $ 5.00- $ 6.00- $ 4.25- $ 4.50- Clover Light Amber $2.00
Plas. Comb$ 8.50 $13.00 $ 7.50 $ 8.25 $ 10.00 $ 10.00 $ 7.00 $ 12.49 Mississippi
1 Gallon $ 78.00- $ 49.95- $ 36.00- $ 36.00- $ 38.00- $ 33.95- $ 24.00- $ 25.00- Mixed Flower Light Amber $1.70
$116.00 $ 70.00 $ 52.00 $ 100.00 $ 61.99 $ 50.00 $ 50.00 $ 50.00 Montana
Clover White $1.83
60 lb. $180.00- $210.00- $150.00- $140.00- $170.00- $200.00- $140.00- $115.99 Nebraska
$225.00 $260.00 $225.00 $200.00 $200.00 $420.00 $225.00 $220.00
Clover Extra Light Amber $1.80
The above prices are not meant to provide a realistic picture of prices in all states of the New York
particular area. They are intended merely to show what a few beekeepers are receiving Basswood Extra Light Amber $2.30
for their honey and we realize prices may vary tremendously, even within individual Oregon
states. The bulk prices for honey are stated per pound, delivered buyer’s warehouse, Alfalfa White $1.83
containers exchanged or furnished by buyer, unless otherwise noted. Where prices are Clover White $1.83
not shown, insufficient data were available. Mint Dark $1.45
Mixed Flower Extra Light Amber $1.80
Star Thistle White $1.83
Pennsylvania
Mixed Flower Extra Light Amber $1.90
Mixed Flower Light Amber $1.65
Texas
Clover White $2.05
Wyoming
Alfalfa Light Amber $2.05

Prices paid to Canadian Beekeepers for unpro-

cessed, bulk honey by packers and importers in
U. S. currency, f.o.b. shipping point, containers in-
cluded unless otherwise stated. Duty and crossing
charges extra. Cents per pound.
Canola White $1.36 - $1.40
Clover White $1.30 - $1.33
Mixed Flower White $1.39

Prices paid to importers for bulk honey, duty paid,

containers included, cents per pound, ex-dock or
point of entry unless otherwise stated.

Argentina
Clover White $1.27 - 1.33
Clover Extra Light $1.27 - $1.30
Mixed Flowers White $1.10 - 1.40
Mixed Flowers Extra Light $1.10 - 1.23
Mixed Flowers Light Amber $0.99 - $1.20
Brazil
ORGANIC Light Amber $1.37 - 1.768
ORGANIC Amber $1.67
India
Mixed Flower White $0.90 - $0.97
Mixed Flower Extra Light $0.90 - $0.95
Mixed Flower Light Amber $0.87 - $0.96

262 American Bee Journal


JERRY COMMENT (UGH)
I have to submit the Classroom
column approximately two months
in advance of the publication date
for that ABJ. Sooooo, this is a couple
months old but it is a bizarre gem that
I wanted to share with you.
I was cleaning my kitchen and had
the radio on and a program called
‘Ask Me Another’ came on. It is a
Saturday game /quiz show with con-
testants and lots of questions. At the
start of the show, they introduce the
players and give some background
of each. One of the contestants was
introduced as a recent college gradu-
ate who is also a Beekeeper. My ears,
of course, perked up and I quit mop-
ping. He said he received a degree in
Philosophy and had his bees on the
side of his house under his bedroom
window. The emcee, of course, asked
the question we all get, “Have you
ever been stung”? He said yes, many
times, and that is why he takes a can
of Raid out with him everytime he
looks in the colony.
WHAT??? I have NEVER ever
NEVER heard of anyone using Raid
or any pesticide as a management
tool for beekeeping. Can you imag-
ine!!! I think we are making progress
and this happened on National Public
Radio. I am depressed.
I have had a love for honey bees
for lots of years. New beekeepers do
need some time to learn and this is
why I have said many times finding
a 5+ year beekeeper mentor is a good
thing to do. It shortens the learning
curve. Please give the correct advice
when the opportunity strikes.
March 2019
Q
HIVE
COMPARISON
DATA
Hello. I’m trying to find detailed
statistics for various hives, such as to-
tal number of bees, number of mites,
worker/drone counts, brood count,
how often they swarm, how often a
queen is replaced ... can you point me
to such info?
Josh McFarland
Hope, Arkansas
A
Good morning Josh McFarland
from Hope, Arkansas home of Bill
and Hillary.
The short answer is no, nothing like
that exists.
Diversity in and of the honey bee
colony is too great to be able to quan-
tify based on the cavity they live in.
Honey bees can live in a variety of
cavities. I have seen them in hollow
trees, a wall of a house/building, at-
tic, mailboxes, old car gas tanks in
salvage yards, underground in a cav-
ity under a tree’s roots, water meter
boxes and on and on. As long as the
cavity meets some marginal volume
then swarms will accept it. And then,
of course, there are different cavity
sizes of managed equipment globally
that beekeepers provide and honey
bees adapt to.
The number of honey bees in a
colony is dependent on the fecundity
of the queen, flower nectar and pol-
len resources in the area, how much
comb has worker size cells and how
much drone size and then what is the
impact of uncontrolled varroa and the
varroa/virus complex and additional
stress-related diseases, etc., etc.
The metric with our Langstroth size
traditional hives in the peak of the
season is 30K to 50K population
based on an amazing queen laying
2000 eggs per day because there are
enough pollen and nectar resources
coming in with approximately 10-
15% drones and 3 mites per 100 bees
sampled from brood nest and the
other 2/3 reproducing on develop-
ing worker brood, emerging every 21
days with workers not killed by them.
In a perfect world, other beekeep-
er cavity hardware provided prob-
ably could duplicate this.
Honey bees cannot exist for long
as wild colonies since the introduc-
tion of Varroa destructor mite. Hon-
ey bees are to be considered pets or
livestock now as they need informed
beekeeper management. So, regard-
less of the cavity or container you
place them in, being able to remove
frames, sample for varroa and visu-
ally inspect for other pests, parasites
and diseases, you have to be a good
beekeeper manager.
But the world isn’t perfect. There is
an old adage from beekeepers that all
things being equal 30% of their colo-
nies are textbook strong, viable and
active, 30% are mediocre, and 30%
are junk.
Q
TEMPERATURE
CHANGES
I was outside this afternoon here in
the Midwest looking at my six colo-
nies. The temperature was sunny and
37°F. Some of the bees were flying
‘a lot’ and some colonies not at all. I
thought when the temperature got to
about 57°F or so the colony forms a
cluster and stays there. Mine were ob-
viously not. Are they sick or stressed
or hungry? What’s going on?
Mark
Lincoln, Nebraska
A
Great question, and glad you went
out and made the observation. Let
me say I don’t know why your bees
thought sunny 37°F was good but
here are a few things to think about.
First, you are absolutely right that
the marker of 57°F outside temp, in-
263
dicates ‘generally’ that the bees will
have reached a cluster forming point
where the outside of the cluster is
compact visually, i.e., you can see
it. ‘Generally’ honey bees cannot fly
when the temp is about 55°F or lower.
There is a thing called a micro-
climate. You probably have driven
along a black asphalt road when it
was cold outside on a sunny day and
seen those heat wave ripples com-
ing off the road. It doesn’t have to be
HOT to see these ripples. They are
just indicating the difference in air
density, hot air being less dense than
the cold surrounding air. That is why
the air is disturbed and you see that
disturbance as wave ripples as hotter
air rises into the colder air.
All of this fundamentally depends
on the size of the colony, i.e., the num-
ber of bees in the colony. More bees
mean potentially more self-generat-
ing heat. This inconsistency can mean
inconsistency in bees leaving the col-
ony as they can generate more heat,
or smaller clusters that don’t have
that basic volume/quantity of bees.
Like every other inconsistent thing in
an individual honey bee colony.
On a sunny day, you may have that
heat difference around those colonies
in direct sunlight which lures some of
the bees outside. A micro-climate.
Remember that in a colony of
honey bees they don’t heat the entire
hive. They are only heating the clus-
ter with the queen in the inside of
it. Many times in colonies that have
stored a lot of honey, the honey is
frozen or very cold. The outside tem-
perature can go up, or micro-climates
can form but if there is 50 lbs. of 32°F
frozen honey cooling the inside of the
hive the bees stay in a cluster because
it’s cold inside. It’s like those frozen
bags you put in your cooler. They are
in a freezer. With this ‘heat sink’ of
pounds of cold/frozen honey, colo-
nies are slower to react to changes in
a rise in temperature. Colonies that
don’t have this long lasting cooling
will react to temperatures differently
and sooner than these other colonies.
There is so much that happens with
this diversity of genetics in honey bees
that creates survival and perceived in-
consistency. Darwin would be proud.
Q
HOW SHOULD I FEED??
Hello there,
Hope 2019 is treating you kind. I
have a question:
264
What is the best way to feed my
bees right now?
I have liquid honey, or dry sugar, or
sugar water?
I’m just not sure how to get the feed
to them.
The weather is cold, low 40s during
the day, and low 30s in the morning.
I don’t think they will break cluster.
Will they to get to food I put inside?
Any help is much appreciated,
Mark
A
You know what happens when you
assume, but I am assuming that you
want to feed your colony(ies) because
they have less than 40-50 pounds of
guesstimated stored honey at this
time of year. This is guesstimated by
lifting up one end of the colony at the
handhold. Not perfect but you can
get a good idea.
If they are ‘lite’ in weight, then yes,
supplemental feeding is appropriate.
The first choice is to be sure that the
colony has naturally stored 50+lbs. of
honey in the fall and/or to supple-
mentally feed along with what they
have naturally stored using a thick
granulated sucrose sugar syrup (2
parts sugar to 1 part water) that you
have made to get up to the 50+lbs.
goal. If you do then you can go inside
and watch Netflix for the rest of the
winter.
If not, then feeding might be the op-
tion. Feeding dry sugar or dryish can-
dy boards, etc., are hard for the bees
to access the sugar and the calories
they need to shiver and keep warm
because the sugar has to be dissolved,
i.e., made a liquid. Kind of like you
eating a spoonful of dry granulated
sugar. You have to provide a lot of sa-
liva (spit) or a big glass of water. Or,
think of a Tootsie Pop, that you have
to lick and suck and lick some more to
get your saliva to dissolve the sugar.
Bees have to provide the water from
saliva or condensation in some form
that is produced in the hive and that
is hard. In an emergency situation,
you may have little choice to try some
dry sugar, but it doesn’t have to be
the first choice.
Feeding liquids that are easier for
the colony to access and quickly use
is the best way to deliver calories in
most cases. I am going to share with
you how I do it with the disclaimer
that it isn’t perfect but pretty close. I
use 2 gal buckets that I get at Lowes,
drill one small 1/8 inch hole in center
of the lid, mix up 2 or 3-to-1 granu-
lated white sugar to hot water, put the
lid on and place small spacers on top
bars, invert the bucket, some syrup
will run out until a vacuum forms,
put on properly distanced spacers to
hold bucket slightly over top bars, put
an empty hive body over it and poof
... inside for Netflix. Because of heat
rising from cluster the syrup doesn’t
freeze generally and the bees have ac-
cess to feed through the small open-
ing which doesn’t inundate the colony
with food but supplies it in a helpful
consistent amount over time.
Q
OXALIC WITH
DRONES
I’m a young queen breeder in
Southern Virginia.
Can you inform me about the ef-
fects of oxalic acid vapor on drones?
Some breeders recommend using
powdered sugar to control varroa
American Bee Journal
in drone colonies around the mating it is not cost effective at this time? Q2
yard, based on the assumption that Thank you. I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION
OA is in some way harmful to breed- The mushroom and the honey bees
er drones. Otherwise, we use OA va- TS from Colorado articles that were written last year

por in our operation and would do
so in our drone colonies, but don’t
know what research has shown of
the effects on the drones’ fertility or
mating abilities.
Respectfully,
Noah Renno
Appalachian Bee Farm
A
Sorry for the latish reply, I have
been on the road.
I do not know of any organiza-
tion that has a plan to be able to kill,
hurt, damage a little bug (varroa) on
were interesting. I know the research
started in 2017 in Washington State.
What is the progress and what is
your opinion on the mushroom
soup recipe?
Thanks again,
TS of NW CO

A
a big bug (honey bee) safely and ef-
ficiently with a single-use, ‘silver bul-

A
OA can be effective at this time
of year when there are not a lot of
drones being reared and not a lot of
brood in general which means most
of the varroa are exposed in the ‘dis-
persal’ phase and can be impacted by
miticides. OA is most effective at this
time if used ONCE. Works well.
OA is a harsh caustic acid and if
used multiple times those bees ex-
posed multiple times will experience,
many times, damage to their bodies.
Primarily to the tips of their anten-
nae which is their ‘nose.’ Tough to
pick up communication when your
nose is not working. Think of the last
time you had a good cold and your
nose was stuffed up. You couldn’t
smell. Honey bees communicate with
odors/pheromones and without this
communication link, things don’t go
as smoothly in the colony.
One of the challenges is not getting
caught up in the hype to use foggers
and vaporizers and whatever 5, 6, 7
times a year.
let’ product.
The awkward part is that unfor-
tunately, corporations are all about
money because they have to bring
value to stockholders. Fortunately,
they are the only ones that have sig-
nificant money to pursue projects
like RNAi that I spent time on. Like
everything else in life, there is a bal-
ance and I tried to maintain that with
all of the researchers who worked on
RNAi for varroa control. But, walking
a tightrope over Niagara Falls is hard,
so balance means not falling off but it
doesn’t mean not swaying back and
forth a bit as you cross.
Total, safe, efficient and cost-effec-
tive Varroa control would not be a
money maker for any company, the
market is simply too small. That is
why we don’t have a perfect product
to control varroa safely and sanely.
The gamble for any business is how
do you make more money than you
spend. And for big corporations,
it could be a product or it could be
public perception which would slow
down the lawsuits. The PR (Public Re-
lations) value for the big corporation
would be the revenue generator be-
cause maybe more people would see
the good and they would stay out of
The jury is still out, Terry. I don’t
think honey bees are collecting mush-
room “stuff” because they read in the
Apis mellifera Medical Association
Journal ― I made that up :) ― that
eating mushroom spores or mycelia
made them healthier. Bees collect stuff
― fungal spores, dust from livestock
troughs, bird feeder dust, etc., etc. ―
and bring it home to eat when there is
not enough natural pollen. And some
of this stuff collected automatically
by accident may have some medici-
nal or nutritional value or both. Until
the smart researchers explore this a
bit we don’t really know. Look at all
of the botanically based medicines
humans have and use officially and
all of the herbal-based materials used.
Let’s hope that the mushroom thing is
amazing. In the meantime enjoy your
lemon/ginger herbal tea with your
shitake mushroom lunch. :)

Q
FUTURE VARROA
CONTROL
As always thank you for “The
Classroom,” the first read every
month. Since you have left a giant
corporation, are they (major compa-
nies) close to finding an effective cure
or control of the dreaded varroa?
We often hear about drug com-
panies more concerned about the
almighty dollar than helping the
people. The case of the $200 EpiPen
that cost $20.00 to make. I do under-
stand that they need to make money
for their stockholders. Is that the case
with the major ag companies with the
varroa problem or do they see that
the courtroom having to pay lawyers
lots of money. That is why you see
some of the large corporations sup-
porting Pollinator Forage projects.
It’s cheaper than actually solving the
industry’s health challenges. Devel-
oping a product to kill a little bug
(varroa) on a Big bug (honey bee) is
tremendously difficult and expen-
sive. Not that those Pollinator Forage
projects are not good ideas, but the re-
ality is that they are cheaper and get
more media attention and positive
public perception than R&D to come
up with valuable treatments.
For me, the take-home message is,
‘you never know until you try.’ And
if you can keep your integrity in the
situation that is the best you can do.

March 2019 265

266 American Bee Journal

T
wenty-one beekeepers from
our home state of Illinois at-
tended the recent American
Beekeeping Federation convention
held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
from January 8-12. There were over
900 people registered from through-
out the United States and Canada.
Each day a renowned researcher
opened the meeting with their latest
research. Wednesday began with a
presentation by Dr. Marla Spivak,
Department of Entomology at the
University of Minnesota. Her key-
note presentation was “Restoring Bee
Health: Molecules to Landscapes.”
Dr. Spivak is always a thought-pro-
voking speaker! Other inspiring talks
included a report from the Founda-
tion for the Preservation of Honey
Bees and the introduction of founda-
tion scholars. Also, the 2018 American
Honey Queen and Princess and the
new 2019 honey queen contestants
were introduced.
The highlight of Wednesday’s
meeting was the report by Dr. Samuel
Ramsey from the USDA Bee Research
Lab at Beltsville, Maryland. His topic
was “Tropilaelaps Mites: A Fate Worse
Than Varroa.” This was a spectacular
report saying that we have not seen
the worst yet ... that Tropilaelaps will
eventually come and it will be larger
and more devastating than Varroa.
Interestingly enough, Dr. Ramsey ul-
timately won the Roger Hoopingar-
ner award for most outstanding pre-
sentation as voted by the members of
the conference.
Wednesday also saw the opening
of the trade show where eighty-seven
March 2019
BEE
INNOVATIVE
A
report on the
AmericAn Beekeeping
FederAtion conFerence
by CHARLES AND KAREN NIELSEN LORENCE
exhibitors answered questions and
showed off their latest equipment
and technical items for sale.
Thursday’s keynote speaker was
Dr. Reed Johnson, Department of En-
tomology at Ohio State University.
His presentation was “Interaction
Between Insecticides and Fungicides
Applied to Almonds During Bloom.”
Other topics on Thursday included
“Toward a Fungal Pharmacy: Using
Metarhizium and Mushroom Ex-
tracts for Honey Bee Health” by Dr.
Walter Sheppard of Washington State
University.
“Bee-Friendly Microbial Control of
Arachnid and Arthropod Pests” was
presented by Vera Strogolov. Dr. Jen-
nifer Tsuruda spoke on the use of pho-
tography for record keeping. Special
Jim and Karen Belli’s “Best in Show” pine-
apple wax sculpture (photo by Jim Belli)
interest groups met in the afternoon
and these addressed the small scale/
sideliner group, package bee and
queen breeders, honey producers and
packers, and commercial beekeepers.
Each lane had several programs pre-
sented by professionals.
The speaker highlighted on Friday
was Dr. Dennis VanEngelsdorp, who
spoke on the topic “Mites Matter.” Dr.
VanEngelsdorp is also president of
the Bee Informed Partnership. One of
the speakers who always meets with
great accolades is Peter Berthelsen.
He is in charge of the Bee and But-
terfly Habitat Fund and his talk was
“The Art and Science of Getting Great
Honey Bee Forage on the Landscape.”
Another great lecture was by Bob
Danke and Frank Rinkevich of the
USDA Bee Lab in Baton Rouge. Their
topic was “An Integrated Approach
to Breeding Better Bees.” The Foun-
dation for the Preservation of Honey
Bees is always well attended and
this year gave four scholarships to
students studying apiculture at four
different universities in the United
States.
The Kids and Bees program took
place Friday morning and was at-
tended by over 300 kids and their
parents. Hands-on participation in-
cluded “The Art of Beekeeping,” “The
Science of Beekeeping,” “The World
of Beekeeping,” and “The Future of
Bees: It’s Up to You!” This program is
always a huge success.
Friday afternoon, the honey show
was concluded with the auction of the
prize-winning honey and beeswax
competition. Illinois was extremely
267
 ship to breeding. Especially interest-
ing to the small beekeeper were topics
on skin care products, candle making,
how to make creamed honey, encaus-
tic painting, and how to get young
people involved in beekeeping.
The annual reception and banquet,
live auction, and crowning of the new
2019 Honey Queen was held on Sat-
urday night at the conclusion of the
convention. The New Jersey queen,
Nicole Medina, was named American
Honey Princess. She is from Green
Township, is 19 years old, and is a
business administration major. Han-
nah Sjostrom was the queen candi-
date from Maiden Rock, Wisconsin,
and was crowned the 2019 American
Honey Queen. She is a nursing major
at University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire,
and is a 3rd generation beekeeper.
Watch for upcoming news on the
2020 ABF Convention, which will be
held in Schaumburg, Illinois, next
January.
Charles and Karen
Lorence of Aurora, IL
have been beekeep-
ers since 1971. At one
time they kept 150
hives. As teachers,
they had summers
free and their hobby
turned into a thriving
business. Today they manage hobby hives
in Wisconsin and Illinois and sell honey and
value-added products. They teach classes
in beekeeping, offer seminars at community
colleges and arboretums, write for a profes-
sional beekeeping magazine, and do presen-
tations to garden clubs and special interest
groups. Their honey and beeswax products
have been awarded special honors on both
the state and national level.

Queen Hannah Sjostrom (WI) and Prin-

cess Nicole Medina (WI) (photo by Kar-
en Lorence)

well represented with Jim and Karen

Belli taking three blue ribbons and
best of show. Tom Montavon also
took a first-place ribbon with water
white honey.
“Medical Issues in the Apiary” was
presented by Dr. Michael Misko on
Saturday morning. “Bees as Seeds,”
by Melanie Kirby of Washington State
University, discussed the connection
between habitat, nutrition, health and
longevity of bees and their relation-

Bill and Marianne Knight, aka The Sand Lovers, pose next to their professional sand
sculpture, built from Tuesday through Friday. Marianne said the first hive was rebuilt
following critiques from show attendees. (photo by Eugene Makovec)

268 American Bee Journal

 Beekeeping Basics

Diagnosing a Dead-Out

by TINA SEBESTYEN

O
ne of the things I love most
about beekeeping is the in-
trigue, the mystery. Studies
show that it is not the finding of a
treasure that provides happiness, it is
the seeking. We beekeepers should be
eternally happy, in that case, because
we will always be seeking answers.
On the other hand, one of the most
frustrating things about beekeeping is
seeking and not finding any answers.
It is heart-breaking enough to lose a
colony, but when it is impossible to
learn from your mistakes because you
don’t know what mistakes you made,
it is enough to drive you crazy. An-
other reason it is so important to be
able to diagnose a dead-out is so that
you know whether you can use the
old equipment, and especially the old
comb, for the next colony. I will walk
you step by step through my method
of diagnosing a dead hive.
of these things, but examining the en-
trance is a good habit to get into. The
clues you find at the entrance will be
critical for diagnosing a dead hive
any time other than early spring.
Step two: examine the Bottom Board
If possible, remove the hive bodies
from the bottom board without sepa-
rating them from one another. The
reason for this is that if you break up
the cluster of dead bees, they will fall
onto the bottom board. It’s this thing
called gravity that operates even in-
side bee hives. The fallen bees will
obstruct your view of whatever is
on the bottom board, and keep you
from knowing how many bees were
there from whatever happened prior
to your digging around. You might
see a mountain of hive beetles piled
up in the corner. You might see that a
lot of bees fell out of the cluster onto
the floor. This happens when the clus-
ter is too small, and the bees on the
outside of it become paralyzed by the
cold and fall. There may be almost no
bees on the bottom board, but huge
piles of wax fluff that is a result of a
colony being robbed. You may find
the bottom board almost solid red
with little mite bodies. Also pay at-

Step one: examine the outSide

Just like when the colony is alive,
the first place to look for clues as to
what is going on inside is at the en-
trance of the hive. Is there a whole
pile of dead bees? No dead bees at
all? Little white mummies? A snow-
drift of beeswax dust? If you discov-
er a dead-out soon after it occurs, a
whole pile of dead bees might make
you wonder about pesticide poi-
soning. A live colony should have a
few dead bees out front because the
undertakers are doing their job. Lit-
tle white mummies would indicate
chalkbrood, a springtime disease.
A dead-out that you discover in the
late winter will probably have none A few dead bees on the bottom board with cappings

March 2019 269

 The small cluster seen from above
tention to the location of the pile of
dead bees. If they are all against the
sunny side of the hive, whether that
is the south or west, you now have a
clue about how they were handling
the cold. The floor is also where you
might find a dead mouse, or mouse
nest. I have never seen a mouse kill a
bee colony, though they can eat a lot
of the honey and comb and cause the
death of the colony by starvation.
Step three: Look at the inner cover
and topS of frameS:
If the inner cover is soaking wet and
black with mold or fungus, and di-
rectly below this is the soggy, moldy
cluster, the bees may have died be-
cause of the condensation dripping
onto the cluster. Wet bees are dead
bees. Mold on the cluster alone does
not necessarily mean that it was lack
of ventilation that killed the bees. If
the bees died early in the winter from
any cause, the cluster will probably
be moldy, and the bees mushy and
black. Look for evidence of too much
moisture around the hive and around
the cluster.
270
The cluster not in contact with honey just inches away
Step four: examine the cLuSter
Is there a cluster of dead bees be-
tween the combs? Sometimes there
will be a small cluster, but also in-
dividual bees frozen in place on the
comb away from the cluster. This is a
tragedy that you can feel better about.
Sometimes, a nice warm afternoon
allows the bees out of the cluster to
move to new areas of honey or pol-
len, or to collect water from the hive
walls. If the temperature should drop
suddenly, they become paralyzed
where they are, and never make it
back to the life-saving warmth of the
cluster. Also, look at where the cluster
is in the combs. If it pressed against
the South (sunny side) wall, it is an-
other clue that they didn’t have a
large enough cluster of bees to main-
tain warmth. As you begin removing
combs, look to see if the cluster was
in contact with honey. There may be
honey in the hive, and maybe even
just inches from the cluster, but if the
bees are not in actual physical con-
tact with the honey, they may have
starved. There is an old wives’ tale
that if the bees are head-in to the cells,
After brushing the
dead bees away,
bees head-in
keeping warm and
warming the small
brood chamber
started at the winter
solstice (three
weeks prior to
photo date).
it is a sign that they starved. There
will almost always be bees head-in to
the cells, whether or not they starved.
Bees rest in cells that way, and they
warm themselves and surrounding
brood this way as well.
Is there brood remaining in the
combs? If there is no brood at all, but
there is a cluster of bees, now you
know that they probably died before
the winter solstice, or thereabouts.
If there is a lot of capped, but un-
emerged brood, more than baseball
sized, and few or no dead bees, it is
likely the bees absconded in the late
fall. A likely scenario is that there
was a high mite count and the dis-
eased bees sacrificed themselves by
leaving one at a time and not return-
ing to the hive.
It is very difficult to look at the
brood cappings and tell what hap-
pened. You will usually see a bee
or two half emerged, as though the
colony left just as the bee was coming
out, and she froze right there. When
bees die as they emerge with tongues
sticking out it is a sign of PMS (Para-
sitic Mite Syndrome). There will usu-
ally be perforated cappings. These
may be from PMS, Foulbrood, or they
may just be cappings that weren’t
quite finished when the colony ab-
sconded. Stirring the dead capped
brood with a toothpick won’t tell you
much either, as the dead brood be-
gins to turn brown and mushy from
rot and the passing of time, and looks
just like brood that died of European
Foulbrood (EFB).
As you are looking at the combs
that the cluster is on, brush the dead
bees away. Most of the cells within the
cluster will be filled with bees head-in
to the cells. But on the comb around
the cluster, and on combs adjacent to
the cluster that are relatively bee free,
American Bee Journal
you will find another important clue.
Hold the frame by the top bar and at a
downward angle so that you are look-
ing at the cell surface that would be
closest to the ground. If it looks like
someone sprinkled coarse salt into
the cells, this is evidence of a heavy
mite infestation. Mites leave behind
uric acid crystals in their urine, and
these get stuck on the lower surface
of the cell wall.
Also look at the texture of the cells
that have had honey removed from
them. Bees that are eating honey in
their own homes take the cappings off
neatly, and often re-use cappings in
other places in the hive. The edges of
the cells will be neat and tidy. Empty
honey cells that are jagged and rough
are a sign that the hive was robbed, a
very common occurrence in the fall.
Robbing bees tear cappings off, drop
them on the floor, and leave behind
a mess like a bunch of 5th graders
would if there were no adult in the We might say that the bees died of starvation because they died inches away from
cafeteria. Robbing can cause the bees honey.  Or we might blame the cold, as this small cluster was unable to move out of
to abscond or starve, but can also be the cluster to the honey.  Here is the real reason: uric acid crystals left by mites which
an indication of a colony too diseased feasted on the bees’ fat cells and caused this death. Mite count was 5/300 on 9/27.
and weak to defend itself.
ter of bees in contact with honey, and erything. Brown mushy brood with
Step five: deciding whether the comB surrounded by loads of uric acid crys- perforated cappings may or may not
iS Safe to uSe for a new coLony tals in the cells, means the bees began mean European Foulbrood. If you
This is where you add up the clues leaving due to the mite load, and they suspect EFB, getting rid of the dark-
you have gathered. A large, cohesive may or may not have had another dis- est brood comb is probably sufficient.
cluster of bees in contact with honey, ease vectored by the mites. Bees with Any question about disease of any
but wet and moldy means the bees plenty of honey almost never die of kind is a good reason for you to take
died of being dripped on by conden- the cold when they are in their cluster. the honey for yourself. Since humans
sation above their heads. A cluster of If the brood comb is just brown and don’t get bee diseases, it will be fine
bees not in contact with honey means not black, look down into the cells. for you, though it may contain germs
they starved. Bees all over the hive, American Foulbrood (the bad one) or spores that might harm your new
and mostly not in the cluster means leaves behind something that looks bees. This is what sugar water is
they were caught out during a warm- like a black popcorn hull. This is the made for! (Feed new bees sugar rath-
then-suddenly-cold weather event. larval bee dried and blackened in the er than taking the risk feeding them
These three eventualities do not leave bottom of her cell. AFB is not some- tainted honey.) Before you agonize
anything objectionable in the comb, thing to take lightly. If you have any too much over whether the drawn
and it can be re-used. A small clus- question that they had AFB, burn ev- comb is safe to use for a new colony

Bottom board with dead bees against North wall The size of the brood area tells us that the bees died in the
late fall.

March 2019 271

Perforated brood cappings, uncapped brood, and brood dead
before capping show probable European Foulbrood.
of bees, look at the date on the top of
the frame. If it is brood comb that is
more than three years old, just get rid
of it. By that age, it has several lay-
ers of cocoons and has had too much
traffic to even think of keeping it. If
by some outside chance, you forgot to
write the date on the top of the frame,
look at the color. If it is dark brown, or
anywhere close to black, get rid of it.
Another place to gather clues is
from your hive log. What were their
mite numbers? Did you treat, but
then forget to do a final mite count
to be sure the treatment worked? Did
the colony have queen problems last
summer? If the bees are all or mostly
just gone, and they left behind a few
frames of emerging brood and a lot
of honey, and you don’t see the uric
acid crystals, nine times out of ten,
the cause of the death was queen is-
A bee dead on emerging with tongue sticking out, a sign of Parasitic Mite
Syndrome (PMS)
272
The mite tray shows where the EFB came from, a heavy mite
infestation.
sues. If, however, you are not treating
for mites, or are treating too late in
the year, you can be sure that a heavy
mite load was the problem. This will
have been a strong, populous colony
that will now have a small cluster or
no bees at all remaining. You will find
plenty of honey in the hive, and the
brood comb will be surrounded by
uric acid crystals in the cells. In this
case, getting rid of the brood comb is
probably a good idea.
Testing of the comb and brood re-
mains can be done at the USDA Bee
Lab at Beltsville. Fresh samples are
best, but the bacteria that cause AFB
and EFB, and the fungus that causes
Chalkbrood produce hardy, viable
spores that can be detected from
comb or brood remains. DWV de-
grades quickly, and will be difficult to
diagnose without infected adult bees.
There are many other pathogens and
toxins that are not routinely tested for.
The truth is that it is pretty hard to
accurately diagnose a dead-out un-
til you have seen a lot of them, and
a lot of healthy hives over the years.
Look and learn, and remember to be
conservative in your decision to keep
old comb. I know how precious that
drawn comb seems, but against the
value of the life of your new bee col-
ony, it is not that important. Bees can
draw comb quickly in spring, use that
trait to your benefit.
https://beeinformed.org/2016/03/08/
why-did-my-honey-bees-die/
https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-
area/beltsville-md-barc/beltsville-
agricultural-research-center/bee-
research-laboratory/
https://beeinformed.org/2013/10/15/
parasitic-mite-syndrome-pms/
https://aem.asm.org /content/
78/4/981.short
Swarz, Ryan; Fort Lewis College,
formerly of the USDA Bee Lab at
Beltsville on comb and brood testing
Tina Sebestyen
has been keeping
bees since 2007 in
top bar, Langstroth,
and more recently
the long Langstroth
hive. She is founder
of the Four Corners
Beekeepers Assoc, and is Vice President of
the Colorado State Beekeepers Association.
She is currently working to produce the Mas-
ter Beekeeper Program for the state of Colo-
rado. She helps with large scale queen pro-
duction for commercial operations, raises
locally adapted queens for NW New Mex-
ico and SW Colorado, helps produce nucs,
does structural removals of bee colonies, and
writes and speaks about bees everywhere
she gets the chance. She can be reached at
bee.seeking@gmail.com
American Bee Journal
March 2018 273
274 American Bee Journal
 pOlanD, tHe Only COuntry
wHere instruMentally
inseMinateD Queens are
rOutinely useD in COMMerCial
prODuCtiOn COlOnies
By sue COBey, MałgOrzata BieńkOwska,
Jerzy wilDe, JakuB gąBka

P
oland is unique in that instru- Europe, especially Germany, most an average of 15 to 20 drones, in drone
mentally inseminated queens, bee breeding programs are supported congregating areas consisting of an
IIQs, are commonly used in pro- by the use of isolated mating stations. estimated average of 16,000 drones
duction hives, as well as for breed- In some countries, such as Denmark from 250 colonies. The random, mul-
ing purposes. Annually, an estimated and Sweden, isolated mating is ac- tiple mating behavior of the queen
50,000 to 80,000 IIQs are produced complished on islands. functions to enhance intra-colony ge-
and sold by commercial queen breed- In the U.S., drone saturation of netic diversity, which is well known
ers to beekeepers to head field colo- mating areas is practiced, although to increase overall colony vigor and
nies for pollination and honey pro- maintaining the purity of subspecies fitness — although this random mat-
duction. Beekeeping in Poland has is of little concern. Most of the major ing behavior makes it difficult to
a long history of government sup- queen producers are clustered, such maintain selected, valued traits with
port for quality control and selective as in northern California, where di- consistency.
breeding. For over 40 years Polish verse sources of drones are inadver- In Poland four subspecies of bees
law has regulated breeding stocks, tently shared. This contributes to are bred and selected: the national
farm animal management and repro- genetic diversity, yet dilutes the char- bee or the local black bee, Apis mel-
duction. This effort has resulted in the acteristics of select breeding stocks. lifera mellifera; the Carniolans, Apis
routine use and perfection of instru- Honey bee mating behavior is dif- mellifera carnica; the Caucasians, Apis
mental insemination techniques for ficult to control and presents a major mellifera caucasica; and Italian bees,
honey bees. challenge. Queens mate in flight with Apis mellifera ligustica. In recent years,
Visiting Poland a few years ago, I
had the pleasure of being hosted by
Dr. Jakub Gąbka, honey bee research-
er from the Agriculture University in
Warsaw. Jakub spent several months
with me at University of California,
Davis in 2012. He labored long days
and nights in the lab inseminating
queens for various research projects
and also greatly enjoyed the com-
pany of the bee lab crew. Covered
in bees during a fun day of making
bee beards, his bee bearded face was
featured on the cover of ABJ, photo-
graphed by Kathy Garvey. I promised
to return the visit, looking forward to
again seeing Dr. Jersy Woyke, whose
early work advanced the use of in-
strumental insemination at the pro-
duction level.
This routine use of IIQs in produc-
tion colonies is impressive. In the rest
of the world, instrumental insemina-
tion is largely limited to the develop-
ment and maintenance of breeding
Jakub’s colonies at the Parliament in Warsaw.
stocks and for research purposes. In

March 2019 275


Jakub, Sue and Jerzy Woyke (left to right) enjoying one of the many parks in Warsaw
beekeepers are also using Buckfast
bees, although officially it is not al-
lowed for breeding purposes in the
national breeding program.
Two types of breeding programs
are conducted in Poland, one focused
on the conservation and selection of
specific subspecies, the other on the
selection of productive hybrids from
two or more subspecies. There is an
increased interest in conservation
programs of the native subspecies.
The number of queens evaluated in
the hybrid breeding programs is de-
clining.
Gosia inseminating queens and Sue collecting bee semen in the Lab in Pulawy
276
The National Black Bee Genetic
Resources Conservation Program,
established in 2000, consists of four
lines of Apis mellifera mellifera: these
are called Asta, Pólnocna (the North
Bee), Kampinoska and Augustowska.
This program is designed to protect,
preserve and conserve the indigenous
population. Specific characteristics of
the Black Bees are maintained while
also selecting for commercially val-
ued traits. Efforts to conserve and in-
crease the number of Black Bee colo-
nies is mainly in north-eastern and
central Poland. This effort includes
reintroducing the Black Bees into
their natural habitat. Also, native to
southern Poland is A.m.carnica. This
Carniolan line is called Dobra, which
means “good.”
Breeding stocks are evaluated
and recorded in the National Breed-
ing Book. Of the breeding material
tested, only queens with the highest
assessment are recorded and entered
in these records. There are 72 breed-
ing apiaries in Poland that offer high
quality breeding stocks to beekeep-
ers. Over 95% of breeding apiaries in
Poland use instrumental insemina-
tion to support their programs.
The national breeding programs
have two steps of evaluation; the
evaluation of colonies in station-
ary breeding apiaries and the field
evaluation of colonies in produc-
tion apiaries. The traits evaluated
include: honey yield, spring devel-
opment, swarming, wintering and
gentleness. Although not obligatory,
some beekeepers also evaluate var-
roa infestation levels and hygienic
behavior. The number of breeder col-
onies assessed in stationary apiaries
increased from 1700 in 2008 to over
2200 in 2017. Of these, about half
qualified for registration.
The practical value assessment of
breeding stocks also includes the field
analysis of the offspring of breeder
queens entered in the National Breed-
ing Books. This assessment pro-
vides supplemental information on
the practical and breeding value of
queens selected within the breeding
lines and on the recommendations for
matings. The field assessment results
are published and can be viewed by
all beekeepers to help them choose
quality queens from the lines and
matings that promise desirable char-
acteristics.
There are over 1.55 million colonies
kept by about 70,000 beekeepers in
Poland.
Beekeepers produce about 300,000
queens annually; of these, registered
breeders produce 68% of the queens.
Of the unregistered beekeepers,
about 32%, produce Buckfast (about
37,000 queens) and A.m carnica (about
55,000 queens).
A study estimating beekeepers’
stock preferences was conducted be-
tween 2008 and 2017 by the Research
Institute of Horticulture, Apiculture
Division in Pulawy, Department of
Bee Breeding. Generally, Carniolans
were preferred, used in 45% of apiar-
ies, 14% of apiaries used the national
Black Bee and 3.8% used Caucasians.
American Bee Journal

Krzysztof Loc’s Breeding Apiary in
Siedlce (Left to Right) Jakub Gąbka,
Urszula Cisak, Sue Cobey, Sławomir Ro-
gaczewski, Gosia Bieńkowska, Krzysztof
Loc and his wife Małorzata
Of the remaining apiaries hybrids
were preferred, the most popular
from the crossing of two races, A.m.
carnica and A.m. caucasica, followed
by of the crossing of three races, A.m.
carnica, caucasica and mellifera.
Regional preferences were also
observed. In the northern regions of
Poland beekeepers prefer and main-
tain the national Black Bee, while the
southern and central regions mostly
prefer Carniolans. However, bee-
keepers also introduce bees of vari-
ous races and their hybrids; for ex-
ample, a growing popularity of the
Buckfast line was observed between
2006-2010.
To promote increased colony pro-
ductivity and to enhance the use of
quality breeding stocks, the sale of na-
tionally certified queens is subsidized
by the government. A government
subsidy program was established in
the late 1990s and now supports the
sale of about 150,000 queens annually,
under the National Stock Certifica-
tion Program.
Among the 72 commercial queen
producers in Poland, the use of instru-
mental insemination is routine, with
most preforming this themselves.
There are over 500 Polish beekeep-
ers and researchers trained and certi-
fied as insemination technicians. Of
these, about 50 are highly skilled and
practice this — about 15 at the pro-
duction level.
Animal improvement has been a
major focus of the Polish government
since communist times. Dr. Jerzy
Woyke’s early and prolific work in
honey bee mating behavior and in-
strumental insemination has had a
March 2019
profound influence on Poland’s bee-
keeping industry. His students and
colleagues continue to explore, re-
search and apply this specialized and
essential technique to beekeeping.
Dr. Małgorzata “Gosia” Bieńkowska
and her team at the Division of Api-
culture in Puławy operate the leading
institution conducting research related
to the improvement of insemination
techniques. Dr. Jerzy Wilde, at the Uni-
versity of Warmia and Mazury, and
bee researchers at the Agriculture Uni-
versity in Warsaw, have also made ma-
jor contributions to this body of work.
To determine the best practices
for production of IIQs, collaborative
research efforts have explored vari- Sławomir Rogaczewski collecting semen
ous factors influencing queen perfor- using the Polish Loc-Woyke instrument,
mance. These include: insemination designed with the long handled syringe
techniques, the pre- and-post insemi- guide
nation care of queens, age of virgin
queens at insemination, carbon diox- The introduction of IIQs into colo-
ide treatments to induce oviposition, nies takes more care and if over-
optimal semen dosages, practices that looked can result in poor acceptance.
improve sperm migration into the The use of IIQs in production colonies
spermatheca, and queen introduction in Poland initially was problematic.
methods. IIQs were sold to beekeepers before
The queen has a narrow window egg laying was established and when
of time for optimal mating, and ben- introduced into full size colonies had
efits from active movement and atten- a high rate of non-acceptance. Phero-
dance by nurse bees to promote sperm monal and physiological differences
migration and storage. The practice between virgins, IIQs and naturally
of caging and banking queens and mated queens (NMQs), signal their
insemination of queens beyond the reproductive status. IIQs that have
appropriate age reduces their perfor- not begun egg laying are often more
mance and success. Polish beekeepers difficult to introduce.
utilize beekeeping practices known to Significant work on the factors af-
increase the success and performance fecting performance of IIQs has been
of IIQs. a focus of research in Poland. Dif-
Krzysztof checking the status of a batch of IIQs in his apiary
277

Sue and Jerzy Wilde at his Lab in Olsztyn
ferent treatments in the care and in- seeing Dr. Jerzy Woyke; at 90 plus, he
troduction of queens, both IIQs and remains active, writing and advising
NMQs, affect their performance. Rec- students, and continues to be sought
ommendations applied, based upon after for his expertise and advice. His
this body of work, have improved keen sense of curiosity, his approach
the success of IIQs in productive field in exploring scientific questions, and
colonies. To encourage use of quality his advice continues to be a valuable
breeding stocks, the Polish govern- resource for students and researchers
ment subsidy supports the sale of IIQs worldwide. Woyke’s interests have
that have been established and laying taken him all over the world exploring
for 2 weeks. Beekeepers who receive the variety of species and subspecies
non-laying IIQs first introduce these of honey bees. During his career, travel
into nucleus colonies, greatly increas- was difficult and resources scarce, yet
ing their success rate. his curiosity overcame the obstacles.
During my trip to Poland, Jakub In his house hangs a certification of his
arranged visits to see bee researchers climb on Kilimanjaro in 1984, which
and queen breeders. A highlight was speaks loudly of his nature.
Jerzy Wilde’s apiary of mating nucs in Olsztyn
278
From Warsaw, we traveled to the
government laboratory in Pulawy,
the Research Institute of Horticulture.
Here the Apiculture Division houses
four departments: bee breeding, pol-
lination, bee management and bee-
keeping technology. Poland partici-
pates in the EU community to test
and certify product quality of honey,
pollen and beeswax. Testing for resi-
dues of miticides and the adulteration
of honey are conducted. My interest
was the breeding aspects. I had the
pleasure of finally meeting Gosia
Bieńkowska and her team. Gosia in-
seminates thousands of queens annu-
ally and teaches insemination classes.
It was a great pleasure to meet her
and share experiences of insemina-
tion practices.
The main research objects of this
laboratory include improvement of
queen performance by improving
queen rearing and insemination tech-
niques and selection methods with a
focus on hygienic behavior, resistance
to fungal diseases and varroa. Subspe-
cies identification of bees in Poland
and the influence of interactions be-
tween environment and genotype are
studied, exploring the impact of ge-
netic variability on productivity and
survivability of bees. They are also
monitoring factors of mass colony
losses and the changing climatic fac-
tors influencing colony development.
Two programs of genetic improve-
ment, working with two subspecies,
are conducted at the institute in Pu-
lawy. A Caucasian line, called Cau
Puławska, was established in crossing
two lines from Russia. A Carniolan
line, called Marynka, was established
in crossing several lines from Ger-
many, Hungary and Austria. Also, a
line of A.m.mellifera, originating from
Norway, is kept mostly for scientific
research.
At the Pulawy laboratory, I collect-
ed germplasm (semen) for our Wash-
ington State University project to
import bee stocks to enhance genetic
diversity in the U.S. honey bee popu-
lation. These stocks are also held in
cryopreservation at the WSU Honey
Bee Germplasm Repository for fu-
ture breeding purposes. The Carnio-
lan stock collected has been incorpo-
rated into the New World Carniolan
program.
We traveled to Siedlce to visit
Krzysztof Loc, one of the most re-
nowned commercial queen breeders
in Poland. He produces 12,500 IIQs
annually. He has scaled down his
operation, formerly producing about
American Bee Journal
Jerzy Wilde explaining his system of tracking the status of queens in nucs using the
orientation of bricks, sticks and leaves.
twice this number. Krzysztof also
supplies virgins and naturally mated
queens, as well as laying and nonlay-
ing IIQs. Queen producers in Poland
offer a lot of choices in the reproduc-
tive status of their queens, addressing
customer demand.
I was particularly interested in the
insemination instrument Krzysztof
uses and produces. This has the long-
handled syringe micromanipula-
tor, designed by Woyke. Of course, I
brought one home to work with. At
my request, Krzysztof sent additional
instruments with modifications to
my preferences. A skilled machinist,
he included the forceps pressure grip
sting hook and ability to accommo-
date the Harbo large capacity syringe.
Traveling farther north to Olsztyn
we visited Dr. Jerzy Wilde, a full time
professor and head of the Apicul-
ture Department at the University of
Warmia and Mazury. His current proj-
ects include studying ways to speed
up the onset of oviposition of IIQs,
overwintering extra queens in nucs,
and looking at levels of resistance to
pests and pathogens among different
subspecies of honey bees. He is also
involved in the collaborative develop-
ment of an innovative system to de-
tect and monitor honey bee parasites
and pathogens through the use of an
“Electronic nose,” tackling factors that
cause colony collapse disorder.
In addition to his University work,
Jerzy Wilde is director of the Apicul-
ture Centre Honey Bee Queen Breed-
ing, a private business that produces
20,000 IIQs annually. His operation
was busy with student interns from
many countries who came to learn
queen rearing and insemination tech-
March 2019
niques. Students have come from
France, Morocco, Nepal, Austria, Ger-
many and across Poland. His opera-
tion consists of 500 – 800 colonies for
the production of Carniolan queens.
Here, I also collected semen to incor-
porate into the New World Carniolan
program.
To complete my trip, Jakub arranged
a historical tour of Warsaw, a city dev-
astated by WWII and astonishingly
rebuilt, mainly from pictures, to re-
turn to the magnificent architecture
and history of the country. The streets
were lined with flowering trees in full
bloom: linden, horse chestnut and lo-
cust. The Vistula river runs through
the city, a beekeeping paradise with
25% green space. The 98 parks within
Warsaw are lush, fragrant and color-
ful with flowers. The nearby forests
are full of wild raspberries and hon-
eydew, and the surrounding fields in
bloom with purple phacilia and white
buckwheat flowers. On the Parlia-
ment grounds, by invitation, Jakub’s
colonies produce an excellent honey
crop. Honey bees and beekeeping are
highly valued in Poland.
The use of IIQs in production colo-
nies in Poland is a testament to their
performance. The perception that IIQs
do not perform as well as NMQs is a
long held misconception by many. To
help dispel this myth, a review of a
series of studies dating from1946 to
2007 clearly establishes similar perfor-
mance levels between the two groups,
based upon brood production, hon-
ey production and queen longevity.
These comparison studies show the
treatment of queens was a major influ-
ence. Poor performance is largely due
to poor technique, inadequate care of
Jakub Gąbka with a bee beard at UCD,
featured on our October 2013 cover
queens, injury and infection, all prac-
tices which are correctable, rather
than the insemination technique..
The use of proper techniques and
proper beekeeping practices yields
successful results. Queen productivi-
ty and longevity are affected by many
factors, from the rearing conditions to
the establishment of IIQs to head pro-
ductive field colonies. The purpose of
this article is to build confidence in
the use of instrumental insemination.
Controlled mating is essential to en-
able the selection, maintenance and
conservation of valuable honey bee
breeding stocks. Selective breeding
also offers a sustainable approach to
maintaining honey bee health.
referenceS
Bieńkowska M., Wilde,J., Panasiuk
B., Gerula D. (2018). Bee Breeding
Activity in Poland. Siccam Confer-
ence. Mustiala, Finland July, 2018.
Bieńkowska M., Węgrzynowicz P.,
Panasiuk B., Gerula D., Loc K.
(2008). - Influence of the age of hon-
ey bee queens and dose of semen on
condition of instrumentally insemi-
nated queens kept in cages with 25
worker bees in bee colonies. Journal
of Apicultural Science 52(2): 23-33
Bieńkowska M., Loc K., Panasiuk
B., Węgrzynowicz P., Gerula D.
(2011). - Effect of semen dose and
application on the performance of
instrumentally inseminated honey
bee queens kept with 25 worker
bees. Journal of Apicultural Science
55(1): 99-109.
Cobey, S.W. 2007. Comparison stud-
ies of Instrumentally inseminated
queens and naturally mated queens
279
 and factors affecting their perfor-
mance. Apidologie 38:390-410.
Delaney, D. A., J. J. Keller, J. R. Caren
and D. R. Tarpy. 2010. The physi-
cal, insemination, and reproductive
quality of honey bee queens (Apis
mellifera). Apidologie: 10.1051/api-
do/2010027.
Gabka,J., Cobey,.S 2018. Factors,
based on common practices, af-
fecting the results of instrumental
insemination of honey bee queens
Apidologie (2018). https://doi.
org/10.1007/s13592-018-0606-y
Koeniger,G. Koeniger,N. 2014. Mat-
ing Biology of Honey Bees. Wicwas
Press 155pp.
Woyke J., Jasiński Z., Prabucki J.,
Wilde J., Chuda-Mickiewicz B.,
Siuda M., Madras-Majewska B.,
Samborski J., Bratkowski J., Jojc-
zyk A. 2008. Onset of oviposition
by honey bee queens, mated either
naturally or by various instrumen-
tal insemination methods, fits a
lognormal distribution. Journal of
Apicultural Research and Bee World
47(1): 1-9.
Woyke, J. 1991. Syringe guide for
instrumental insemination appara-
tus of queen bees (Apis mellifera L).
Apidologie 22 (1991) 81-85 1983.

An acknowledged interna-
tional authority in the field
of honey bee breeding
and instrumental insemi-
nation, Susan Cobey's
focus is enhancement
of honey bee stocks and
improvement of colony
health through selective
breeding. She works with
Washington State University on the germ-
plasm importation project and runs Honey
Bee Insemination Service, offering training,
specialized equipment and insemination ser-
vices. Founder of the New World Carniolan
Closed Population Breeding Program, she
has maintained this stock for 36 generations.

280 American Bee Journal

 Notes from the Lab:
The Latest Bee Science Distilled
by Scott McArt

I
magine a world where the effects As most readers of this column of imidacloprid, they may have less
of drinking a beer never wear off will know, there’s been a large body ability to do so with fipronil. This
because the human body can’t of work over the past decade or so could explain why the 10-day LD50
break down the alcohol and eliminate on risk to bees from neonicotinoid of honey bees for imidacloprid is 123
it. As a person drinks more beer, the insecticides, including imidacloprid. nanograms per bee (ng/bee), but the
alcohol in their blood builds up to This work includes speculation that 10-day LD50 for fipronil is only 3 ng/
higher and higher levels – it bioac- imidacloprid was the culprit for acute bee. With these data in mind, Holder
cumulates. In this world, even occa- losses of honey bee colonies in France and colleagues set out to test whether
sional beers could kill. in the mid-1990s. However, most ex- fipronil could in fact bioaccumulate
What does this have to do with bees? posure data show that imidacloprid in bees, how this impacts its toxicity
It turns out that some insecticides can levels in pollen, nectar and honey are compared to imidacloprid, and how
also bioaccumulate, which can greatly generally quite low – on the order of the viability of full honey bee colonies
increase the duration of their toxic- a few parts per billion. These low- might be affected.
ity to bees, thereby increasing their level exposures are not good for bees, So, what did they find? Did fipro-
risk. This is the topic for our sixteenth of course, but there’s little evidence nil bioaccumulate in bees? In the
“Notes from the Lab,” where we high- they’re sufficient to cause acute mass laboratory, Holder and colleagues
light “Fipronil pesticide as a suspect die-offs of colonies. found that nearly all of the highly
in historical mass mortalities of hon- On the other hand, there is reason toxic sulfone metabolite of fipronil
ey bees,” written by Philippa Holder to suspect that fipronil can poten- persisted in bees for at least 6 days.
and colleagues and published in the tially cause colonies to fail at similar In contrast, >90% of imidacloprid is
journal Proceedings of the National low-level exposures. Why? While typically excreted from honey bees
Academy of Sciences of the United honey bees can rapidly metabolize within 48 hours – just about the same
States [115:13033-13038 (2018)]. and detoxify parts per billion levels rate as humans eliminate blood alco-
Holder and colleagues’ study was
inspired by two main observations.
First, between 1994 and 1998, there
were several instances of mass honey
bee colony deaths near agricultural
areas in France. Second, French farm-
ers (especially sunflower growers)
started to use two new insecticides at
this time. Fipronil, a phenylpyrazole
insecticide, was introduced in 1993,
and imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid in-
secticide, was introduced in 1994. Both
fipronil and imidacloprid are systemic
insecticides, meaning they can be tak-
en up by any plant and incorporated
into pollen and nectar. Thus, there’s
substantial risk of exposure to pollina-
tors, including honey bees. Dr. Philippa Holder working on pesticide dosing experiments in the lab

March 2019 281


Dr. James Cresswell collecting adult honey bees for the experiments
hol. The authors also found that the
ability of fipronil’s toxic metabolite
to bioaccumulate was the main rea-
son for its potency, which was much
greater ounce-for-ounce than that of
imidacloprid. Each tiny unit of fipro-
nil remained inside the bee’s body do-
ing harm, day after day, which meant
that the bee didn’t need to eat much
to be killed once time had passed.
For imidacloprid, each tiny unit was
eliminated by the bee’s body relative-
ly quickly and had little opportunity
to cause harm. This meant that bees
only died once they consumed a rela-
tively large amount of imidacloprid,
much greater than is typically en-
countered in nectar and pollen.
How did the ability of fipronil
to bioaccumulate impact colony
mortality? Holder and colleagues
constructed a simulation model to
assess what the mortality rates of
environmentally realistic1 doses
might mean for full-size honey bee
colonies. These types of models are
a powerful tool and are often used
in pesticide risk assessments. Their
results were striking. While colo-
nies continued to grow with field-
realistic exposure to imidacloprid,
they failed rapidly (typically in less
than a month) in response to realistic
fipronil exposure. This rapid failure
is similar to what was observed in
France in the mid-1990s.
Well this seems scary. What’s the
chance that my bees run into fipro-
nil? Fipronil is currently banned in
the European Union due to its poten-
tial to impact non-target organisms
such as bees. In the U.S., fipronil is
282
still used on some fruits and veg-
etables, primarily via the product
Regent, and on Christmas trees via
the product PTM. Fipronil is also
used in pet products and in ant/roach
baits and termiticides. Usage has de-
clined steadily since 2001 in the U.S.,
but still occurs.
Interestingly, despite fipronil be-
ing banned in Europe, occasional
acute bee kills further support the
risk posed from this insecticide. For
example, in 2014, 172 hives across 23
apiaries died suddenly in Bern, Swit-
zerland. Fipronil residues were found
to have been accidentally present in a
tank used to apply fungicides to fruit
trees that were in bloom.
Can anything be done to reduce
the likelihood of my bees encoun-
tering fipronil or other pesticides
that bioaccumulate? Because fipro-
nil is a systemic and environmental-
ly persistent insecticide, applications
prior to bloom have the potential
to accumulate in pollen and nectar.
Thus, if you pollinate crops with
your bees, we recommend you speak
with your grower to understand
their usage of fipronil and other
pesticides. During this discussion,
we suggest passing along our new
extension booklet, titled A Pesticide
Decision-Making Guide to Protect Pol-
linators in Tree Fruit Orchards (Van
Dyke et al., 2018). This guide is free
and downloadable from our website
via the link below.
Second, perhaps we can catch high-
risk bioaccumulating pesticides via
improved regulatory efforts. Cur-
rently, there are no specific risk as-
sessment protocols in place at either
the United States Environmental Pro-
tection Agency (US EPA) or the Euro-
pean Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
to identify pesticides such as fipronil
that increase in toxicity via bioac-
cumulation. Holder and colleagues
suggest that such methods could be
introduced with only slight modifi-
cations of the current “first tier” tests
that occur at the US EPA and EFSA.
Since these modifications may require
minimal additional effort, they could
be a useful addition for currently reg-
istered pesticides, and especially new
pesticides that will be considered in
the future.
Until next time, bee well and do
good work,
Scott McArt
1. The researchers manipulated sev-
eral doses across a range of exposures
(concentrations that were below,
similar to, and above concentrations
found previously in pollen, nectar
and honey). From these data, a con-
servatively derived parameter based
on previous exposure data was then
incorporated into their simulation
model. This method of parameter ac-
quisition is common methodology for
risk assessment models.
reference:
Holder, P. J., A. Jones, C. R. Tyler and J. E.
Cresswell. 2018. Fipronil pesticide as a
suspect in historical mass mortalities of
honey bees. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences of the United States
115:13033-13038. https://doi.org/10.1073/
pnas.1804934115
Van Dyke, M., E. Mullen, D. Wixted and
S. H. McArt. 2018. A Pesticide Decision-
Making Guide to Protect Pollinators in
Tree Fruit Orchards. Available for free down-
load at: https://pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/
resources/grower-resources/
Scott McArt, an As-
sistant Professor of
Pollinator Health,
helps run the Dyce
Lab for Honey Bee
Studies at Cornell
University in Ithaca,
New York. He is par-
ticularly interested
in scientific research
that can inform management decisions by
beekeepers, growers and the public.
Email: shm33@cornell.edu
Lab website: blogs.cornell.edu/mcartlab
Pollinator Network: pollinator.cals.cornell.edu
Facebook: facebook.com/dycelab
American Bee Journal
March 2018 283
 The Pesticide
Situation
Part 3
Some Future Directions
In Agriculture
by RANDY OLIVER
ScientificBeekeeping.com

Allow me to introduce this article with a disclaimer. I do not claim to be a crop farmer
nor pesticide expert. But over the past decade, I’ve spent a lot of time listening to those
with various points of view — from beekeepers who run their operations on ag lands,
conventional growers, and fervent organic farmers, to the ecotoxicologists of the chemi-
cal companies, as well as activists and alarmists from all sides of the spectrum. From this
overload of information, I’m trying to sort out in my mind how we can aim for win-win
solutions. I welcome comments on this continuing deep dive into The Pesticide Situation.

T
homas Malthus long ago point- constrained by both the environment decades.” The researchers suggest that
ed out that the human popu- and biology. Somewhat alarmingly, a the rapid rates of productivity growth
lation grows geometrically, recent analysis1 detected “sizable and enjoyed during the period from 1960
whereas our food production tends significant slowdowns in the rate of [ag- through 1980 were an aberration. This
to increase linearly. But during the ricultural] productivity growth in recent is not good news.
last century, three main factors have
allowed agricultural production to
grow faster than the human popula-
tion: (1) the invention of the diesel
tractor, (2) a declining birth rate, and
(3) the “Green Revolution.” During
that revolution in the 1950s and ‘60s,
new technologies — such as high-
yielding crop cultivars, irrigation, and
notably, the use of chemical fertilizers
and new classes of pesticides — were
brought to agriculture, resulting in
marked increases in agricultural pro-
ductivity. Unfortunately, farmers with
large-scale plantings have now em-
braced those pesticides to the point of
dependence, or perhaps even less jus-
tified, as a means of risk management.
But the Green Revolution appears
to be losing steam, and the specter
of mass starvation is looming closer,
especially with our warming climate
taken into account. Fig. 1 One result of the Green Revolution can be vast landscapes dominated by mono-
cultures — such as by the corn (yellow) and soybeans (green) grown in Iowa farmland
a decLine in growth in productivity above (both being grown mainly as feedstocks, rather than directly for human food).
Unlike Moore’s Law, in which com- Such monocultures are conducive to the evolution of pest species adapted to utilizing
puters just keep getting faster and these food sources, as well as surviving any pesticide repeatedly applied to control
faster, advances in agriculture are them. The map for your area can be downloaded at.2

March 2019 285

 The question then is, will the needs
of the human population (as well as
its environmental impact) exceed the
carrying capacity of the biosphere of
our planet within the lifetimes of our
grandchildren?
Practical application: We beekeep-
ers, who are already witnessing a
shift in some agricultural lands be-
coming less bee friendly, will be
caught in the middle of the struggle
for farmers to meet the human de-
mand for their harvests (Fig. 1).
The problem for beekeepers is
clearly illustrated in the Northern
Great Plains (NGP), on which over
a million hives of bees are depen-
dent for summer sustenance — that’s
roughly a third of all hives in the U.S.
The NGP are undergoing a transition
from being a fantastic area in which
to keep bees, to being less so. As suc-
cinctly stated by Clint Otto:3
These trends suggest the US bee-
keeping industry is increasingly reli-
ant on the NGP in providing refuge
for honey bee colonies at a time when
the carrying capacity of this landscape
for supporting colonies is decreasing.
We show a systematic trend in
[Conservation Reserve Program
lands] loss over the past 10 [years],
with the most drastic declines occur-
ring in areas that support the highest
numbers of apiaries …
The conversion of CRP to corn and soy-
beans likely reduces landscape suitability
for honey bees because it eliminates im-
portant forage lands for pollinators and
replaces them with crops of limited forage
value. In addition, corn and soybeans are
often intensively treated with a variety of
agrochemicals that can negatively affect
colony health through multiple pathways
Practical application: Beekeep-
ers in the Northern Great Plains are
watching the forage for their bees
disappear year by year. Thanks to
the US Geological Survey for sup-
porting Clint Otto and his collabo-
rators for documenting this, and
bringing it to the attention of our
legislators.
a proBLem with monocuLtureS
The corn/soy monoculture is a
perfect example of how we can cre-
ate an artificial vegetative landscape
that can be maintained only by the
intense suppression of competing
species. Although we speak of “the
balance of nature,” in reality many
ecosystems display dynamic swings
286
in populations between the dominant
plant species, and the herbivores and
parasites that feed upon them. When
there’s lots of a specific food plant
available, the populations of things
that eat that plant may increase un-
til they consume every last one (I’ve
witnessed this happen spectacularly).
So when farmers plant vast fields of a
single plant species, they’re just put-
ting out a huge plate of food for what
they term as “pest” insects. In order
to maintain that unnatural imbalance,
the farmers are then forced to sup-
press those pests when their popula-
tions inevitably respond to that food
availability (Fig. 2).
Conversely, in natural and more
diverse ecosystems, it is less likely
for any herbivorous insect species to
reach huge populations, since that
species will tend to be kept in check
by its own predators and parasites.4
In a monoculture, that critical diversi-
ty of competing insects may be great-
ly reduced — Schmid5 found only a
quarter as many insect species in corn
fields as in adjacent prairie land. By
providing buffer strips and the rota-
tion of a diversity of crops in an area,
“beneficials” may keep pest popula-
tions below the economic threshold
for damage without the need for pes-
Fig. 2 Although expansive plantings of
single crops are conducive to high-effi-
ciency farming, such monocultures of a
single type of plant create an unlimited
supply of food for those species that we
then consider as “pests.” The “simple”
solution of blasting them with pesticides
needs to take into account the unin-
tended consequences upon the rest of
us inhabitants of the ecosystem. USDA
Photo by: Charles O’Rear.
ticides (read a fascinating article on
this subject by Jon Lundgren at6).
Practical application: The removal
of livestock and pasture from agri-
cultural ecosystems also eliminates
the need for fences. Couple this
with larger tractors and Roundup-
Ready® plant cultivars, and the
landscape loses plant species diver-
sity — thus greatly impacting many
other species, including pollinators.
From a biological standpoint, diver-
sity in farmland would be strived
for, rather than being eliminated.
Below is a different agricultural
scenario than the example of Iowa
above. Although not yet ideal for
Integrated Pest Management, the
California farmland illustrated below
wouldn’t be as favorable to any single
pest (Fig. 3).
Although it is clear that there are
practices that could be adopted by
farmers to decrease pest pressure and
to ensure the sustainability of produc-
tion through innovation, the system
may be rigged against change due to
our current taxpayer-funded Federal
Crop Insurance Program.7 The com-
bination of the ethanol mandate cou-
pled with crop insurance, and inade-
quate returns for land set aside in the
Conservation Reserve Program, has
in recent years led to the plowing un-
der of millions of acres of land, some
of which had formerly been consid-
ered as unsuitable for row cropping.
On the other hand, should our ag
policies switch from favoring corn for
ethanol, to promoting oilseed crops
for biofuels (such as canola, sun-
flower, and soybean), we could per-
haps see increased short-term forage
opportunities for bees in ag lands, as
is occurring in Europe.8 It’ll also be
of interest to see whether hemp be-
comes an important late-season pol-
len source for bees.9 I’ve checked the
amino acid and lipid content of hemp
pollen — it looks pretty good for bees.
Practical application: We can ex-
pect agricultural landscapes to con-
tinue to change. We beekeepers are
now in the position to provide a
voice for all pollinators and wildlife
in the ag landscape.
the tradeoff in ag areaS
Although honey bees are adapt-
able to a wide range of landscapes —
from desert to meadow to deep forest
— the best forage opportunities are
typically in “biologically productive”
American Bee Journal
lands, especially at the meadow-for-
est interface. Due to the fertility of
such lands, that’s where much farm-
ing takes place.
A recent experiment10 by a group
of well-known bee researchers com-
pared colony performance in four
carefully-chosen different landscapes
in Tennessee — no ag (forested state
park), low ag with urban activity,
moderate ag, and high ag (corn, cot-
ton, soy, sorghum, and winter wheat,
with the expected exposure to pes-
ticides). I’ve snipped some of their
findings below:

It was apparent that bees located in AG

[agricultural] areas had access to higher
and more sustainable sources of nutri-
tion than those of the [no-ag] area, and
starvation losses were only observed in
the [no-ag] area. However, mortality of Fig. 3 Compare this mixed-agriculture setting from California to the previous map
foraging bees resulting from foliar pesti- — each color represents a different type of crop. There is still pest pressure, but by
cide applications were documented at the interspersing and rotating crops, growers can better decrease the rate of pest buildup.
[low-ag/urban and moderate-ag] loca- On the flip side, such crop diversity may expose bees to a greater array of pesticides
tions on several occasions … [but] these as they shift their foraging from one blooming crop to another — this map is less than
losses did not have measurable impacts at 7 miles across, so an apiary set in the middle could easily hit every field.
the colony level such as brood production
or hive weight … the same — some offer far less “sus- hard to imagine that there is any
Pesticide residues in pollen did not oc- tainable nutrition.” And in others farmer who hasn’t gotten the memo
cur at levels expected to cause meaningful there are clear impacts from pesticide that the public cares about bees.
mortality to honey bees … exposure — I’ve seen heart-wrench-
[Only] one of 22 pollen samples col- ing photos of apiaries wiped out by There are examples of how agricul-
lected from returning foragers were tested sprays or planting dust, and person- tural practices could be improved in
positive for neonicotinoids at trace level … ally inspected colonies in which the order to reduce pest pressure (as well
Exposure to pesticides in colonies of the brood was destroyed by a tank mix as numerous other benefits), as exem-
AG areas did not result in measurable im- applied in almonds. Luckily, it’s now plified by the farm below (Fig. 4).
pacts on colony productivity. There may be
other effects not measured in this study…
In conclusion, honey bee colonies for-
aging in moderate and high AG areas
were clearly able to grow faster and to a
larger size as a result of better access to
sustainable nutrition sources than bees
foraging in NAG area and a low AG area
with urban activity. … Although nega-
tive effects of pesticide on colony health
were not detected, sublethal doses of in-
secticides and fungicides were identified
in trapped pollen. Better nutrition sourc-
es and nectar yields in AG areas helped
to develop greater population size, which
in turn enabled better colony thermo-
regulation. [Non-ag] areas may provide
a less-toxic environment for honey bees
but might not provide sustainable forag-
ing resources, leading to colony starva-
tion. Thus, there appears to be a trade-off
between increased food resources and the
potential for exposure to pesticides in ag-
ricultural systems.
Fig. 4 One way to slow the evolution of resistant pests is to intersperse various crops
Practical application: The last sen- and native vegetation, as in this USDA-funded farm on Saipan.11 Each different plant
tence above says it all — we bee- species will harbor different pests and beneficials, which will not only help to prevent
keepers must weigh the tradeoffs. Of the buildup of any one pest, but will create reservoirs of nonresistant individuals of
course not all agricultural areas are that species — which will then work against the establishment of resistant strains.

March 2019 287

 Practical application: OK, agrono-
mists and biologists have plenty of
suggestions as to how our agricul-
tural practices could be tweaked to
be more ecologically sustainable,
but what it really boils down to is …
efficiency, profitaBiLity & arBitrary
ruLeS
Our agricultural practices are con-
tinually evolving toward better effi-
ciency and profitability — if a farmer
cannot make a profit, he’s unlikely to
continue farming (similarly, commer-
cial beekeepers who didn’t adapt to
dealing with varroa soon went out of
business). But there are also often ar-
bitrary rules to follow — some creat-
ed by legislators, some self imposed,
and some dictated by the market.
For example, a farmer can jump
through hoops to become “certi-
fied organic,” which prohibits most
manmade pesticides or genetically-
engineered crops, but allows full
mechanization and confers a greater
market price for the harvest. On the
other hand, Amish farmers (Fig. 5) es-
chew tractors for cultivation, but may
happily use cutting-edge pesticides
and genetically-engineered crops.
They may not receive more for their
harvest, but their costs per acre are so
greatly reduced, that they can make a
higher net return per acre than with
“conventional” farming.12
What’s becoming clear is that the
agricultural community needs to keep
its eye on the future. No one wants to
cause the extinction of native pollina-
tors, and the ag community needs to
Fig. 6 I took this photo of an Amish farmer working a field as I drove through Pennsyl-
vania. The Amish typically have small farms incorporating a rotation of various crops,
livestock, and pasture. This mixed agricultural landscape, although pesticides might
be applied, may be more pollinator-friendly than larger monocultures.
288
maintain a space for beekeepers to fit
in. Farmers will adopt some of the
latest technology, yet should keep in
mind how their forebears farmed be-
fore the Green Revolution.
Personal opinion: No one expects
U.S. agriculture to go back to the
horse and plow, and I fully support
“organic” farming13, but as a biolo-
gist and beekeeper, I find some of
the certification standards for “or-
ganic” to be arbitrary, excessive,
scientifically unsupported, or even
environmentally counterproductive.
I suggest that we reward farmers for
taking any steps toward improving
their practices from an agro-ecologi-
cal perspective.
The key thing is that farmers
should be financially rewarded for
making even moderate steps toward
ecological sustainability. This can be
top down via the Farm Bill, or bottom
up from the consumer.
Practical application and action
item: The purchasers of all agricul-
tural products respond to consumer
demand (hence the rapidly-growing
market for “organic”). The aver-
age household in the U.S. spends a
smaller proportion of its income on
food than in any other country in
the world.14 Since the payment to
the grower is only a fraction of what
we pay at the grocery, that means
that shifting agricultural practices to
be more pollinator-friendly would
hardly be noticeable to us at the
cash register. Right now is the honey
bee’s moment in the sun — the more
that we can encourage the consumer
to put pressure on the middlemen to
reward growers for practicing pol-
linator-friendly farming, the more
quickly things will change.
Next, the problem of pesticide resis-
tance, and some of the coming chang-
es in agriculture that can benefit bees.
endnoteS
1 Anderson, M, et al (2018). A century of
U.S. farm productivity growth: A surge
then a slowdown. American Journal of Ag-
ricultural Economics 100(4): 1072–1090.
2 Otto, C, et al (2018). Past role and future
outlook of the Conservation Reserve Pro-
gram for supporting honey bees in the
Great Plains. PNAS 115(29): 7629-7634.
3 There are also some cyclical systems, such as
those in which “plagues” of locusts periodi-
cally graze everything to the ground.
4 Schmid, RB, et al (2015). Gut bacterial
symbiont diversity within beneficial in-
sects linked to reductions in local biodi-
versity. Annals of the Entomological Society
of America 108(6): 993–999.
5 https://www.beeculture.com/confessions
-of-a-corn-entomologist/
6 https://insideclimatenews.org/news/
31122018/crop-insurance-farm-bureau-
taxpayer-subsidies-climate-change-risk-
rising
7 Breeze, TD, et al (2014). Agricultural poli-
cies exacerbate honeybee pollination ser-
vice supply-demand mismatches across
Europe. PLoS One 9(1): e82996.
8 https://webdoc.agsci.colostate.edu/
hempinsects/PDFs/Hemp%20Pollen%20
and%20Bees.pdf
9 Alburaki , M, et al (2017). Agricultural
landscape and pesticide effects on honey
bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) biological
traits. Journal of Economic Entomology 2017:
1–13 doi: 10.1093/jee/tox111
10 James, RE (2007). Horse and human labor
estimates for Amish farms. J. of Exten-
sion 45(1) https://www.joe.org/joe/2007
february/rb5.php
11 By the time you read this, I will have twice
been an invited speaker at the California Eco-
Farm Conference.
12 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/
2016/12/this-map-shows-how-much-
each-country-spends-on-food/
13 The USDA Cropland Data Layer interac-
tive map at https://nassgeodata.gmu.edu/
CropScape/ This informative interactive map
shows what’s growing on every acre of the
U.S.
14 USDA photo.
Randy sees beekeeping
through the eyes of a bi-
ologist. He’s kept bees for
over 50 years, and with
his sons runs around 1500
hives in the California foot-
hills. He closely follows bee
research, engages in some
himself, and enjoys sharing
what he’s learned with others.
American Bee Journal
F
rom all my 50 packages bought
in the 1970s, I had one kind of
queen problem. Five packages
had dead queens — right in their
cages — seen upon first inspection.
After much discussion and numerous
phone calls, the cause was thought to
be rough handling when the queens
were caged. The cause(s) of queen
problems in the five package colonies
I ordered last season would be more
cryptic and elusive.
I had installed all of the packages.
The bees of four of the packages had
displayed accepting behavior on the
screen of the cages. The behavior ap-
peared as bees calmly walking on the
screen of the queen cage. Some bees
may briefly bite and pull at the screen
wires. That is still accepting behavior.
Figure 1 shows bees displaying ac-
cepting behavior.
I immediately returned to Hive 35,
because the package bees had been
balling the queen cage upon its re-
moval from the package. For what fol-
lows, know that queen balling is not
completely understood, far from it.
Bees may even ball a queen possibly
as a way to protect her. However, in
this situation, the bees aggressively
balling the screen of the queen cage
was a sign of queen rejection, mean-
ing if the bees could get to the queen,
they would probably kill her. Figure
2 shows the queen cage right as I re-
moved it from the package, not trying
to shake the bees off of the cage. Figure
3 shows the cage after I gently herded
away most of the bees with only my
fingers, and not a whiff of smoke. This
bee handling was very delicate.
One needs to reason carefully in
this situation with Hive 35. The five
packages were mailed, not hauled
and delivered overnight to me. The
March 2019
bees and the queens had been togeth-
er long enough for the bees to show
accepting behavior toward their new
queens. If the five packages were all
made at the same time using essen-
tially the same bee source, then the
four colonies showing queen accep-
tance gave strong evidence that the
queen rejection in Hive 35 was truly
something unusual.
In my experience, when package
bees reject their caged queen, most
likely another queen is loose in the
cluster. She could be the mother
queen of some bees in the shipping
cage, who, of course, have accepted
her. With this queen being mobile,
intuitively it would seem her phero-
mones are disseminated better than
those of the caged queen behind a
barrier of balling hostile bees cover-
ing the screen. Therefore, the mobile
queen becomes the accepted one
while the bees reject the (most likely)
unrelated (foreign) queen in the cage.
(Furthermore, I have never seen a
free-roaming queen being balled in
a shipping cage. If it ever happened,
the queen ball would probably detach
from the cluster and drop on the cage
floor, like queen balls fall from usur-
pation swarms when they unite in the
apiary. That is why I advise beekeep-
ers: Be careful where you step near a
usurpation swarm. You could kill the
queens.)
Having just hived the package in
Hive 35, the situation called for an
immediate hive inspection to remove
the second queen or confirm she was
not there. The inspection should not
be delayed. When the bees have a
free-roaming second queen in the
cluster, they could leave the hive
with that queen. Then the beekeeper
would find only some straggler bees
around the caged queen. Obviously,
the beekeeper would be at a financial
loss, usually over $100. However, the
sudden bee loss is also shocking to a
new beekeeper, so early in their bee
experience.
Moreover, do not think the brand-
new woodenware of the hive will keep
the bees from flying off. A new hive
may have a pleasant aroma of founda-
tion to us. To the bees, I do not think a
frame hive is very attractive. The situ-
ation is similar with a brand-new top-
bar hive, lacking even foundation. The
bees might leave it too. On the other
hand, if I could get a frame of brood,
preferably with some young larvae,
I would give that to the colony. The
brood would help establish the “un-
stable swarm” as a fledgling colony
and stop it from leaving. The next day
sighting a queen or the very beginning
of queen cells on the comb would tell
the queen status of the bees. The dif-
ficulty here is that most new beekeep-
ers do not have that quick access to the
needed brood comb, which is another
reason to have an experienced bee-
keeping mentor or help from a local
beekeeping association.
Although Hive 35 with a newly
hived package was — definitely —
not the best time for a bee-by-bee
queen search, the situation required
it. Because left alone, the bees could
abscond when flight conditions were
favorable. The queen hunting was
similar to hunting virgin queens in a
newly-hived after swarm. I searched
the frames of foundation, the hive
walls, across the floor, and all around
the frame feeder. I checked every
small group of bees, because they
typically find the queen long before I
come along. And guess what? I found
nothing. No queen. What next?
289

Fig. 1 Accepting behavior on the screen
of a queen cage. The bees calmly probe
through the screen (green arrows). If a
bee bites at a wire, or arcs her body (yel-
low arrows), the postures last only for a
few moments. This cage is for my top-bar
hives. I laid it here on the top bars of a su-
per for photographs of accepting behav-
ior. The white arrow indicates the position
and the direction of the queen. She was
heading up, probably from slowly crawl-
ing around the edge of the cage. See all
the bees in her “wake,” on the lower half
of the cage, compared to the few bees on
the upper half of the cage.
From my queen introduction stud-
ies in my bee house, I know the at-
tendant bees can delay a colony’s
transition from queen rejection to ac-
ceptance, sometimes for a long time
(with an established colony during a
dearth). With no evidence of a second
queen arriving with the bees, a pos-
sible solution would be to remove
the attendant bees, leave the cork in
the candy exit hole, and replace the
cage as specified in my previous ar-
ticle (February 2019). When the bees
stopped balling the cage, I would re-
move the cork, and then let the time-
release candy mechanism begin as
with a regular queen introduction.
I followed this plan except I wanted
to see if Hive 35 might be a situation
that other beekeepers were experi-
encing. So I left the attendant bees
in the cage, figuring that is probably
what a typical beekeeper might have
done. Understand, however, that
given the strange delay in queen ac-
ceptance, I consider it risky to leave
290
the attendants in the cage. After the
screen balling stopped, I was hoping
it would not restart, because I have
observed that with the attendants in
the cage. Also with attendant bees
in the cage, I have observed some
queenless colonies permanently reject
a new queen; that is, the balling never
stopped. Those queens were doomed.
My extended queen introduction
plan worked. The balling finally
ceased, though after about a week,
much longer than the roughly three-
day introduction period. I removed
the cork. The bees released the queen,
and she began laying eggs. With
a routine introduction, I think the
queen would have been killed.
Strangely though, Colony 35 had
a lingering difficulty, maybe a queen
problem. The most obvious symptom
was not enough worker eggs when
the bees of the brood nest covered
plenty of empty brood cells. Some pe-
ripheral brood cells appeared cleaned
out and shiny, ready to receive eggs.
Brood occupied only roughly 75%
of the available brood cells. The bees
consumed syrup and pollen patties,
and the brood nest grew, but slowly
and leaving some brood cells empty.
I do not recall ever observing such
an odd symptom in the spring with
a young queen from a package. I con-
tinued feeding until the nectar flow
took over and the bees greatly re-
duced their syrup intake. At the same
time I found other queen problems in
the package colonies, which shifted
my attention away from Hive 35 be-
cause it was, at least, growing.
I hived the packages on April 21,
2018. For the four remaining package
colonies, after three days I checked
the cage holes for queen release. The
holes were open, showing no queens
remained in the cages. Instead of
squinting, and hunting through the
hives for small patches of eggs, I gen-
erally wait several more days. Then I
look for larvae on milky white beds
of worker jelly. A new brood nest of
larvae is easy to spot, keeping the in-
spection brief. I also get the opportu-
nity to see if the larvae are well fed.
The syrup, patty feeding, and natural
pollen collection should provide op-
timal conditions for good nutrition.
I also inspect for an excessive num-
ber of “missed” cells, meaning cells
with younger larvae, including eggs,
compared to the more uniform larval
size of that patch. During the pupal
(post-capping) stage, similar-aged
brood all eventually becomes capped,
hiding the missed cells, which are
Fig. 2 The bee mob packed over the
screen of the queen cage, a suspicious
indicator of balling. To verify balling, one
needs to observe the behavior of individ-
ual bees. The frame of my glasses is over
the two compartments with the queen
and attendants. Directly on the screen
of those two compartments, in a single
layer of balling bees, the maximum num-
ber is about 40.
the “breaks” in the solid pattern. For
checking the solidness of a queen’s
brood pattern, I use her larval pat-
tern rather than her sealed brood
pattern. The larval pattern is particu-
larly useful in the first assessment of a
young queen, even before her brood
is capped.
Hives 30 and 36 had large patches
of young larvae surrounded by eggs,
just as expected. Hive 34 had a similar
growing brood nest. Suddenly, ter-
rible, cringing news came on the back
edge of its brood nest — a clutch of
emergency queen cells (see Figure 4).
Emergency queen cells meant the new
queen was dead, which I confirmed
by a careful search. Strangely, the
bees had accepted the queen. She and
the worker bees had begun a normal
brood nest. Why then, had the queen
died so young, even before her first
brood cycle?
A few years before, I’d had a case
where a young package queen died
mysteriously, roughly during her sec-
ond brood cycle. That was the first
time I’d encountered this strange ear-
ly queen death. I never had that prob-
lem in my 50 packages or the others I
bought back then. Early queen death
was never a concern in the beekeep-
ing course at North Carolina State
American Bee Journal
University with all those packages we
handled. If such a terrible malady had
been observed, we would have stud-
ied it, trying to determine its cause(s).
Matters turned even more grim at
the last hive. Just looking down at
the bees on the top bars of Hive 49,
right at the beginning of the inspec-
tion, I sensed the colony had a “feel”
of chronic queenlessness. Pitiful, I
thought. The bee density between
the top bars did not increase enough
toward where the brood nest should
be. Removing frames, I could not find
any brood. The bees displayed more
queenless behavior with the pattern
of their pollen cells. The pollen cells
had no orderly pollen-band pattern.
Rather, the pollen cells were scattered
chaotically across the comb where the
brood should have been.
Then I saw the clincher — telling
the colony was queenless. I saw an
emergency “queen cell.” That did not
seem too unusual except the colony
had no brood for an emergency queen
cell. The bees had built the queen-cell
structure over a — pollen cell.
Generally, this symptom, a emer-
gency queen-cell structure over a pol-
len cell, is little known. I have found
it to be a sure sign of queenlessness
when young brood is not in the hive.
Figure 5 shows where I pushed back
the queen wall revealing packed-
down pollen in the original diag-
nostic pollen cell. The beginning of
an emergency queen-cell structure
over a pollen cell is awkward to pho-
tograph in the apiary without any
prior photographic planning. Figure
6 shows another queenless colony
with emergency queen-cell structures
started over pollen cells. The camera
angle and bright off-camera flash il-
luminated the packed-down pollen in
the cell floors.
Without brood in Hive 49, it ap-
peared the queen introduction might
have failed, even with the bees show-
ing accepting behavior at the begin-
ning (a false negative). In my expe-
rience that is an exceedingly rare
occurrence with packages. I do not
even remember the last time I had a
queen introduction fail with a pack-
age. Or given the death reports of
these young queens, perhaps the
Hive 49 queen died after the bees re-
leased her and before egg laying.
My immediate difficulty was find-
ing queens or sealed (pupal) queen
cells for these two colonies, with
most of my hives committed to oth-
er endeavors. A couple of days later,
I found some sealed queen cells in
March 2019
a hive in a distant apiary while out
conducting other hive inspections.
I changed all my work plans and
brought the queen cells to Hives 34
and 49.
Both queens emerged, and I wait-
ed for eggs. I wanted to boost these
colonies with brood, but I only had
one established frame hive colony
whose brood nest occupied some of
its deep super (lower brood chamber)
and most of the two medium supers
above. Without matching frames, I
had to wait. I did not boost the two
colonies with young bees either, not
with virgin queen bees in the hives.
The incoming bees might be hostile to
the virgin queens. It was hard for me
to predict, because I had no observa-
tions on that situation. Nevertheless,
there is a behavioral interaction be-
tween the virgin queen and the work-
er bees, leading up to her afternoon
mating flights. Incoming foreign bees,
even young ones, would be an un-
known influence, possibly a disrup-
tive one, in that preflight interaction,
so I withheld them.
After about 10 days, in both colo-
nies, the new queens were missing Fig. 3 The remaining bees, after I herded
and with no brood either, only both away the others. I preserved the most
colonies becoming weaker. While aggressive balling bees, making them
I went back on the queen cell hunt more visible for the camera. The last ag-
in mid May, I figured on how to gressive holdout bees were biting the
strengthen the two package colonies. screen wire. Arching their abdomens,
That must be done carefully. Now, I some appeared to sting through the wire
could provide each colony a frame of mesh holes, although their stingers re-
sealed brood, but that alone was not mained retracted.
enough. I wanted a warmer microen-
vironment for the developing brood
Fig. 4 Emergency queen cells in Hive 34. Strangely the young queen was dead on
her first brood cycle. We need to find out why these queens die prematurely. Also we
need an inspection schedule to monitor the queen during the early life of the package
colony, but without disrupting the colony too much, which could cause her demise. A
package colony becoming queenless at that time is so destructive, I wanted a chance
to study it again. Last fall I ordered 10 packages to install in new frame-hive equip-
ment. Given the high cost of bees, Suzanne said it was alright, even though ironically,
I usually get my bees for free from numerous swarms caught in my top-bar bait hives.
291
 and to generally strengthen the colo-
nies with bees.
Superficially, that would be easy
to do. From the three strong top-bar
colonies in the apiary, I could just
shake in some young bees that were
on their combs containing young
larvae, where the nurse bees would
have been feeding them. But be care-
ful about over-applying simple for-
mulaic beekeeping because solutions
to problems should custom fit the
situation. In addition, the beekeeper
should be sensitive to the bees’ forag-
ing environment. Here are the details:
These two package colonies were
still slowly taking a little syrup from
the frame feeders, even in the main
spring nectar flow. Moreover, the nec-
tar flow was fairly strong, but not as
intense as in some seasons. How did I
know that? From observing the bees.
Their foraging did not have that zeal.
The hum of the apiaries at night was
not “loud,” not like when bees were
vigorously evaporating the water
Fig. 5 The comb confirming Hive 49 as hopelessly queenless, an emergency queen-
from a large amount of nectar col-
cell structure built over a pollen cell. Technically, this symptom is just the emergency
lected that day.
queen-cell structure, including modifications to the original worker cell. All of it closely
resembles an emergency queen cell with a young larval queen. In the center, I have And one other exotic detail: On a
pushed back the cell walls, revealing the pollen. The inset at left shows an undisturbed little piece of broken honeycomb that
queen cell structure from the same hive. The lower right (arrow) shows the volume I left out (in my home rural apiary,
enlargement of the worker cell, barely beginning with little else. This volume enlarge- away from people) a small number of
ment is an early step in forming an emergency queen cell. The upper left structure bees continued removing its honey. (I
(arrow) appears a little further along with the volume enlargement and some cell wall definitely do not recommend begin-
extension. (This cell appears empty, its progress halted.) Notice the scattered pollen ners attempt this, or most any bee-
cells across the comb, a symptom of long-term queenlessness. keeper especially in suburban/city
apiaries, because you could get your
bees robbing, and they could become
a nuisance to your neighbors.)
In Raleigh, North Carolina, when
the wide diversity of flowering plants
burst into bloom, the bees went wild
for nectar. Right in that special win-
dow of time, I could take a couple of
frames of honey from the top super
and leave them by the entrance. Not a
bee took a drop of honey from them.
Others have reported this strange be-
havior too.
Instead of ignoring my little piece
of honeycomb, a small but stable
number of bees, typically only a doz-
en or so, continued taking the honey.
Now connect the dots to a possible
connection. Shaking neighboring
Fig. 6 A remarkable scene, easily overlooked: Numerous emergency queen-cell struc- bees into a weak queenless colony
tures all built over pollen cells. The inset (upper left) shows a magnification of three of could, I suspect set up the following
them. When I search for a queen in a colony with a chronic lack of brood (or even the possible scenario. Those bees may be
absence of just young brood for emergency queen cells), I keep a close watch on the young ones shaken off of the brood
pollen cells. Look closely for even the pollen cells showing the volume enlargement comb with larvae, but in reality, many
without any cell wall extension. Without any protruding cell wall from the face of the already know the location of their
comb, and under a layer of moving bees, that initial stage can be hard to detect. (Do hive from orientation flights — taken
not confuse it with a drone cell.) In contrast, I have not seen these emergency queen- even as nurse bees. With the scent
cell structures much more advanced in construction than the ones shown here. Appar- and knowledge of their foster hives,
ently, the bees do not lengthen the cell walls as they would in response to a growing many will return home. Analogous
larva in a normal emergency queen cell. to my little piece of honeycomb, the

292 American Bee Journal


Fig. 7 Progressive robber bees leaving a
victimized colony, shown by the arrows.
Note their engorged abdomens. Drop
by drop, bee by bee, the honey is going
back to their natal colony until it is virtu-
ally gone. The progressive robber bees
were easy to see here and photograph.
At a crowded entrance, they may come
and go cryptically.
older nurse bees (or forager bees with
them) might return to their foster
package colonies — and load up on
syrup from the frame feeder or any-
thing liquid from open cells.
Sometimes weak, queenless colo-
nies do not defend themselves very
well, and now more conditions could
be against those two colonies. These
“robbing” bees were once part of the
foster package hive. There would be
essentially no fighting between the
guard bees and these special robbing
bees, whose allegiance has been to
their birth colony. In addition, in a
nectar flow guarding is down.
As the nectar flow wanes, this rob-
bing may continue, and increase,
even after the weak, queenless colo-
nies become queenright. This condi-
tion is known as progressive robbing.
For beekeepers, progressive robbing
can be difficult to identify without
some training. To see these cryptic
bees, be patient and closely inspect
the bee flight at the hive entrance
of the suspected victimized colony.
Look for heavily engorged bees leav-
ing. Before flying, they usually crawl
a few inches from the entrance, allow-
ing a moment to see the size of their
abdomens (see Figure 7).
Slowly, but progressively and re-
lentlessly, the progressive robber bees
can remove virtually all the liquid
food in the hive since the victimized
colony does not recognize the robber
bees as foreign. When I watch pro-
gressive robber bees walk past the
guard bees of the victimized colony,
the analogy of a helpless body with
no immune system comes to mind.
The most sure way to stop progres-
sive robbing is to move the victimized
colony, trying to relocate it out the
foraging range of the robber colony.
I have observed progressive robbing
even between package colonies. The
robbing colony need not be the strong
one, most easily imagined as the “cul-
prit colony.” And yes, even nucs can
progressively rob other colonies.
From another apiary, I collected
about a pound of young bees for each
weak package colony. With the two
colonies strengthened by the new
bees, next came a frame of sealed
brood for each one. Later on, I had
queen cells for the two colonies from
good locally adapted stock. Notice
what I am doing: young adult bees,
brood, and queen cells. I am rebuild-
ing their brood nests.
One afternoon, I saw the new
queen in Hive 34. She had a mating
sign. (The mating sign refers to the
sexual organs remaining in the queen
from the last drone who mated with
her during her mating flight.) If she
did not take additional flights, I fig-
ured this colony would be growing
soon. I saw the new queen in Hive 49
too. No eggs were present. However,
the new queen moved slowly on the
comb, and her abdomen had swollen
up similar to a laying queen. When-
ever I see a queen during this brief
time between mating and egg laying,
I have no more worry about losing
her on a mating flight. The next week,
I checked both colonies, and both
queens were laying.
After the difficult queen problems,
I had two weak package colonies
with new queens, one colony still
growing slowly for some unknown
reason, and two normal colonies that
were almost ready for a super, even
though most of the spring nectar flow
had passed.
Somehow I wanted my new pack-
age colonies to prosper, even with
the summer dearth fast approaching,
even with our habitually-meager fall
nectar flow.
Knowing the starvation fate of new
swarms in winter, a foreboding dread
already gripped me in early June.
How would these colonies survive
the winter?
Then came a blessing — June was
rainy.
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Suzanne Sumner
for her comments on the manuscript.
Visit TBHSbyWAM.com and Bee
ChildTheBook.com.
Dr. Wyatt Mangum,
author of Top-Bar Hive
Beekeeping: Wisdom
and Pleasure Com-
bined, is an internation-
ally known top-bar hive
beekeeper, who started
keeping bees at age 10.
He switched all his colonies to top-bar hives
back in 1986, long before it became popular.
He is also an apicultural historian, who blends
his knowledge of beekeeping history with his
study of honey bee behavior. email: wmangum
@umw.edu. www.TBHSbyWAM.com

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All #1 frames $.70
1-3/4 Cleats $.22
1571 Hwy. 3 • Juliaetta, ID 83535
Phone 208.276.3494 FAX 3491

March 2019 293


R
ecently I got into a mild po-
litical debate with my grand-
parents. I love them dearly,
and none of us really feel the need to
persuade the other side to our view-
point. As a result these debates are
mild, don’t lead to tempers, and end
without resolution. That is fine by all
of us. Life is too short to be ruining
visits over political stances.
But in this last conversation I ended
with, “Sometimes the things that are
talked about most often on the news
aren’t actually the most important
topics. They are just talked about the
most.” I said that, and the proverbial
lightbulb went off in my head. I was
making a connection from our little
political debate to this article. And
that is that sometimes in beekeeping
we talk incessantly about certain top-
ics, and little about others. There are
consequences when we give too much
weight to one topic over others. The
greatest consequence is it shifts our
social consciousness about the sever-
ity of the topic. In short, we observe
how many times something is talked
about, and naturally assume that be-
cause it is mentioned so often, it must
be the most important issue of the day.
So I pondered this: Are we talking
about pesticides killing bees too often?
That is a funny question to bee-
keepers and non-beekeepers alike.
Our newsfeeds, media and even sim-
ple internet searches are filled with
headlines and click baits about neo-
nicotinoids and other pesticides. The
sheer number of times pesticides are
mentioned would have me believe
that pesticides are the biggest culprit
for colony losses. I imagine for non-
beekeepers, who are not experienced
with the intricacies of queen qual-
ity or varroa, pesticides would really
stand out as the culprit simply by the
March 2019
Are we talking
about pesticides
too much?
sheer number of times they are men-
tioned. So is it really possible we are
too often talking about pesticides, at
the risk of understating other impact
factors? That is a simple question,
with complex answers
I mainly want to talk about impact
factors on honey bee health. Now if
you aren’t in the habit of reading
scientific papers, or you have ap-
proached beekeeping without a re-
search background, then you may not
know what an impact factor is. How-
ever, if I said varroa, nutrition, queen
quality and pesticides, you would
probably say, “Oh! All of those things
can impact a honey bee colony.” And
both you and I, using either set of
words, would be completely correct.
We might be using different vocabu-
lary, we may have a different perspec-
tive or background to approach the
subject from, but we all understand
the concepts well. I say this, with em-
phasis, because if you have met me
you know I mispronounce words of-
ten, and that learning new vocabulary
is not my strong point. So I would not
want anyone in our diverse commu-
nity to feel left out simply because we
aren’t always using the same words.
In short, risk factors are things that
may negatively affect colony health.
These things may be living or non-
living (Steinhauer, 2018). If the factor
is living we would refer to it as a biot-
ic factor, and if non-living we would
refer to it as an abiotic factor. So if we
would take a look again at the list of
things commonly affecting a colony,
mites and the viruses accompany-
ing them, nutrition and queen qual-
ity would fall under living or biotic
factors. Pesticides would fall under
non-living, or abiotic factors.
It is very difficult for researchers
and beekeepers to parse out which
by Zac Lamas
of these particular factors is more
impactful than another. There are
quite a few reasons for this. The mag-
nitude at which a particular factor
impacts a hive may vary depending
upon the condition of the colony or
other variables. A factor’s impact on
colony health may change over time
or work synergistically with another
factor. Confusingly a factor may seem
to have very little impact at all on the
colony level, yet show measurable
impacts on the individual level.
There are some great examples of
how convoluted an impact factor can
affect a colony. In a longitudinal study
on sublethal impacts of the neonic-
otinoid Imidacloprid, there were few
consistent effects at the colony level,
across all three of the experimental
locations (Meikle, 2016). There were
sublethal effects seen in several of the
groups. However, hive mortality was
not seen, even in the groups receiving
the highest dosage. “The total area
of brood in all stages (eggs, larvae,
pupae), or area of stored pollen (bee
bread), was not significantly associ-
ated with any treatment in our test,”
said Jon Zawislak, replying to ques-
tions about this study. There was also
no apparent relationship between
treatments and winter survival, in
this limited test.
Similarly, a three-year study feed-
ing “field relevant” doses of imida-
cloprid to colonies saw no effects on
colony performance during the expo-
sure and “shortly after the 12 weeks
of exposure” (Dively, 2015). Well after
exposure, colonies showed responses
linked to dose-exposure. Namely,
the colonies that were fed the high-
est likely exposure levels, 20 and
100 ug/kg respectfully, saw higher
queen turnover rates, varroa levels
and winter mortality. The paper then
297
acknowledges it is unlikely and not
realistic that bees would in fact be ex-
posed to these doses at such levels for
such extended periods (Dively, 2015).
This would seem antithetical to
how we conceive neonicotinoids
impacting colony health. Neonicoti-
noids have been given intense focus
from the beekeeping community and
this class of pesticides has received
most of the eye grabbing headlines in
the media. Given the number of times
neonicotinoids are blamed for bee
deaths, a common expectation would
be that exposure to a very toxic chem-
ical in these studies would result in
more significant results — especially
with such exposure. However, de-
spite all the attention and emotion
they elicit among some beekeepers,
neonicotinoids probably are not the
leading driver of colony decline.
That doesn’t mean neonicotinoids
always have a low impact on colony
health or that their persistence in
our landscapes isn’t affecting other
pollinators. It has been shown that
nutritional stress and neonicotinoid
exposure create a synergism that
has greater impacts than simply nu-
tritional stress or exposure alone. A
great example of this is work done by
Simone Tossi. This project fed groups
different qualities of sugar feeds with
and without a neonicotinoid contam-
inant. Survivorship did not signifi-
cantly decrease when the bees were
fed a contaminant and a high-quality
diet. However, reduction in lifespan
was significant with exposure and a
lower quality feed (Tossi, 2017).
In the journal Science, researchers
linked imidacloprid to lower colony
growth and lower queen produc-
tion in bumble bee colonies. Bumble
bees reproduce annually, producing
queens late in the season that will
overwinter solitarily. In the spring
the new bumble bee queen emerges
to start her own colony. The capabil-
ity of a bumble bee colony to pro-
duce queens is directly linked to the
overall size of the colony. Reductions
of size early in the season can great-
ly limit the potential for a colony to
produce queens for the next year.
In this study, colonies in the control
group produced 13.72 queens on
average, whereas colonies in the ex-
posed group produced an average of
2 (Whitehorn et al, 2012).
Another way to look at the dan-
gers of pesticides on pollinators is to
model the pesticide burden by its “ex-
posome.” The CDC defines the expo-
some for humans as, “the measure of
298
all the exposures of an individual in
a lifetime and how those exposures
relate to health. An individual’s expo-
sure begins before birth and includes
insults from environmental and oc-
cupational sources.” A study sampled
wax, bees and bee bread for pesticide
residues from three migratory opera-
tions on the East Coast of the United
States, and compared the levels of
residues to colony health. The study
modeled the additive effect of the total
number of pesticides, the risk of those
pesticides on a colony, and the total
residue of these pesticides in the hive.
This is the premise of viewing the ef-
fects of pesticides on a honey bee col-
ony as its “exposome” (Traynor, 2016).
The study linked higher haz-
ard quotients to colony health and
queen turnover events. The study
also confirmed the risk of fungicides
to honey bee mortality, which has
been a growing concern among com-
mercial beekeepers. The study found
that all three colonies that sampled
for fipronil, the active ingredient in
roach traps, in the experiment died
by the end of the study. Fipronil now
a leading suspect in honey bee deaths
(Holder, 2018).
So, in short, what does this mean?
I’ve spent most of this article talking
about one impact factor, pesticides.
Some, like fipronil, have been linked
to hive mortality, while others like
imidacloprid yield more ambiguous
results. And this is exactly the point
I would like to make. Despite all the
media attention over neonicotinoids,
there are other chemicals and impact
factors that are harming our colonies
more severely. However, the sheer
volume of articles, clickbaits and bee-
keeper conversations over neonicoti-
noids would have us believe other-
wise. This is the greatest risk I believe,
that as a community we believe one
thing even though other obvious
truths present themselves to us.
That is a risk brought up in the so-
cial sciences. I recently read a paper
titled, “The impact of Science Fic-
tion Film on Student Understanding
of Science” (Barnett, 2006). Students
were taught an 8-week course on geo-
sciences, and then divided into two
groups. One group watched a Sci-Fi
film called The Core. Students in that
group overwhelmingly had miscon-
strued assumptions about the earth
when they took a test compared to
the group that did not watch the film.
If a two-hour film can debunk eight
weeks of course material taught to
science students, then maybe the
plethora of soft articles and click-
baits on honey bee deaths or the “bee
apocalypse” can also make us form
false impressions about the reality
of our honey bees. Maybe these well
formed feedback loops have framed
certain culprits and ideas that are not
as significant as others not mentioned
nearly as much.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t wor-
ry about pesticides. Really, for the
bumble bee’s sake I think we should
be very concerned about them, and
the greatest benefit from this focus
on pesticides might just benefit the
bumbles in the end. But for our own
honey bees, the bees in our care right
now, what should we be focusing on
to keep them healthy?
I’ll end with this: At the British
Columbia Honey Producers meet-
ing this fall I gave a presentation
called Winter Prep Begins Midsum-
mer. The premise of the talk is, time
is a resource, don’t wait till late in the
fall to start doing things that should
have been done months prior. Man-
age your varroa before the infestation
gets out of control in the late fall. Re-
queen in the summer when you have
access to queens, so that the colony
still has time to build a population.
Feed at the end of the fall flow, when
the weather is still warm and colonies
can take the sugar down.
You get the idea. We are managing
impact factors within our control ac-
tively. In doing so I have set my hives
up for success, irrelevant to what pes-
ticide exposure they may have had.
Center for Disease Control: Exposome and
Exposomics The National Institute for Oc-
cupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Page last reviewed: April 21, 2014 https://
www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/exposome/
default.html
Michael Barnett,1,4 Heather Wagner,2
Anne Gatling,1 Janice Anderson,1 Mer-
edith Houle,1 and Alan Kafka. The Im-
pact of Science Fiction Film on Student
Understanding of Science Journal of Science
Education and Technology, Vol. 15, No. 2,
April 2006 (_ 2006) DOI: 10.1007/s10956-
006-9001-y
NathalieSteinhauer1, KellyKulhanek1, Kari-
naAntúnez2, HannelieHuman3, Panuw-
anChantawannakul4,5, Marie-PierreChau-
zat6, DennisvanEngelsdorp1, Drivers of
colony losses: Current Opinion in Insect Sci-
ence, Volume 26, April 2018, Pages 142-148
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2018.02.004
Penelope R. Whitehorn1, Stephanie O’Con-
nor1, Felix L. Wackers2, Dave Goulson1,*
Neonicotinoid Pesticide Reduces Bumble
Bee Colony Growth and Queen Production
Science 20 Apr 2012: Vol. 336, Issue 6079,
pp. 351-352 DOI: 10.1126/science.1215025
Philippa J. Holder, Ainsley Jones, Charles R.
Tyler, James E. Cresswell. Fipronil pesti-
American Bee Journal
 cide as a suspect in historical mass mortali-
ties of honey bees Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences Dec 2018, 115 (51) 13033-
13038; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1804934115
Simone Tosi, James C. Nieh, Fabio Sgo-
lastra, Riccardo Cabbri , and Piotr Me-
drzycki. Neonicotinoid pesticides and
nutritional stress synergistically reduce
survival in honey bees Proc Biol Sci. 2017
Dec 20;284(1869). pii: 20171711. doi:
10.1098/rspb.2017.1711.
Traynor, Kirsten S. Pettis, Jeffery S. Tarpy, Da-
vid R. Mullin, Christopher A. Frazier, James
L Frazier, Maryann. vanEngelsdorp, Den-
March 2019
nis, In-hive Pesticide Exposome: Assessing Zachary Lamas re-
risks to migratory honey bees from in-hive cently joined the vanEn-
pesticide contamination in the Eastern Unit- gelsdorp Lab at the
ed States. Scientific Reports: 2016/09/15/on- University of Maryland
line 6, article 33207- https://doi.org/10.1038/ to pursue a PhD. Previ-
srep33207 10.1038/srep33207 ously Zac worked for
W.G. Meikle, J.J. Adamczyk, M. Weiss, A. French Hill Apiaries,
Gregorc, D.r. Johnson, S.D. Stewart, J. managing honey and
Zawislak, M.J. Carroll, G.M. Lorenz. Sub- nucleus colony produc-
lethal Effects of Imidacloprid on Honey tion, while simultaneously running Sun Hill
Bee Colony Growth and Activity at Three Farms, his own 300 colony operation. Zac has
Sites in the U.S. PLOS One, December 28, a passion for biodynamic farming systems,
2016. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/ and operated a mixed-use farm focused on
free range animals and crop production in
article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0168603
New England.
299
300 American Bee Journal
March 2019 301
302 American Bee Journal
 Swarm Control in
Honey Bee Colonies
by PETER L BORST

L
ike so many beekeepers, I start- question … I would ask for the
ed my first hive by catching a best and easiest way to prevent
swarm. It was the summer of swarming, for one who is anx-
1974. I was working for a commer- ious to secure the largest crop of
cial beekeeper. We had moved most comb honey. 1
of his two thousand hives into apple
orchards and were now getting them In those days, beekeepers spent a
back to their summer locations. There huge amount of effort going through
was a big swarm on one of the apple their hives looking for queen cells and
trees, low and easy to see. When I dutifully cutting them out, in hopes
asked the boss if we were going to of preventing swarming. Miller him-
collect it, he said we didn’t have self notes that beginners are usually
time for that, the time would be bet- taught this, but he acknowledges that
ter spent getting the bees out of the it is not a sure way to prevent swarm-
orchards and supered up, to prevent ing at all. It appears that if their
further swarming. So, I asked him if I “minds are made up” they will cast a
could have it. He told me if I wanted swarm no matter what the beekeeper
to come back there on my own time, does. And cutting cells is certainly
to catch a swarm, it was OK with him. one of the most laborious methods.
It was getting dark by the time I My first mentor told me he never did,
got there. I had an empty box fitted because it didn’t really work. Besides,
with a moving screen on the bottom he said, you will cut out all the beau-
and the top. I plunked the swarm into tiful, fat, easy to notice cells and miss
the box but as I did, some bees ended some runty one tucked in the corner
up on the ground. “What if the queen of a frame. That will end up being the
is down there?” I thought. Down on queen of that hive.
my knees in the dim light, I poked at
the little handful of spilled bees. Sure
enough, there was the queen, black
colored and almost impossible to see
in the near darkness. I scooped her up
and put her with the rest of the bees
in the box, and headed on home. Like
swarms do, they quickly filled the
frames with fresh wax and nectar. I
had become a beekeeper for life.
Also, like most beginners, I got a
book about beekeeping. My first was
“Fifty Years Among the Bees,” by Dr.
C. C. Miller. Despite being more than
one hundred years old, it’s still a great
read. Miller had this to say:

If I were to meet a man perfect

in the entire science and art of
Retrieving a swarm high in a tree. Be beekeeping, and were allowed An "A"-shaped swarm on the side of a
careful! from him an answer to just one tree

March 2019 303


From E.J. Dyce's 1927 doctoral thesis.
Dr. Miller had a huge library of
bee books, and among them was
“Management of Bees,” published
by William Hall in 1840. He stated
plainly “There seems to be no satis-
factory reason given, by authors, for
the swarming of bees.” Of course the
reason bees swarm is obvious: it’s
how they start new colonies. But the
when and why of it continues to vex
beekeepers everywhere.
In the fall of 1974, I interviewed
for a job working for a commercial
honey producer in San Diego. After
he was done quizzing me, I asked
him a question: “What do you do to
prevent swarming?” Nothing, he re-
plied, which struck me as rather odd
at the time. But as I gradually learned,
the real answer was that everything
he did contributed in some way to
the low incidence of swarming that
experienced beekeepers often enjoy.
The main factor is the possession of
a large store of well-used hive equip-
ment, which most beginners don’t
have. The other important thing is a
sort of sixth sense about what condi-
tions induce swarming, which is not
teachable.
what reaLLy workS
So, if general swarm control is not
teachable, what is the point of this
article? There are some tried and
true methods that you can use to nip
swarming in the bud. Once bees have
decided to swarm it is very hard to
talk them out of it. When you see a
hive with sealed queen cells and
packed with bees, the best plan is
to break the colony up into two or
more units and take advantage of the
queens about to hatch. At this point
304
you have nothing to lose because
they are liable to swarm if you do
nothing.
Preventing swarming is another
matter. One of the first techniques
to gain widespread use was the so-
called Demaree method, named after
Kentucky beekeeper George Dema-
ree. Simply put, one separates the
bulk of the brood from the queen by
placing her in the bottom box beneath
a queen excluder, adding a super or
two, and putting the collected brood
at the top. This essentially splits the
colony but keeps the bees all under
one roof. If you can’t find the queen,
you can brush or shake the bees off
the brood, and arrange the colony like
I just described. The bees will move
up the stack to care for the brood
while the queen will remain below
the queen excluder.
This method is also useful for mak-
ing splits, which is another way of
preventing swarms. You proceed as
above but after the bees have adjusted
to the situation you can take the up-
per story off and either make a new
single from it or distribute the brood
into nuc boxes (4-5 frame hives). At
this point there are three options. If
you have queens that you have pur-
chased for this purpose, you can use
them to head the new colonies. Some
beekeepers will raise or purchase
mature queen cells instead of using
mated queens. The third way is to let
the bees raise their own queen, which
they will do. All methods have an ele-
ment of chance or uncertainty. Noth-
ing in beekeeping is certain.
The chief drawback with splitting
your colonies in spring is that you
may miss out on the spring honey
flow. In regions where there are
good summer and fall flows, some
beekeepers, like myself, forego the
spring honey and just try to divide
the bees as far as the equipment
will go, chiefly to make up for win-
ter losses. Of course, if there weren’t
losses I could choose between trying
for the spring honey - betting that it
won’t rain too much - or I could make
nucs to sell to other folks, which by
the way is a great way to make mon-
ey with bees.
The fact is, taking brood from the
colonies to make splits is an excel-
lent way to prevent swarming. You
don’t need to take all of it at once,
either. Taking two or three frames
of brood and bees several times will
tamp down the bee’s urge to swarm
and in the long run, you will get more
bees out of the queen than if you had
left them to build up on their own. I
should mention that these operations
take a certain amount of judgement
and experience, but they are not dif-
ficult to do.
Shook Swarming
This technique appears in “The Bee
Keepers’ Review,” in an article by G.
A. Olmstead. His piece from 1904 is
called “Shook Swarming and how it
Should be Managed.” But rather than
describe his method, I will proceed to
Dr. Richard Taylor’s technique which
he used to raise comb honey from the
1970s until he got too old to do it.
Richard would shake all of the bees
off and take all of the combs away
from the colony. In its place he would
arrange one medium super with
brand new foundation. On top of this
he would place a queen excluder and
several comb honey supers. What
he has done is create a swarm on his
own terms. And he knew that a fresh
swarm builds comb quicker than any
other colony, if there is a good nectar
flow on. (If there isn’t this is not such
a good idea.) You must not use old
combs in this arrangement because
if they you do, the bees will put the
honey there instead of making new
comb. With no brood to care for, the
hive bees will ramp up comb build-
ing. And they won’t swarm because
they already have!
Queen age
Beekeepers realized a long time
ago that a colony will rarely swarm
if the queen is less than a year old.
Many of the books of one hundred
years ago recommend replacing the
queen on an annual basis to ensure
American Bee Journal
the maximum egg production and to
prevent swarming. The fact is that a
lot of beekeepers don’t like killing a
perfectly good queen, so I don’t really
know how widespread the practice
was then or is today. I worked for a
queen and package bee production
company in the 1980s, and we went
through every colony and replaced
all the queens once we had enough to
fill orders for queen sales.
One thing that helped make this
work less difficult was that the brood
nest consisted of nine frames, under
a queen excluder, so there was a very
good chance of finding her after look-
ing at a couple of frames. Also, we sat
on special queen breeder stools that
were just the right height to work
one-story hives, and we worked as a
team so it wasn’t just a lonely tedious
task killing queens all day.
I think a lot of beekeepers who buy
mated queens in spring prefer to use
them for starting new colonies, rather
than to replace ones that appear to be
doing well enough. However, replac-
ing the queen in spring pretty much
guarantees that colony won’t swarm,
if managed properly. The fact is, any
colony that gets neglected and over-
crowded is more than likely to de-
cide it’s time to cast a swarm. At one
time, overcrowding was assumed to
be “the cause” of swarming. As we
know, crowding per se does not cause
swarming, but it may be a trigger that
starts the colony down the path that
leads to swarming.
the factorS that Lead to Swarming
The essential biology that under-
lies the phenomenon of honey bee
swarming has been studied for a very
long time. E. J. Dyce, after whom the
Dyce Lab at Cornell was named, ti-
tled his 1927 doctoral thesis: “A study
of the swarm control of bees.” It’s 250
pages typed on a typewriter, prob-
ably using carbon paper to produce a
copy or two. He outlined many of the
techniques I have listed, and touched
upon the current thought on the un-
derlying factors that lead to swarm-
ing. He states:
The immediate cause of
swarming is not definitely un-
derstood, but it is well known
that certain factors contribute to
the tendency to swarm. 2
He wisely observes that swarming
is not necessarily connected with a
heavy honey flow, but bees seldom
swarm unless conditions have been
March 2019
generally favorable, meaning nectar
and pollen in abundance. In fact, he
says, considerable swarming may
occur during a poor year with an
intermittent flow. It is well known
that there is a general “season” for
swarming. Many observers have re-
corded the dates of swarm issuance.
We know that most swarming occurs
in spring, which arrives on different
dates in the various climate zones.
Records were kept by Roger Morse,
one of Dyce’s students, who built the
Dyce Lab to memorialize his teacher,
and Michael Burgett, one of Roger’s
students. They found that in the years
1971-1973, swarms began emerging on
May 15, peaked around mid-June and
ceased around July 10. There was also
a smaller swarm period from about
August 15 lasting about three weeks.
This period coincided with buckwheat
and goldenrod bloom periods. 3
This study was expanded by Dr.
Morse, Burgett, and larger group of
Morse understudies, including Rich-
ard Fell, John Ambrose, Dave de Jong
and Tom Seeley. They wrote:
A six-year study of natural
swarming in Ithaca, NY, USA,
showed a bimodal distribution
for date of swarm emergence,
with a peak during the first two
weeks in June and a lesser peak
during the last week in August
and the first week in September. 4
So we can see that honey bees con-
sistently swarm in late spring and
early summer. The phenomenon of
late summer swarming is odd, and I
have concluded that either the poor
critters think it’s spring because of
the shorter day length and heavy
blooming, or this is an ancestral re-
sponse in which swarming is tied to
brief favorable conditions that occur
in desert regions, often in late sum-
mer. In our region, late swarms have
much less chance of survival, since
the warm season is over in October
and is followed by many months of
below freezing temperatures.
much too crowded
Much effort has been spent looking
into the connection between crowd-
edness of the brood nest and swarm-
ing. Dewey Caron studied this dur-
ing his time at Cornell’s Dyce Lab.
He took colonies that were develop-
ing normally and reduced the size
of the hives. He concluded that “the
relationship between hive crowd-
ing, queen rearing and swarming is
unknown.” Even colonies that had
their capacity reduced by 50% did not
necessarily swarm as a consequence.
Some did swarm but not more than
the control hives where the size was
not reduced. The swarming did, how-
ever, occur at the same general time,
further correlating it with environ-
mental conditions.
The discovery of the “queen sub-
stance” gave new impetus to connect
the queen with swarming. Previously,
it was observed that bees generally
swarm as a group, the queen among
them or occasionally among the last
to emerge. Many writers concluded
that the bees coordinate the swarm-
ing activity and the queen is made to
follow along, having been on a “re-
ducing diet” for a period of days.
The new theory of queen control
was that the substance permeates the
colony and keeps it functioning nor-
mally. When the colony expands or
becomes crowded, this impedes the
flow or distribution of queen sub-
stance. This weakens the queen’s con-
trol and the workers begin to build
queen cells in response. It’s an at-
tractive hypothesis that presents the
colony as a system, with the queen as
a regulator.
The work on queen substance was
pioneered by Colin Butler in the early
1950s at the Bee Research Department
of Rothamsted Experimental Station,
in England. Before the chemical was
identified, Butler had formed an ex-
tensive theory describing how the
substance was licked from the sur-
face of the queen (also observed in
ants and termites) and distributed
throughout the population. He sug-
gested that the substance inhibits
the bees from raising queens, while
its loss results in queen rearing and,
eventually, the phenomenon where
From E.J. Dyce's 1927 doctoral thesis.
305

From E.J. Dyce's 1927 doctoral thesis.
worker bees begin to lay eggs as a last
ditch attempt to “save” the colony. 5
This led to the publication in 1962
of “The isolation and synthesis of
queen substance, 9-oxodec-trans-
2-enoic acid, a honeybee phero-
mone.” Eva Crane, writing in Bee
World, suggested that “A whole new
field of study has been opened up
by the realization of the part played
by secretions from the queen, which
act as pheromones and determine
many aspects of the social behaviour
of the bees in the colony.”6 In fact, at
one time this “queen substance” was
seen as Holy Grail of bee manage-
ment. It could be synthesized cheap-
ly and applied to colonies to inhibit
swarming and boost production.
Add that to the list of “Great Ideas
That Didn’t Pan Out.”
Queen cupS, Queen ceLLS and
Swarming
The first sign that swarming may
be imminent is the appearance of the
thimble-like “queen cups,” usually
on the bottoms of the combs. When
people ask me if these are queen cells,
I say a queen cup is like a wine glass.
Without wine, it’s only a glass. So, the
first real sign of swarming is the pres-
ence of eggs or larvae in the cups. But,
many colonies in which cups appear
do not subsequently produce queen
cells. The exemplary work on this
topic was conducted in the 1960s, by
M. Delia Allen at the Beekeeping Re-
search Department, North of Scotland
College of Agriculture, Aberdeen. She
summarized her work:
The production of queen cups,
queen cells, worker brood and
drone brood in a total of 81 col-
onies was recorded regularly
306
throughout four summers. About
half the total number of colonies
produced occupied queen cells,
but queen rearing was abortive in
more than half of these colonies.
Of 25 colonies with sealed queen
cells, 19 replaced their queens, 16
superseding and 3 swarm[ing]. 7
What we can see from this is that
the production of queen cells does not
equal swarming. Colonies raised ma-
ture queens which went on to head
the colony, no swarming took place,
and the mother disappeared. Other
researchers have confirmed that the
completion of queen cells by a colo-
ny does not indicate that “the deci-
sion to swarm” had been made nor is
it irrevocable.
parting wordS
In the final analysis, each beekeeper
will have to develop a technique that
makes them feel as if they did what
they could to deal with swarming.
Bear in mind, swarming was once
regarded with a feeling of joy as it
symbolized spring and renewal, and
was the chief way in which beekeep-
ers were able to increase their hold-
ings. Modern beekeeping uses mass
production techniques to generate
new queens and colonies, as the in-
dustry demands. The appearance of a
large swarm on a low hanging branch
should be an occasion to marvel at
the fact that despite our attempts to
domesticate them, honey bees are still
essentially free, following the call of
the wild.
noteS
1. Miller, C. C. (1915). Fifty years among
the bees. A. I. ROOT COMPANY, Medina,
Ohio
2. Dyce, E. J. (1927). A study of the swarm con-
trol of bees (Doctoral dissertation, McGill
University Libraries).
3. Burgett, D. M., & Morse, R. A. (1974). The
time of natural swarming in honey bees.
Annals of the Entomological Society of Amer-
ica, 67(4), 719-720.
4. Fell, R. D., Ambrose, J. T., Burgett, D. M.,
De Jong, D., Morse, R. A., & Seeley, T. D.
(1977). The seasonal cycle of swarming in
honeybees. Journal of Apicultural Research,
16(4), 170-173.
5. Butler, C. G. (1954). The method and im-
portance of the recognition by a colony of
honeybees (A. mellifera) of the presence of
its queen. Transactions of the Royal Entomo-
logical Society of London, 105(2), 11-29.
6. Crane, E. (1965). Beekeeping techniques.
Bee World, 46(2), 41-44.
7. Allen, M. D. (1965). The production of
queen cups and queen cells in relation
to the general development of honeybee
colonies, and its connection with swarm-
ing and supersedure. Journal of Apicultural
Research, 4(3), 121-141.
Peter L Borst has
worked in the bee-
keeping industry
since his first job
working as bee-
keeper’s helper in
Wolcott NY, in 1974.
In the late 1970s he
helped run a bee-
keeping supply store
in the San Diego
area, where he served beekeepers of all lev-
els of expertise.
Peter managed 500 colonies of his own in
the 1980s. From 1999 to 2006, he was Senior
Apiarist at Cornell's Dyce Lab for Honey Bee
Studies. and worked as an apiary inspector
for New York State from 2006 to 2008. He is
currently President of the Finger Lakes Bee
Club, and is retired from Cornell University.
Peter has published over 40 articles on top-
ics as diverse as beekeeping technique, the
composition and value of pollen for bees, and
the history of bee breeding. He has done pre-
sentations on these topics for venues rang-
ing from local elementary schools to bee-
keeping organizations in many states.
American Bee Journal

Buckfast Abbey
B
ack in January I had an op-
portunity to go to England for
business and I thought a few
days extra would be fun to see things
I had never seen before. The country
is full of incredible history. As a bee-
keeper, part of that incredible his-
tory is found at Buckfast Abbey. For
newer beekeepers, Buckfast Abbey
was the home of a person known as
Brother Adam who became one of the
early active proponents of selective
honey bee breeding. He developed
what was known as the Buckfast Bee,
which was known globally and even
bred in the U.S.
For me this was an exciting op-
portunity to visit Buckfast Abbey
and meet and visit with Clare Dens-
ley who is now the Head Beekeeper
there. Clare was kind enough to do
Brother Adam is the younger of the two in the apiary.
March 2019
A Visit to
Buckfast Abbey
by JERRY HAYES
an interview to tell us about the past,
present and future of Buckfast Abbey
and honey bees there.
Q) Buckfast Abbey has some history
with honey bees that some beekeep-
ers may not be aware of. Can you tell
us about Bro. Adam and that history?
A) Adam arrived from Germany in
1910 when he was 11 years old to be-
come an alumnate (a sort of trainee
monk). The boys were educated in
the conventional sense but were also
trained in skills such as gardening,
cooking, carpentry and stonemason-
ry as part of the community which
was self-sufficient with its own farm-
land and animals. Some would go
on and become priests or monks but
they could leave if they chose. Some
stayed but remained “lay” brothers.
They didn’t live in the Abbey with
the choir monks but had rooms in a
separate building. They didn’t have
the same religious commitments as
the choir monks.
Adam chose to stay at the Abbey for
his lifetime but stayed as a lay brother
and never became a professed monk.
At this time the monks were rebuild-
ing the Abbey. Adam started training
as a stonemason but he had asthma
and struggled with the dust and so
he was put to work helping Bro. Co-
lumban look after the Abbey bees. In
those days the Abbey had around 45
colonies. He loved working with the
bees and later took over the running
of the Abbey apiaries.
The “Isle of Wight disease” was first
noticed on the Isle of Wight, a tiny is-
land off the east coast of the British
Isles, in 1904. By 1908 it had spread to
the mainland, and over the next seven
years it seemingly wiped out a good
proportion of the indigenous honey
bee colonies in England. Buckfast Ab-
bey lost 29 of their 45 colonies. The
government employed scientists to
try to find out what was causing this
epidemic and one of the things which
they discovered was acarine: a thoracic
mite which affects the honey bees’ res-
piration. That this was the cause of the
mass die off of colonies in the British
Isles is debatable and some scientists
disagreed with the prognosis, particu-
larly Leslie Bailey of Rothamstead agri-
cultural research centre. He attributed
the phenomenon to an accumulation
of circumstances but with overcrowd-
ing of colonies and raised virus levels
at its core. One of the main viral condi-
tions thought to be active at that time
was chronic bee paralysis virus.
307
 However, Adam was insistent that
acarine was the cause of the Isle of
Wight disease and so began his quest
to breed a bee which would be resis-
tant to this newly discovered parasite.
His breeding programme used an
isolation site on Dartmoor to ensure
that his virgins only mated with the
selected drones which he took there.
The “Buckfast bee” was developed
over a period of around ten years
and was a combination of Apis mel-
lifera mellifera (the European black
bee) and Apis mellifera Liguria (the
Italian alpine bee). Adam didn’t
stop there though and he continued
his breeding programme over many
years incorporating many different
subspecies (races) of bees to try to
amalgamate the best characteristics
from each to produce a kind of super
bee which was both gentle and very
productive. The Abbey supported
his endeavour and Adam travelled
the world bringing back queens from
almost every continent to add to his
breeding programme.
Adam became a beekeeping celeb-
rity and people were captivated by
this charismatic and slightly mysteri-
ous monk who was pursuing this ex-
citing and worthy task. The “Buckfast
bees” were, and still are, held in high
esteem by many beekeepers, commer-
cial and hobbyists alike. The combi-
nation of spirituality (the monk), and
mysticism (the bee) is a potent one
and it is worth noting that there were
beekeepers in this country who had
experimented with creating inbred
hybrids as Adam had done twenty
years before him (Sladen’s “British
Goldens” and Simmons’s White star
queens) but who never achieved the
fame which Adam experienced.
Q) Now you have inherited that his-
tory. Tell us about Clare Densley and
who she is. How did you become the
Head Apiarist at Buckfast?
A) I’m really here by default! I have
been keeping bees since 1992 and
have always loved them. I have had a
number of jobs over the years includ-
ing teaching, working in a care home,
and working as a market stall trader
selling homemade hand cream, lip
balm and other products from the
hive. It was our local bee inspector
who told me that they were looking
for someone to help with the bees at
the Abbey.
I started out with a few hours a
week and gradually gained time as the
colonies at the Abbey expanded to 400.
308
: Brother Adam at Sherberton, his isola-
tion site on Dartmoor
Adam was long dead and the Buckfast
queens were no longer being pro-
duced either for home use or for sale.
The bee department’s remit was hon-
ey production. There were 17 different
apiaries and around 20 to 25 colonies
in each. There were three of us looking
after the bees and really all we were
doing was swarm prevention to ensure
a good honey crop. This was achieved
by 7-day inspections and the removal
of queen cells. After about three years
the thrill of working with the bees as a
job began to wane (the way we were
doing things) and my back was begin-
ning to give up from lifting the heavy
modified Dadant frames and boxes,
everything changed.
The monks decided to downsize the
bee department and change the focus
from honey production to education.
The guy in charge really didn’t want
things to change but I leapt at the
chance. We sold most of the colonies
and kept around 30 of what I thought
were the best girls in a total of three
apiaries. In 2010 we ran our first be-
ginners beekeeping classes. Since that
time we have increased the number of
courses and workshops to a full time
and varied programme. We have en-
gaged in some modest research and
we have become involved with local
charities where the bees have been
used as a tool for improving mental
health and wellbeing.
We do not breed the “Buckfast bee”
but instead are developing locally
adapted bees which are more mod-
est than Adam’s dream bees. I am not
disrespectful of Adam’s life work but
feel that breeding bees is not sustain-
able without a lot of effort to prevent
inbreeding problems. I also feel that
instead of trying to change the honey
bee to fit into our world it is time that
we took a long hard look at the world
we are creating for not just bees but
ourselves. How can we start putting
back what we have so relentlessly
taken away?
Q) Buckfast Abbey must give you lots
of support. What does beekeeping
look like in 2019 there?
A) I absolutely love working for
monks! The Abbey is a unique and
caring employer and they have re-
sponded to and supported the way
which the bee department here has
evolved with generosity and grace.
They have supported us with money
to fund research (we worked a little
with Dr Declan Schroeder, now work-
ing at the University of Minnesota,
with his work on Deformed Wing
Virus) and we did some work test-
ing the possibility of using a preda-
tor mite (Strateolaelaps Miles) within
the hive to control varroa. Any kind
of monitoring and data collection re-
sults in learning even if it is not what
you expected or wanted to find out.
Our bees are gently selected for
good temper (it’s no fun learning to
handle feisty bees) but they are all
open mated in the local drone con-
gregation areas. I am pleased about
the way they are turning out. They
are more modest in the size of colony
than what Adam aspired to but that
makes them less of a varroa factory
and a bit more self-sufficient in times
of dearth. They overwinter well and
seem healthy with no major out-
breaks of disease. The Abbey had ma-
jor outbreaks of American foulbrood
in the past.
Our colonies all have names rather
than numbers. This may seem a bit
anthropomorphic but it’s great for
record keeping and it’s a fun way to
remember the unique characteristics
of the various maternal lines. Each
line seems to be consistent in the way
they behave generally. We have a line
which always seem to supersede rath-
er than swarm which we call the su-
persedure Sue’s. The Eleanor line can
be a little intolerant of being opened
up for a while but she is fine if you are
gentle and quick with your inspection.
Q) What are your long term and short
term goals at Buckfast to help bee-
keepers?
American Bee Journal
A) Short term: I would like to think
that we can help beekeepers keep up
with current research about bees and
to incorporate this into their man-
agement plans. I believe that under-
standing our bees’ biology, individual
behaviour, and how they function as
a superorganism is key to more re-
warding and successful management.
I also feel that we need to engage
with nature and the seasons so that
we can keep up with the journey the
bees make throughout the year. In the
British Isles this can be different ev-
ery year as our weather is completely
unpredictable, so it can be a challenge
for the bees and an aware beekeeper
will make the difference between life
and death for the colony.
Long term: I would like to draw
in more of the beekeepers who have
been doing it for a while to raise their
game a little by raising their own
queens and doing the best they can
to keep their colonies healthy by un-
derstanding what could go wrong as
well as how it’s meant to happen. It
would be nice to have more beekeep-
ers develop locally adapted bees with
less reliance on imported queens.
Q) You do a lot of Educational Out-
reach. How many and what kind of
courses do you offer?
A) This year we have a full pro-
gramme of classes, workshops and
visit opportunities for beekeepers
and the general public too. We offer
beginners classes but also offer work-
shops for “improvers” which are de-
signed to get them to think more in-
dependently about their management
choices and to gain confidence to cre-
ate their own splits and raise queens.
One of our programmes is with lo-
cal farmers (the Dartmoor Hill Farm
Project) where we started with teach-
ing them to keep bees on their farms
but now we are looking at how they
could improve things for the bees by
incorporating specific planting for
pollinators and selecting bees which
might do better in the more challeng-
ing environment of Dartmoor.
Q) Who do you partner with in the
community? It must be many because
when I was there a group was learn-
ing how to weave straw skeps. I’ve
never seen that done. Very cool.
A) I like to think that we are an open
house here at Buckfast and instead of
conflicting with the local beekeeping
clubs we are an additional resource
March 2019
Clare Densley in front of where Brother
Adam lived
for learning. My Colleague Martin
Hann and I both do outreach work in
the form of talks, practical help, and
troubleshooting. Martin is also the
seasonal bee inspector for the area.
This Friday I am giving a Power-
Point presentation to the South Hams
Natural History Society about honey
bees and last week Martin gave a
similar talk to the “Dawlish Wives”
group. The week after next I will be
talking to Yeovil BKA about Chronic
Bee Paralysis Virus. In the summer
groups come to us so that they can
experience the bees personally. Chil-
dren are also welcome with parental
supervision.
On Sunday afternoons we run a
community beekeeping group which
is free and open to anyone who
wants to come. We collectively care
for around eight colonies as a group
and some of the gang have their own
colonies on the site. I like to think that
we behave as the bees do, with every-
one working both independently and
collectively at the same time. We start
by discussing as a group what kind
of week the bees might have experi-
enced and then what we might need
to do management wise. We keep
good records for each colony. The
more experienced beekeepers among
them support the novices. During
the winter months we do activities.
When you [Jerry] visited they had or-
ganised a skep making course them-
selves. This weekend we are going
to make beeswax and honey soap.
We always drink lots of tea and they
bring cake!
Q) Please share your website and
what we will find there. And how to
contact you for more information.
A) To find out about the bee depart-
ment at Buckfast go to: www.buck-
fast.org.uk, click on events on the
top bar menu and then follow the
links to bee events. There is infor-
mation about the courses and work-
shops we run as well as the philoso-
phy of the department. Please ignore
all of the spelling mistakes! For in-
formation about Bro. Adam, click on
Monastic Life on the top bar menu
and then follow the links to Bees Past
and Present.
If you would like a hard copy of
our programme you can email me at
cdensley@buckfast.org.uk and in-
clude your address and I will send
you one. It’s better than the website
info!
Q) What is next for you at Buckfast
Abbey to help beekeepers move for-
ward successfully?
A) Martin and I are total beeks!
We are obsessive about learning as
much as we can about the latest bee
research. The American Bee journal
is our magazine of choice for insti-
gating this. We both attend as many
conferences as we can fit in and even
eat our lunch whilst watching lec-
tures on the web. We seriously talk
about bees a lot. We are both inter-
ested in the mechanisms which un-
derpin colony behaviour and are
always looking for ways to fine tune
the ways which we can work with
the bees to get the best out of them
from the bees’ perspective as well as
our own. If we can pass on some of
this quest for a deeper understand-
ing about colony life and how shar-
ing our world in a more positive way
will benefit all of us I will be happy,
but just facilitating more ways for
people to enjoy their bees is good
enough.
I don’t want to achieve grand things
for our department. We need to be like
the bees and be as flexible as possible
so that we can respond to peoples’
needs. The BBKA offer accredited qual-
ifications for beekeepers but I hope
that we offer an alternative learning
route which is not based on an exam
system. I am also enjoying working
with charities who are helping people
cope with life. We have been working
with war veterans, young people with
problems, people with special needs
and I’m keen to increase the scope of
this work. We all know that our inter-
actions with bees can deliver a sense
of calm and wellbeing. This is a gift
which we can share.
309
 Modern Farm Myths
Part 3
I
n the first section I covered the basics of actual land us-
age here in the U.S. and how modern agriculture is actu-
ally helping us by getting the maximum use of the land
we farm. So much so that we are actually decreasing acre-
age under the plow. Part two dealt with the common myth
that we are ruining the soil, and how modern agriculture
actually gives us safer food without harm to the earth.
This section is going to cover pesticides; first what they
are and then how they are actually used. I am going to start
off with a bit of a primer on basics, and then move onto ap-
plication and how it affects us.
As you read, please do not assume I am pro-pesticide, or in
any way trying to claim that our pesticide usage is harmless, or
that it could not be improved. I am simply explaining where we
are with the understanding we are one of the few countries that
actually makes enough food to feed our population, and at the
same time is seriously trying to minimize our impact on nature.
Please keep in mind as we go that some of the data from
the USDA is a bit older and some is fresh. The USDA num-
bers are only updated every 5 years and the information is
a bit slow to be available. That said, without further ado
let us get started.
The term pesticide is a generic term. To us, as beekeep-
ers, we usually think of insecticides when we hear that
word, but pesticides include three major groups: fungi-
cides, herbicides and insecticides. There are also others
such as nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, ro-
denticide and bactericide. Just to cover the basics for this
discussion I am going to stick to the big three of fungicides,
herbicides and insecticides.
Figure 1
March 2019
By charLeS Linder
As you can see, both worldwide and here in the U.S.,
herbicides are the biggest use pesticide, followed by in-
secticide, and at about the same level fungicides. This has
changed a bit in the last 5 years as fungicide usage is on
the rise.
herBicideS
Herbicides are the number one pesticide used in agricul-
ture. There were several reasons for this, from weeds ac-
tually reducing yields to seed contamination in crops like
wheat. In crops like corn and beans weed infestation can
reduce yields, and in crops like wheat, contamination from
other seeds like rye grass can actually cause your loads to
be rejected or downgraded at the elevator. In general her-
bicides are considered safe for bees. No one would argue
that the loss of forage is good, but for the most part the
herbicide itself is not a bee killer. Yes, I am aware of recent
work on Roundup (glyphosate), (see “The ‘Controversy’
Surrounding Pesticide Risk to Bees,” by Scott McArt and
Dan Wixted, January 2019 ABJ), but in general for more
than 50 years herbicides have been considered a low risk
to insects. Some of this is due to a low exposure risk, as
in general herbicides are applied before plants bloom, and
the fact most herbicides are both short lived, and have ex-
tremely high LD50 values.
Herbicides are further broken down into groups based
on what they kill and how they are applied. We have
broadleaf killers, grass killers (corn is a grass) and ones
that do both. This is further broken down into Pre-emer-
gence (applied in the soil), and post-emergence (applied
after growth starts). There are soil sterilizers, seed germi-
nation retarders, contact herbicides and growth inhibitors.
Not to get too far into the weeds here (pun intended), suf-
fice it to say, weed control is a very complex issue.
A very good friend of mine farms about 7,000 acres here
in Illinois He has a wonderful way of putting things in
perspective; he said very simply, ”We are trying to control
weeds for about 45 days while the plant get started and
canopies, and we spend a lot on money and time to do it.”
The basic concept is simple: Let the crop get a good head
start and most crops will shade out competing weeds. As a
result most herbicides are applied early season either dur-
ing planting, just after planting or within the first 30 days of
planting. I am going to mention here that Roundup really
311
changed the game in farming. As I mention in the first sec-
tion (“Modern Farm Myths,” January 2019 ABJ), most crop
rotations are based on weed control. In the past we had
broadleaf killers and grass killers, and you didn’t mix the
two. You would till and swap back and forth so that neither
of the crops got an established set of weeds. Heavy grass
in your corn is really bad on yields, and the same is true of
velvetleaf or lamb’s quarter, so we switched up constantly.
In 1996, Roundup Ready beans came out (yes it is a
GMO); this for the first time allowed a crop to be directly
sprayed with the herbicide Roundup, which kills every-
thing it contacts. In 1998, it was time for corn. These two
together finally allowed for direct control of all weeds,
grass or broadleaf, in the crop field. I will get into the GMO
portion a bit later, but understand this is a big deal in the
science of better yields.
The other main usage of herbicides is in the concept of
no till farming. No till was known for a long time to be
good for the soil, but weed control without tillage was im-
possible. The development of good herbicides for what we
refer to as “burn down” was/is critical for no till farm-
ing. In the past 2-4D was the standard. In the 70s when
I grew up on a farm, everything was plowed in the fall
and then disked in the spring. A few adventurous farm-
ers used no till, sprayed with 2-4D or Atrazine. 2-4D has
a problem of being very easily aerosolized, as well as it is
only for broadleaf weeds. In the spring when nothing is
in the ground, drift was not a big issue. So in no till, after
beans 2-4D would be used, and after corn Atrazine would
be used. Atrazine is normally used as a pre- emergent and
as we now know is pretty dangerous for humans and re-
ally good at getting into groundwater — so good in fact
that in 2004 the EU issued a ban on it based on ground
water contamination.
Then along comes Roundup; released in 1974, it appears
to be a good solution. It is really pretty safe for anything
but plants, degrades quickly, and stays put when sprayed.
This made it a popular herbicide which has led to the
widespread use of no till farming. The way it works in no
till is simple, just before planting (7 days to 24 hours) a
pass is made over the field. Any emerged plants are killed,
grass or broadleaf. This leads to what we called a “burned
down” field; all the plants turn brown as they die. The
crop is then planted in the residue with the plan of quick
emergence and a good start to the crop stand. Now with
Roundup Ready crops an additional pass can be used
when the plants are already well started. All of this to get a
good jump start on weeds and a clean field.
Many will tell you we need to return the old ways, of
cultivation to remove weeds. There are huge problems
with that concept. Cultivation was/is very inefficient.
You cannot get too close to your plants or you damage the
crops roots, so as a result the areas you cultivate are just the
middle of the row, those are not the weeds that are actually
choking the crop yet. In the past, multiple passes with a
cultivator resulted in huge costs of diesel fuel consumed,
tons of steel worn away, and at best only 50% efficiency.
The newer process of herbicides is a lot more efficient at
removing weeds, and at a lower cost in energy and to the
environment overall when you factor in the fuel cost, and
increased yields.
fungicideS
Fungicides are rapidly becoming a larger volume of
sprays than insecticides. There is much to know about
how and when fungicides are used. Many times when you
312
see crop dusters, fungicides are what is being sprayed. The
bigger demand for fungicides comes after the crops have
canopied, or when it is just too wet to work a spray rig in
the actual fields. So that is when we typically see the crop
dusters making their big sweeps.
Dr. Reed Johnson at Ohio State has been doing a lot of
work on fungicides and bee health. In recent years we had
been seeing damage to bees on almonds that were being
attributed to fungicides. Dr. Johnson presented some of
his work at the ABF conference in South Carolina here in
January, and it is surprising. I will not even remotely try to
summarize his work, but it appears that maybe fungicides
are not our problem, but instead tank mixes (the practice
of mixing more than one pesticide at a time) and adjuvants
are the bigger issues.
Fungicides are probably the pesticide our bees are ex-
posed to the most. It is common to be sprayed both while
we are pollinating and, on a large scale, crops where the
margins are currently blooming. Generally fungicides are
also considered safe. Hopefully Dr. Johnson’s work will
continue, and we can reconfirm that or get a bit more edu-
cated on the long term effects in our hives.
Side note: I hear many times about people who are listed on
Driftwatch or other sites and still they sprayed with no notice.
Keep in mind, that listing is for the applicator; his task is to check
to be sure it is not an insecticide and to plan his flight path ac-
cordingly. If it is a fungicide, generally there is no action to be
taken as it’s considered safe for bees.
inSecticideS
Here is the can of worms for us as beekeepers. When
we think pesticides we normally envision some sort of in-
secticide. While there are a couple of bee safe insecticides,
we should assume anything in this class is toxic to bees.
There are many forms of pesticides; I am going to discuss
the main four for now. Synthetic pyrethroids, s, organo-
phosphates, and neonicotinoids. These four, or variants
of them, are the bases for the vast majority of insecticides
used both worldwide and in the U.S. The first three are
used primarily as sprays applied either in furrow at plant-
ing or sprayed on growing plants. The fourth, known as
neonics, are primarily used as seed treatments, although
there are some used as foliar sprays also. The vast majority
of neonics are intended to be what is known as system-
ics. They are typically applied to the seed prior to planting
and then taken up into the plant. These make the plant
toxic to bugs that eat the plant. Typically in most plants,
like corn and beans, the small plant is very toxic to insects,
but as the plant grows the effects are both diluted by plant
size and degraded with sunlight and time. By the time the
plant flowers, the toxicity to insects is low.
The first three are contact pesticides, meaning the insect
are killed by direct application or ingestion. These would
be applied as sprays or with crop dusters if the crop is
high and are subjected to wind drift and typically cover
the plants in the margins as much as the crop itself.
Carbyl is usually known as Sevin dust. It is the longest
lasting, and extremely toxic to bees. It is also the one most
used by homeowners in the gardens. It is one of the most
likely to be carried back to the hive.
Organophosphate, or OP for short, has been in the past
the largest used pesticide for decades. They are essential-
ly a nerve agent — not only toxic to bees, they are well
known to be problems for humans and other animals. Al-
though they break down quickly in water and sunlight,
they are often found in water and soil samples. They are
American Bee Journal
toxic enough that the EPA outlawed them in 2001 for resi-
dential usage and they are now a restricted use pesticide.
Synthetic Pyrethroids (PRY) are the other largely used
insecticide. We as beekeepers have even toyed with them
as miticides. They are typically sprayed on crops, and have
the perk of a very short life, typically 1-2 days in sunlight,
although they can persist in sediment for a longer time.
Typically they are very toxic to insects and other inverte-
brates at parts per trillion levels, but nontoxic to mammals
except for cats.
In industry, one of the techniques we use for developing
new ideas is called brainstorming. We basically come up
with the most bizarre and crazy ideas we can think of and
then follow them out to some conclusion. No idea is too
far out to mention. Well, in the 1980s someone came up
with a crazy idea to figure out how to make plants toxic
to only the bugs the feed on them, and sure enough they
went out and figured out how to do just that, and now we
have neonicotinoids.
Neonicotinoids are rapidly becoming the largest use
insecticide. They are generally used as a seed coating or
in water for irrigation so that they become systemic. This
means the plant is toxic to those insects who eat the plant.
They do however suffer from dilution as the plant grows
and degradation as they breakdown in sunlight. However
this is a fairly slow process, often lasting 2-3 weeks, and
giving very good residual protection to the plants. Right
now the vast majority of crops in the US are seeing one
form of neonic or another. BUT.
Before you get worried about that, we have to under-
stand neonics have REPLACED organophosphates. When
we hear the horror stories about how much neonics are
being used, we are never ever told that the much more
dangerous OPs have almost vanished!
Figure 2 pesticide usage in US
There is data out there that shows neonics are bad for
bees; there is no doubt that is 100% true. Unfortunately,
some of the information is misleading. What they do not
tell us is that the exposure to neonics is considerably less
than to prior pesticides and that the older much more dan-
gerous insecticides are being rapidly phased out. While
there is zero doubt neonics are bad for bees, the danger to the
overall environment is much lower than with previous pesticides.
The key to understanding insecticides and the role in
farming and bees is to understand exposure. First off, we
need to realize that there are huge differences between
spray applications and systemic. In the past PRY and OP
were typically sprayed three times a season. First in fur-
row, secondly 5-7 days post-emergence, and again just be-
fore canopy — which is when it is no longer an option to
drive in the crops. Many times a later spray was needed
in beans and lately for Japanese beetles in corn, done by a
March 2019
late season crop duster. We have to understand that these
foliar sprays cover just about everything in the field and
on the margins. Overspray and drift are just part of the
process.
Prior to 2001, these were the three main choices. Spray-
ing was a staple of everyday farming; herbicides and pesti-
cides were sometimes used as tank mixes, and sometimes
required tank cleaning between. Bottom line every farmer
was spraying a lot. Here in the Midwest, neonics used as
a seed coating have now almost completely replaced fo-
liar sprays of insecticides, What this means is that instead
of random sprays three times a season that cover every
plant in the field and many in the fencerows and ditches,
we coat the seed, only prior to planting. Instead of every
farmer mixing up his own concoction of sprays, the seed
companies are doing it for them. Now here is the key: tThe
seed company has a deeply vested interest in applying ex-
actly the right amount of pesticide (I say “pesticide” be-
cause in most cases it is a combination of fungicide and
insecticide). Should they use too much it drives up their
cost, but too little and the seed will not yield well, and re-
turn customers will be scarce. We are actually at the point
where growers can specifically order which seed coatings
they need for their field application and location, we don’t
even need to take the generic approach. This allows each
farmer to pick only the coatings he needs and will decrease
usage of non-needed coatings even further.
This scenario has been one of the biggest wins for bee-
keepers and environmentalist in decades!
First off, if you believe in the greed of capitalism, then
you know the companies will do everything in their power
to get exactly the right level of pesticides. Secondly, since
it is seed applied we save a ton on fuel and field passes.
Thirdly, with few exceptions it is only the crops that are
typically non target plants for pollinators that are affected,
not the flowers at the field edges. And lastly, we know that
compared to OP and PRY, neonics are much safer for the
water and all other animals.
I know many are skeptical, but here in the Midwest neo-
nics are a lifesaver. I used to carry sheets in my truck all
summer. Every week I would get a call from one of my
landowners about a spray event. I would race out and
cover hives with wet sheets. It has been a long time since
I covered a hive, not quite 20 years, but close. Of course,
though we will have those that say neonics are horrible,
here in the Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio regions they
are used extensively. At a level most call a disaster. But for
the last few years, I have sent samples of pollen and wax
to the Bee Informed Partnership. Every sample submit-
ted has come back clean. That means no detection of pes-
ticides. Samples were all taken in August, right after the
corn pollen, and the bees were working soybeans. Check
for yourself, the BIP website now has the pesticide expo-
sure data right out for all to see. Look closely at Illinois
(47% farm ground), look at North Dakota (highest ratio
of farm ground), then look at New York, with a very low
percentage of farm ground. What you will see is that farm-
ing is not related to an increased level of pesticides in our
hives. https://bip2.beeinformed.org/state_reports/
The last common myth I want to cover is that farmers
are spraying these pesticides (all types) in excess. The term
most often used is “prophylactically” or the fun phrase I
see all the time, “We all know they spray way too much.”
My eyes roll back in my head every time I hear that. It is
a complete myth that is spread from people who have no
understanding of what is going on.
313
 You have to understand the state of modern farming
with our really low food prices; the profit margins on farm-
ing are insanely small. I said it before and will say it again;
low crop prices mean that farmers have zero incentive to over-
spend on inputs. While we think it is easy to say if a little is
good, let’s add a little more, you have to do the math. First
off, a field pass is typically rated at about $7 an acre — that
is just to drive over one acre. Multiply that times the aver-
age of 1,000 acres (typical crop farm size) and it is $7000
per pass, add in your pesticide cost at around $30 per acre,
and now you’re up to $37,000 for an extra application that
is a huge expenditure for a farmer making $150k a year.
We just have to realize that any farmer is thinking really
hard about that input cost. Look closely at the chart below
and you will quickly realize that cutting input cost to the
bare minimum is the only way to come out ahead in this
business. It should be needless to say, but our farmers are
investing millions of dollars in land and equipment, to, in
most cases, make a very small return on investment.
These farmers invest a lot of money, a lot of time, and
effort into being sure we feed the world, and do so with
the smallest effect possible on the land and the wildlife.
Remember that when your farmer says sure, put your bees
right over there.

Figure 3 expected cash flow for Illinois farmers

I very much appreciate your reading along and the edi-
tors here at ABJ for allowing me to present some infor-
mation. Future topics could include some advantages of
GMO crops, and methods involved in specialty crops like
almonds and canola. If you want to learn more and want
me to keep writing on these topics be sure to let the new
Editor know. Questions or comments can also be emailed
to me at me at Gm_Charlie@frontier.com.
Charles Linder is a serious sideliner running bees for honey and pol-
lination in the Midwest. He is a semi-retired Manufacturing Engineer
and spent the last 12 years of that career with CNH, building combines
and harvesting crops worldwide. He has lived on farms all his life, and
is still involved with day to day operations of growers and farmers.

314 American Bee Journal

March 2019 315
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316 American Bee Journal

I
magine e-mailing someone you
met once, three years earlier at a
beekeeping seminar. In a short
note you write, “Why don’t I come
visit you? You can feed me, entertain
me, and chauffeur me around until I
decide to leave. Won’t that be fun?”
Being an introverted recluse, this
is unimaginable to me. The idea is
so far off the wall, my face burns just
thinking about it. Yet somehow, that
is precisely what I did. And you know
what? They agreed.
over the mountainS
After a 250-mile drive, crossing the
Oregon Cascades and then sliding be-
tween rolling hills of carrot seed and
bee boxes, I approached their home
with trepidation. I was so nervous
I disconnected the first phone call
(L) A female Agapostemon (green metallic sweat bee) peeks from a mountain hollyhock bloom. (R) Ashmeadiella are solitary,
desert-loving bees. Although they are found in dry areas from Canada to Costa Rica, they are found nowhere else on Earth.
March 2019
and had to redial. The voice on the
line didn’t sound familiar and for a
moment, I considered retracing my
route back to Washington. But alas, I
pressed on and met my hosts at the
mouth of their private road outside
Prineville.
It wasn’t until they parked their Ga-
tor in front of me, head-to-head, that
I realized they couldn’t turn around
until I backed out of their way. But
first, in the piercing desert sunshine,
I greeted Naomi and was introduced
to her husband, Larry Price. I hadn’t
yet met the hill, but that was soon to
come. I was nervous as a cat as we
sorted the vehicles and got underway.
a road Like no other
Now I, too, live at the end of a pri-
vate road that is hilly in places and
littered with muddy potholes and
outsized boulders. Most of my ac-
quaintances think it rather uncivilized,
but after more than two decades, I am
comfortable with gravelly, rocky, and
dusty passages. Until that moment, I
felt well-versed in the subject.
The Price roadway, carved from
Oregon basalt, is steep and produces
a heart-pounding view from the side
windows. To my left, a jagged cliff
rose out of sight. To my right, tree
tops floated in empty space with no
hint of earthly connection. I shifted
into four-wheel drive and reminded
myself to pay attention to the road.
As we continued, I noticed several
inhospitable tracks that veered toward
mystery. Some had a name or a num-
ber, but none showed signs of life. The
scenery reminded me of a time I was
317
(L) The native mariposa lilies are quite popular with the native bees. Larry counted up to nine bees in one flower. (R) Dianthidium
bees, frequently mistaken for wasps, collect nectar, pollen, and resin from flowers in the Asteraceae family. The females build ex-
posed nests from small pebbles, which they glue together with the resin.

lost in the Anza-Borrego desert and
unable to find my car: Super-heated
rocks all look alike. I shuddered with
the unpleasant memory and realized
I could never find my way out of this
maze without help. Words of warning
came to mind, lyrics from the song
Hotel California: “You can check out
any time you like, but you can never
leave!”1 What had I done?
As we crept in tandem up the hill-
side, I believed it was the steepest,
rockiest road I had ever driven. In
fact, I continued to believe that until
we got to the actual steep part, which
made the first section seem positively
wimpy. I shuddered and eased into
four-wheel low.
off the grid and into the Light
A mile and a half along, near the
top of the hill, we passed through
a post and wire gate onto the Price
land. Suddenly, the Ponderosa pine,
Douglas-fir, and western juniper
gave way to a sweeping multi-county
vista. In the midst of such an enchant-
ing place, I felt I had emerged on the
other side of the rabbit hole.
The house itself is built from na-
tive rock overlooking untold miles
of central Oregon, and a bank of
floor-to-ceiling windows surround-
ing an open floorplan brings it all in-
side. Free from the electrical grid, the
property is outfitted with solar panels
that power everything from the well
pump to the freezers.
But the real magic is outside where
a multi-season rotation of flowering
plants feed Naomi’s honey bees as
well as an ever-evolving panoply of
wild pollinators. The parched rocks
give way to gardens brimming with
vegetables, berries, and flowers.
Along the pathways, concentric
rows of lavender shimmied with im-
patient digger bees, and tall strands
of silvery lamb’s ear quivered with
bumbles and masons vying for lunch.
Nearby, patches of golden yellow rab-
bitbrush winked with striped sweat
bees and green-eyed sand wasps.
everything Bee
Naomi and Larry Price are bee-
keeping rock stars. Naomi, a master
beekeeper, is active in a number of
Oregon beekeeping organizations.
Together with Larry, she designed
the Valhalla Long Hive and, later, the
Valkyrie Long Hive. Both versions
are built for beekeepers who cannot
— or would rather not — lift heavy
bee boxes, and both are designed to
maximize honey bee health. In ad-
dition, the Prices have mentored
countless beginners, taught classes,
and assisted with all manner of bee
crises.
The Price home is a hub for busy
beekeepers. At least from my perspec-
tive, every knock on the door or ring
of the phone was another beekeeper
with questions, tales from the hive,
or samples of honey. Most intriguing,
the Prices have developed their own
protocol for trap-outs, one in which
they actually coax the queen to leave
her hive.
In addition to their unfettered love
for honey bees, Naomi and Larry are
active with the Oregon Bee Project, a
group attached to Oregon State Uni-
versity that is creating a record of na-
tive bees found in Oregon through
the work of citizen scientists. It is the

(L) To line their nests, leafcutters (Genus Megachile) cut perfect circles from leaves and flower petals. They carry pollen on hairy
abdomens instead of their legs. (R) This small bee, Megachile angelerum, is nectaring on lavender blossoms.

318 American Bee Journal

(L) Megachile apicalis, the apical leafcutter bee, was introduced from Europe. Like many bees in the Megachilidae family, it is fond
of lamb’s ear blossoms. (R) This Melissodes longhorn bee is so excited about the rabbitbrush she’s doing handstands.

Prices’ passion for native bees that
convinced me to visit.
the oregon Bee project
In 2014, after a disastrous bumble
bee kill that made national news, the
state declared a pollinator emergency
and the Oregon Bee Project came to
life. Sarah Kincaid, an entomologist
with the Oregon Department of Agri-
culture, says Oregon is the “only state
in the whole country that has a fund-
ed mandate to put together a strategic
health plan for pollinators.”
According to Kincaid, the state may
be home to more than 500 species of
native bees, many of which may play
a vital role in Oregon’s six billion dol-
lar agricultural industry. But since
the bees in Oregon have never been
completely cataloged, it is impossible
to know which species are in decline.
So, with the help of other state agen-
cies and an eager band of citizen
scientists, the Oregon Bee Atlas was
formed to expand knowledge of the
state’s bees. The Atlas, a part of the
Oregon Bee Project, has broader goals
of increasing habitat for pollinators
and protecting them from pesticide
exposure and disease.
StaLking the native BeeS
Since bees evolved as desert-loving
creatures, the greatest bee diversity is
still found in dry areas of the world.
Sure enough, the Oregon high desert
— which rises from 2000 to 9700 feet
above sea level — is a perfect place
for bee hunting. The natives are at-
tracted to the desert plants as well as
cultivated ones, and the Prices know
all the best places to look. So with
my pickup jammed with backpacks,
cameras, and assorted nets, tubes,
catch-cups, and guide books, I em-
barked on this journey two years in
a row.
With so many pollinator-friendly
plantings, a world of bees exists in the
Prices’ own backyard. On both visits,
I found an ever-evolving selection of
bees to photograph, from tiny fruit-
fly sized carpenter bees (Ceratina) to
bulky bumbles to wily cuckoo bees
looking to freeload. Of the flowers I
saw, four native plants were especial-
ly popular with the wild bees.
curLycup gumweed
The first — and undisputed winner
— is curlycup gumweed, Grindelia
squarrosa. Gumweed is a wildflower
in the sunflower family (Astera-
ceae) that can be found in many of
the drier regions of North America.
The entire plant grows to about one
foot tall and has yellow flowers that
open to roughly one inch in diameter.
The plant is easily recognized by the
recurving bracts that surround the
flower and lend the name “curlycup.”
The first time I touched it, I knew I
was in trouble. It is incredibly sticky,
gummy, and smells like turpentine.
Soon, everything I touched was also
sticky and gummy and smelling of tur-
pentine, including my camera, water
bottle, and backpack. The white, resin-
ous ooze seeps from the flowers days
before they open and coats the outside
of the bud with an odorous milky ar-
mor that glints in the sunshine.
The patch of gumweed at the Price
household is not large, but it’s ex-
tremely well-attended. We saw a
wide variety of bees on the flowers,
including many parasitic cuckoo bees

(L) Triepeolus are cuckoo bees that lay eggs in the nests of many other bee species. They often have red legs and a smiley face on
their thorax. (R) This green mason bee (Osmia) is sampling German garlic flowers.

March 2019 319

collecting nectar. It’s amazing to me
that bees don’t get themselves stuck
in the goo, but they don’t. Even the
smallest of bees comes and goes with
nary a worry.
green-Banded maripoSa LiLy
The green-banded mariposa lily,
Calochortus macrocarpus, is a striking
flower in the Liliaceae family that is
native to the dryer regions of the Pa-
cific Northwest. On my first trip, I no-
ticed individual blooms arising from
the shaded floor of the pine forest,
often separated by a surprising dis-
tance. I was impressed by their simple
design and their ability to thrive on
the parched slopes of Ponderosa pine.
Some of the blooms hosted tiny black
masked bees (Hylaeus) that glinted
like polished sports cars against the
pink petals.
On my second trip, I didn’t give the
lilies much thought until I wandered
away from the gumweed to find some
shade. I sat beside a lily in a muffled
mat of pine needles and peeked in-
side. Much to my amazement, I saw
a circus of bees. They were crawling
all over the anthers and down into the
depths of the flower, three, four, five
species all at once. And the best part?
They were all bedecked in pink!
The masked bees were back, but
not alone. They were joined by hairy-
legged longhorn bees (Melissodes),
striped sweat bees (Agapostemon), and
the occasional fat bumble. These bees
— all with hot pink leggings — shared
the space with flies, beetles, and the
occasional butterfly. I was giddy with
the discovery of pink pollen, pester-
ing Naomi and Larry to look at my
photos over and over again.
mountain hoLLyhock
A third bee favorite was mountain
hollyhock, Iliamna rivularis, a mem-
ber of the mallow family. According
to the USDA Forest Service, this na-
tive plant is found in forested slopes,
meadows, and disturbed areas east of
the Cascade Mountains from British
Columbia to Colorado. It has prolific
pale pink flowers that teem with bees.
On the Oregon plants, the most
frequent visitors I saw were stripped
sweat bees, longhorn bees, and honey
bees. However, the single mountain
hollyhock I have at home was a fa-
vorite of skinny, black metallic sweat
bees (Lasioglossum).
raBBitBruSh
Rabbitbrush is another drought tol-
erant plant the bees love. Like some
320
other plants in the Asteraceae family,
including gumweed, it provides lots
of nectar and pollen, as well as res-
ins. Two well-known species occur in
the drylands of central Oregon. Rub-
ber rabbitbrush, Ericameria nauseosa,
has blue-green branches year round.
Green rabbitbrush, Chrysothamnus
viscidiflorus, is a smaller plant with
yellow-green foliage that turns brown
in the fall.
The small yellow flowers at-
tract many native insects, including
bees, wasps, and butterflies. While
I watched, a number of sand wasps
visited the rubber rabbitbrush, along
with striped sweat bees, furrow bees,
and honey bees.
hot fLaSheS and naked girLS
Whenever I go bee trekking, I re-
view my supply list endlessly, mak-
ing sure I have everything I might
need. But, invariably, the problems
that arise in the field are a complete
surprise. Take my camera flash, for
example.
I use a fill-in flash for most of my
bee photos. The point of a fill-in flash
it to lighten the shadow areas in a
photograph. Since the contrast be-
tween light and dark areas increases
in bright conditions, a lot of extra
light is needed to prevent the shadow
areas from looking black. The camera
software analyzes the scene and tells
the flash how much light is needed.
But under desert conditions, I
could only take a few photos before
my batteries became too hot to handle
and the flash shut itself off with a heat
warning. In order to keep taking pic-
tures, I had to keep switching batter-
ies — four AA cells — over and over
again. This was annoying.
My theory is that under the bright
conditions of the desert, much more
light must be added than normal.
Lots of light requires lots of energy,
so the batteries work hard, draw
down fast, and heat up like crazy. It
wasn’t the ambient heat that caused
the problem, it was the high contrast
subject matter — those naked “girls”
in the sunshine.
paSSing the hat
After hundreds and hundreds of
photos, the three of us developed a
failsafe system of bee photography,
wherein Larry was the bee spotter
and Naomi the battery cooler.
First, Larry would find some bees.
I would scurry over and take pictures
until the batteries were too hot to han-
dle. Then I would open the flash and
dump the batteries into my sun hat,
then pass the hat to Naomi. Naomi
held the hat in front of the air condi-
tioner inside the truck while I went
back out with an alternate set of bat-
teries to where Larry was impatiently
waiting with more bees. We repeated
this process every few minutes for
hours on end. It was inefficient for
sure, but we got the photos!
Sharing the forage
If you watch the high desert bees
carefully, you can see that honey bees
do not overwhelm the forage. Even
with multiple colonies on the prop-
erty, we saw very few honey bees
on the local plants. The honey bees
were busy, for sure, and their pollen
baskets were always full, but where
they were foraging was unclear. Even
stands of spotted knapweed, which
we assumed would be loaded with
honey bees, entertained few. Most of
the foragers I saw were happily work-
ing the garden, doing what we expect
them to do.
Between calls from sometimes
frantic beekeepers, we spent the eve-
nings poring through guidebooks
and miscellaneous leaves, petals,
and stems trying to connect bees
with their favorite forage. While
we recapped the day’s take, Naomi
would suddenly remember spots we
could visit the next day. During one
of those evenings, I got my first taste
of stingless bee (Melipona) honey,
compliments of my hosts. This gas-
tronomic adventure was a bucket-list
item for me and it lived up to all my
expectations.
In the end, it wasn’t quite like the
Hotel California because they let me
leave. At least for a while. But as I
began the precipitous descent across
the confusing landscape, I wondered
how I would ever “find the passage
back to the place I was before.”1
referenceS
The Eagles. Hotel California. Asylum
Records. 1976.
Rusty Burlew has stud-
ied agriculture, honey
bees, and environmen-
tal science for over 30
years. She is a passion-
ate advocate of native
bee conservation and
founded the Native Bee
Conservancy in Wash-
ington State. https://honeybeesuite.com or
email her at rusty@honeybeesuite.com.
American Bee Journal
 What Beekeepers Need to
Know About Dicamba
D
icamba is a broadleaf plant
herbicide in the chlorophe-
noxy group of chemistry.
Much like 2-4D, dicamba mimics a
plant hormone (auxin) readily taken
up by the plant when applied. These
compounds cause the plant to grow
abnormally, which results in the death
of the plant. The hormones in dicamba
and 2-4D are active only in broadleaf
plants and not in grass plants.
Dicamba has a low toxicity for ver-
tebrates in general. Mammal toxic-
ity ranges from an LD50 of 700-2000
depending on the species. For people
the LD50 is over 1,000.
An LD50 is: lethal dose to 50% of the
population measured in milligrams/
Kilograms of body weight. Chemicals
with an LD50 under 100 are consid-
ered deadly poisonous. Compounds
with an LD50 from 100-500 are con-
sidered medium toxicity. Anything
over 500 is considered a low toxicity
chemical compound.
For comparison, 2-4D has an LD50
of 4,000, where table salt has an LD50
of 3,000 and pyrethrin has an LD50
of 2,000. These LD50s are for mam-
mals. Pyrethrin and pyrethroids are
extremely toxic to bees. Dicamba has
a low toxicity for honey bees.
Dicamba absorbs into human skin
readily. It is also readily processed by
the digestive system if swallowed.
Dicamba is then excreted through
the urinary tract and passed away
in urine. Any link between dicamba
and cancer is unclear and weak in the
most stringent testing. Dicamba can
irritate skin but there are no long term
known effects. Always keep in mind
that children are more susceptible to
any chemical than adults. Dicamba
March 2019
by Raymond A. Nabors Ph.D.
raymond.a.nabors@gmail.com
absorbed into leaves can travel and happens when the sun heats soil in
translocate within the plants. It will the daytime. Moisture rising from the
break down in the soil within 30-60 soil carries dicamba molecules with it
days into carbon, hydrogen and oxy- until it hits a dense layer of cold air
gen. If you want a comprehensive above. As dicamba laden moisture
chemical study of everything known cools, it falls back to earth as dew and
about dicamba, I suggest you look up deposits dicamba on all the plants in
PubChem open chemistry data base the area. This also happens with 2-4D,
in the National Library of Medicine/ but dicamba is toxic in much smaller
National Center for Biotechnology in- concentrations than 2-4D. Think of
formation (PubChem and dicamba). dicamba as 2-4D on steroids, it is that
Chemically speaking, dicamba is much stronger.
only slightly toxic to honey bees and If you look at the test results on
much less toxic to people. But there various plants, you will find that we
is an insidious effect of dicamba on have fewer species of broadleaf flow-
honey bees that goes way beyond di- ers along our roadsides, field borders,
rect toxic effects. Most people do not public properties, lawns, ditch banks
realize that honey bees require a large and many areas bees forage. Swamp
variety of flowering dicotyledonous milkweed, Asclepias incarnata, has
plant nectar and pollen for proper nu- been greatly diminished in Missis-
trition. Monocotyledonous grasses do sippi River lowlands; while common
not provide any honey bee nutrition milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa, has de-
unless those plants have an infesta-
tion of honeydew producing aphids.
In other words, bees must have
multiple species of flowers upon
which to forage from early spring
until fall frost. Nutritionally, bees re-
quire many different species of pollen
and multiple species of nectar from
a wide variety of flowering dicotyle-
donous plants. They cannot survive
on only those plants that provide sur-
plus nectar. If bees forage on just two
or three species of plants, they will
become nutritionally deficient and
the colony will decline. Add an infes-
tation of Varroa mites and you have a
recipe for Colony Collapse Disorder.
Dicamba and 2-4D are notorious for
volatility. When these compounds are
applied to kill weeds in an agricultur-
al field they float in the air and move
off target. A temperature inversion Damage to linden
321

This is damage to mulberry.
clined in most states. The decrease in
Missouri Monarch Butterflies is es-
timated at 90%. Honey bees feed on
milkweed among many other flow-
ering plants. Coreopsis, dogbane,
vetch, ragweed, sunflower, golden-
rod and dandelion were all common
in roadsides but now in decline. The
decline in species of flowering plants
available to honey bees on public and
private lands has had a negative ef-
fect on bees. High volatility means
dicamba is much more subject to drift
in the winds. It is also more toxic to
non-target plants which makes the
damage worse.
Dicamba does not easily kill trees. It
does kill parts of trees. It is frequent in
the Delta region of the United States
to see trees with major herbicide
damage. Since the labeling approval
of dicamba on genetically modified
Tomato plant damage
322
soybean and cotton varieties, that tree
damage has increased dramatically.
When half a tree in anyone’s lawn dies
such that a large snag of dead limbs
has a background of curled damaged
leaves, then that tree is unsightly and
will be removed by the owner. If it was
a maple, linden, locust, redbud, tulip
poplar or any one of multiple tree spe-
cies visited by bees, then that tree was
a source of pollen and nectar for bees.
The entire tree will eventually suc-
cumb to the herbicide onslaught and
die within 3-10 years depending on
species.* This damage to fence rows
has become obvious in the few years
since dicamba was registered for use
on soybeans and cotton, both of which
were susceptible plants before genetic
modification.
Farmers have a conundrum. If they Tulip poplar damage
plant soybeans that do not have toler-
ance to dicamba herbicide it is likely side, public property and residential
that their crops will be damaged. Di- areas will be reduced to insignificant
camba damage can delay the develop- forage for honey bees and many other
ment and harvest and reduce yields insects. Farmers already must mix at
of beans that do not have the genet- least two herbicides to control weeds
ics for tolerance to dicamba. So, if one in fields. There are soil-applied herbi-
farmer in the area plants dicamba- cides that do not volatilize and reduce
resistant beans then all his neighbors susceptible weed populations signifi-
must do the same or suffer damage. cantly. If you see a clean field, it is
No one has been able to control the likely one of these herbicides were in-
volatility of dicamba sufficiently to corporated in the soil. Application of
reduce damage to non-target plants a single herbicide for weed control is
significantly. like wetting your bed on a cold win-
Bees cannot make it on a diet of soy- ter night to keep warm. It is a tempo-
bean nectar and pollen. The colonies rary solution to the problem.
will die. Weak colonies are more sus- The irony is that soybeans and cot-
ceptible to varroa mites. Weak colonies ton both receive some benefit from
are more susceptible to starvation. Do honey bee pollination. Both crop
not underestimate the severity of the plant species will self-pollinate and
effect of dicamba on honey bees. It have other pollinators, but honey
is significant wherever dicamba is in bees have been proven to increase
use. Newer formulations have retar- yields by 5%. Millions of acres of soy-
dants to decrease volatility and drift,
but these adjuvants do not even come
close to eliminating drift or volatility.
I see signs and tee shirts proclaim-
ing, “Farmers need Dicamba.” My
response is, “Learn to control weeds
without relying on a single herbi-
cide to do the job.” We already have
weeds resistant to Dicamba. Amaran-
thus sp., commonly called Pigweed,
already have resistance. They are also
resistant to other overused one-ap-
plication herbicides like glyphosate
(Roundup). Resistance issues begin
and eventually eliminate the wide-
spread use of a single overused her-
bicide. The process takes many years,
up to a decade, for the weed species
to have all plants resistant.
During this process for dicamba,
many species of flowering plants, in-
cluding trees, in the fencerow, road- Damage to redbud
American Bee Journal
beans and cotton all over the country search Associates Inc. 5100 Highbridge Service has most of the dicamba
are pollinated by honey bees. The St., 42C Fayetteville New York. 13066. research articles published in the
benefits are many billions of dol- (315)637-9560, SERA INC@msn.com United States, including many medi-
PubChem (Open Chemistry Database) NIH
lars nationwide. Soybean and cotton U.S. National Library of Medicine, Na-
cal research journals. My personal ex-
farmers do not pay for pollination, so tional Center for Biotechnology Informa- perience with 2-4D and dicamba cov-
they do not value it much. In places tion. Compound summary for Dicamba ers a career of nearly four decades.
that are heavily farmed, we are reduc- chlorinated organic herbicide. Search = The low toxicity toward animals is a
ing the species of flowering plants at PubChem Compound Dicamba. good thing. The toxic effects on for-
an increasing rate. It is a problem to National Pesticide Information Center. age for bees is a potential catastrophe.
keep bees alive these days. Dicamba Dicamba npic@ace.orst.edu . ph. (800)858-
7378
is contributing significantly to honey High Quality Beekeeping
bee decline by reducing the species of
flowers upon which bees can forage.
Note: The above publications have Equipment & Bottling
consolidated factual information Machines at swienty.com
In the southeast region of Missouri
about dicamba herbicide.The original
there are over one million acres of
research papers from 30 or 40 years
soybeans and half a million acres of
ago can be found in Weed Science. The
cotton. Three bushels of beans is $30
bibliography from the USDA, Forest ... for better honey
on a million acres = $30,000,000. The
return on cotton would be similar.
The total return for the United States
runs into Billions of dollars. The prob-
lem is, it is a small amount of money
for each farmer. Honey bees do not
make much difference for farmers
that plant row crops. Those farmers
growing fruits and vegetables pay for
pollination.
Dicamba is also an issue for grow-
ers of fruit trees, annual and peren-
nial fruit, and vegetable producers. If
dicamba does not kill these plants, it
reduces yield, delays harvest and re-
duces pollinators for the plants. How
many people know that dicamba
could be on the fresh produce they
are buying in the store? We expect
that foods imported from other coun-
tries may have pesticide contami-
nation. It has happened before. We
expect our home grown produce to
pesticide free. Our produce is tested
and very unlikely to be contaminated.
Fresh produce in the United States
has been selectively tested since 1970.
In that time, only a few products have
been found contaminated. The toler-
ance for dicamba is high because it is
not very toxic to consumers. Dicamba
is not acutely toxic to people, but do
you want to eat it?

*With an acre of yard for our home-

stead, I planted the trees listed above
for bee forage. If you can’t spread out,
then spread up. Trees are prime bee
forage over an extended period help-
ing bees in spring. These trees are
hurt by dicamba every year. They will
not last long and I do not have time to
grow more.

Bibliography: What Beekeepers Need to Know

about Dicamba
Dicamba – Human Health and Ecological Risk
Assessment - Final Report, USDA, Forest
Service. Prepared by, Patrick Durkin and
Steve Bosch. Syracuse Environmental Re-

March 2019 323

324 American Bee Journal
March 2019 325
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326 American Bee Journal

FieldWatch:
Innovative
Technology BeeCheck, developed by FieldWatch, helps beekeepers
communicate their beehive locations to pesticide applica-
tors, promoting stewardship and protecting apiaries.

for Protecting
by Stephanie Regagnon,
Pollinators President and CEO, FieldWatch

H
oney bees and other pollina-
tors play a crucial role in agri-
culture. According to the Unit-
ed States Department of Agriculture,
honey bees are responsible for polli-
nating over 100 commercially grown
crops in North America. Agriculture
is a complex industry with multiple
operators who work alongside each
other. Oftentimes, apiaries are lo-
cated in the proximity of row crops.
Row crops are treated with products
that are vital to protecting them from
weeds and pests, yet not beneficial
for honey bees. In the case of travel-
ing hives that are moved across many
states to pollinating sites, pesticide
applicators and farmers are simply
not aware of the fact that apiaries
are stationed next to their proper-
ties. While many states don’t make it
mandatory for beekeepers to register
their locations, there is a clear bene-
fit in making the location of apiaries
known to pesticide applicators, so
they can avoid them during spraying
activities.
In order to enhance communication
and mutual understanding among
beekeepers and pesticide applicators,
the nonprofit organization, Field-
Watch®, provides free and secure
online mapping tools that benefit
both groups. BeeCheck®, developed
by FieldWatch, helps beekeepers
communicate their beehive locations
to pesticide applicators, promoting
stewardship and protecting apiaries.
Beekeepers who use the BeeCheck
online platform and BeeCheck mo-
bile app can map their apiaries and
easily update their beehive locations
through real-time GPS technology
when out in the field. The BeeCheck
mobile app is available free of charge
online or through the BeeCheck app
(available on Android and iOS) and
provides streamlined data input and
access for FieldWatch members. With
BeeCheck, beekeepers have access to
the following features:
• Input start and stop dates to al-
low beekeepers to move hives on a
planned basis
• Update the location of hives with
real-time GPS technology
• Identify the number of hives at
each apiary location
• Identify beekeepers as hobbyists or
commercial
• Enter state registration data
• Mark locations private, so that only
applicators who are registered with
FieldWatch may see them
Beekeepers around the country
have embraced FieldWatch’s online
mapping tool. BeeCheck has a total of
11,700 beekeepers using the software,
with 21,696 apiary locations mapped
Commercial, sideliner, and hobbyist beekeepers may register and map their hive loca-
tions with BeeCheck®.
across the country in the national reg-
istry. FieldWatch seeks input from
beekeepers and strives to modify and
innovate its tools to be more useful
for its members. Feedback from bee-
keepers who use BeeCheck indicates
that they like the easy to use tools and
the ability to sync with the national
registry and precision agriculture
mapping systems.
Since its creation 10 years ago,
FieldWatch has expanded its foot-
print to 21 states, welcoming Cali-
fornia and Maryland into the fold
in 2019. California’s addition to the
national registry is especially mean-
ingful to commercial beekeepers who
travel to the state every spring for the
almond tree pollination. FieldWatch
is the only organization that enables
voluntary apiary registration in mul-
tiple states, giving beekeepers from
all over the country confidence their
bees will be safer while in California.
California will also be part of a state-
wide pollinator protection program

March 2019 327


BeeCheck has a total of 11,700 beekeepers using the software with 21,696 apiary loca-
tions mapped across the country in the national registry. The BeeCheck online map-
ping tool shows the high-level map view of apiary locations throughout the U.S.
called “BeeWhere, powered by Field-
Watch.” In addition to the U.S., Field-
Watch also operates in the Canadian
province of Saskatchewan and antici-
pates further expansion into Canada
in the near future.
In addition to offering a technologi-
cal solution that improves communi-
cation between beekeepers and pesti-
cide applicators, FieldWatch engages
with multiple organizations across
the agriculture industry to build con-
nections and promote stewardship.
For example, since 2016, FieldWatch
has been a member of the Honey Bee
Health Coalition, an organization that
brings together beekeepers, research-
ers, government agencies, growers
and other key partners to improve
the health of honey bees, specifically
around production agriculture.
In 2019, FieldWatch launched a
pilot program called Growing Good
Neighbors®, that aims to help agri-
The BeeCheck online mapping tool shows apiary locations in St. Louis, MO. Bee-
Check’s use and popularity is growing with urban and suburban beekeepers.
328
about the program and hear from its
participants, visit https://fieldwatch.
com/neighbors/. FieldWatch hopes
that organizations in other states
will find value in such a model for
improving communication and will
replicate the program in their com-
munities.
how to uSe Beecheck
If you are interested in registering
your beehives with BeeCheck, here’s
a step-by-step guide on how to do
it. Managers and owners of apiaries,
commercial beekeepers and hobby-
ists may register their sites with Bee-
Check. Apiaries registered through
BeeCheck may be marked ‘private’
so only applicators registered in
culture stakeholders, including bee-
FieldWatch can view them and re-
keepers, build personal relationships
ceive contact information. Commer-
through face-to-face interactions.
cial beekeepers may send a data file
This pilot program is designed to
to FieldWatch so that their locations
gather grape growers, retailers, crop
and information can be uploaded au-
growers, beekeepers, livestock own-
tomatically.
ers, specialty crop growers, conser-
vationists, and other interested com-
1. Registration and Login
munity members over a shared meal
To participate in FieldWatch, go to
to foster mutual understanding. The
www.fieldwatch.com and create an
goals of the program are to estab-
account. Users select the type of ac-
lish good neighborly relationships,
count for registration. Beekeepers
increase communication about crop
select BeeCheck to easily set up a Bee-
and beehive locations and new tech-
Check account.
nologies, and create resilient commu-
2. Add a Comment or Website URL
nities with a favorable environment
This is an optional field where bee-
for conflict resolution. In early 2018,
keepers can enter a website address
the program hosted three commu-
or additional comments that might be
nity dinners at Missouri wineries to
helpful to applicators.
discuss issues that impact today’s ag-
3. Locate Your Apiary
ricultural communities and uncover
Enter the address or zip code of the
common values. In 2019, Growing
area to register, and then click on the
Good Neighbors will expand to sev-
‘Search’ button. This will focus the
eral additional states. To learn more
map on the general vicinity of the
apiary. To find the apiary, navigate
the map north, south, east and west
by clicking the arrow buttons in the
upper left corner of the map.
4. Pin Your Apiary
Apiaries are located by simply
clicking at the center of the apiary lo-
cation. Submitted sites then go to the
state’s Department of Agriculture for
review and approval before appear-
ing on the maps.
5. Check Submissions
Once logged in, producers can
check the status of submissions that
appear in the left sidebar of the map
page. In order to maintain the accura-
cy of apiary location data, BeeCheck
registration and apiary locations
must be confirmed annually.
Learn more about mapping your
hives with BeeCheck at https://bee
check.org/.
American Bee Journal
fieLdwatch’S other mapping tech-
noLogieS
In addition to the mapping tool de-
veloped for beekeepers, FieldWatch
operates two other registries, one
for growers of specialty crops, called
DriftWatch®, and one for growers of
conventional or organic row crops,
called CropCheck™. These registries
feature an easy to use Google Maps™
interface that clearly shows pesticide
applicators the locations of registered
areas, so they can utilize the informa-
tion in their ongoing stewardship ac-
tivities before they spray.
DriftWatch is intended for commer-
cial specialty crop growers and was
designed by the Purdue University
The BeeCheck online mapping tool shows apiary locations in Virginia and North Caro-
Agricultural and Biological Engineer-
lina. BeeCheck’s use and popularity is growing with urban and suburban beekeepers.
ing Department with input and sup-
port from Purdue University’s Coop- ducers and pesticide applicators to is expanding to three additional
erative Extension. increase collaboration and steward- states in 2019. With CropCheck, row
CropCheck enables voluntary com- ship. Originally launched in 2018 as a crop producers may submit crop site
munication between row crop pro- pilot project in Arkansas, CropCheck information to the registry. Pesticide
applicators can access the site to help
determine the scope and location of
organic crops or crops that are not
tolerant to herbicides (conventional
crops) to help prevent damage from
spraying.

data annotation Layer

Applicators can now customize
their experience with a new data an-

Beekeepers who use the BeeCheck on-

line platform and BeeCheck mobile app
The BeeCheck mobile app is available free of charge online or through the BeeCheck can map their apiaries and easily update
app (available on Android and iOS) and provides streamlined data input and access their beehive locations through real-time
for FieldWatch members. GPS technology when out in the field.

March 2019 329

notation layer, a recent innovation.
This add-on feature can reference
‘out-of-scope’ data, such as locations
of beehives or crops not tolerant to
herbicides, or private gardens, as an
example. The data on this new layer
330
will be wholly owned and managed
by the applicator and will not go
through the approval process that is
typical of sites submitted by individ-
ual growers and apiaries. Applicators
will also have the ability to share their
annotation layer with others.
All applicators – including roadside,
right of way, railroad, agriculture, and
home owners – can use and register
for FieldWatch. If you have questions
about FieldWatch or BeeCheck, you
can send your inquiry through https://
fieldwatch.com/contact-us/.
Download the BeeCheck app on
your IOS at https://itunes.apple.com/
us/app/beecheck/id1347318866 and
for Android at https://play.google.
com/store/apps/details?id=com.
fieldwatch.beecheck.
Stephanie Regagnon
is the President &
CEO of FieldWatch,
Inc., a non-profit com-
pany promoting stew-
ardship and collabo-
ration in agriculture.
FieldWatch works to
increase communication between
growers of specialty crops, beekeepers
and pesticide applicators in support of
ongoing stewardship activities and is
currently operating in 21 states and one
Canadian province as the preferred spe-
cialty crop and apiary registry. Steph-
anie has worked in the agriculture and
renewable energy industries in Wash-
ington, DC, and St. Louis, MO for close
to 20 years.
American Bee Journal

Simple, cheap/free, easy and safe! – not too high up – not too awkward – not too
complicated – no damage to tree – and great results! Average of 2 swarms per box
for 3 years.
1. Tools needed to assemble:
a. Circular saw
b. Cordless screwdriver with Phil-
lips bit, and a bit for a 1” hole.
c. Drywall screws, staple gun,
staples
2. Tools needed to mount box on a
tree:
a. 1 or 2 ratchet straps
b. 5‘ (or taller) stepladder (modi-
fied as explained in 6d)
3. Materials needed for bait box:
a. Old, well used hive body/brood
box (about 16X20X10”) (may be
too bad to use on a hive); left-
over wax and propolis makes it
smell like “home” to the bees.
b. 1 frame of old brood comb (dark
is okay), empty cells only — NO
pollen, honey, nectar or disease.
This should be relatively good
comb because you may need to
install it in the final hive for a
season.
Box ready for old dark comb in frame at
right. Aluminum roof in place. Ziploc with
essential oils and random comb.
March 2019
The “HARMLESS” Bait Hive
A bait box (AKA swarm trap)
made from an
old Modified Brood Box
by Phillip Harms, “Bee Blessed Honey”
Brandon King, 15, getting ready to install the Harmless Bait Hive he’s just completed.
Brandon was a Youth Scholarship beekeeper with the Lincoln Land Beekeepers
Association, and caught his second colony in this box.
c. Five empty brood frames with-
out foundation (may use starter
strips). I like to mark all of the
top bars on these frames so I
know their origin when inspect-
ing the hive in the future (natu-
ral foundation).
d. Fiberboard/plywood cut to size
to cover both the ‘top’ and ‘bot-
tom’ of brood box
e. Drywall screws (long enough to
secure fiberboard to box)
f. Scrap aluminum soffit material
(to keep rain off of box) wide
enough to cover top of box.
g. Cotton ball with a few drops of
Honey-B-Healthy and lemon
grass oil extract in a small Zip-
loc with small holes pricked in
the bag. They also like a couple
drops of anise extract. I will also
try Swarm Commander this
season.
h. Wire mesh (1/2”) and #8 screen.
4. Bait box construction:
a. Using circular saw, cut slots for
ears of the frames.
b. Set blade depth at about the
same depth as the original frame
rest notch on the brood box.
c. Beginning with the guide
against the 20” side of box care-
fully cut a slot across the 16”
board.
d. Put a 5/8” thick scrap board
between the saw guide and 20”
side and cut another slot the
same depth.
e. With the saw or a chisel care-
fully remove the excess wood
between these two cuts to form a
channel for the ear of the frame.
f. Do the same on the opposite
side of the box for the other end
of the frame.
g. Test a frame in position - it
should slip in and out of the
grooves with ease.
h. Using drywall screws attach
a precut “top/bottom” fiber-
board (3d above) to an open
side of the box.
i. Drill a 1” entrance hole about an
inch above the floor of the box.
Staple a 2” X 2” wire mesh (½”
holes) over the hole (inside the
box) to let the bees in and keep
the mice and birds out. Drill an-
other hole in the opposite end
above the frame ear rest and
staple 1/8” screen over it. This is
a vent hole; if the box is too hot
the bees at times do not want to
enter (see last photo below) —
my guess — I may be wrong.
j. Place two empty frames in posi-
tion in the box followed by the
frame of old black brood comb
(3b) and then the other three
empty frames. Push the frames
together and on each side install
one screw through the outside
of the box into the last frame
ear to hold the frames in place
when moving.
k. Place the other “top/bottom”
piece of fiberboard (3d) on the
remaining open side and secure
it with screws.
l. (HINT: Mark box and both sides
(L and R) so you will know
331

6. Mounting the bait hive:
Entrance with possible scout bees
which piece goes with the oth-
ers. It is nice to be able to use
the same screw holes next time.)
m. Check the box to be assured
that there are no additional bee
exit holes or cracks. If so, fix
them with a scrap of fiberboard,
caulking or tape. Minor cracks
are okay; however, some be-
lieve that even slight cracks are
not good.
5. Preparing the box prior to
mounting:
a. Place the small Ziploc bag with
cotton and extracts (3g) inside
Bait hive fastened via two-strap option
332
the entrance hole or open a cor-
ner of the fiberboard and slip
the Ziploc in. Staple your busi-
ness card on the box. If mount-
ing the box in an area accessible
to the public, you might want to
mark it, “Contains no honey.”
b. Place the “roof” (3f, aluminum
soffit scrap) over the top of
the bait hive, secure it with a
couple of screws near the front
and back edges and bend the
side overhangs down to draw
it close to the box sides. This
keeps the box dry – rain can
otherwise filter down through
the cracks and into the box.
a. Locate a “Mother” tree – a nice
sized tree in an open area or on
the edge of a wood lot, prefer-
ably with a South or SE open
area. Tree trunk should be fairly
straight with no branches where
you will attach the box. (Bait
hives can be located on build-
ings, roofs or other sites with
some planning. Off-season deer
stands can be used. If someone
calls you about a swarm, sug-
gest that they allow you to put
up a bait hive to catch any fu-
ture swarms.)
b. Place the stepladder against the
tree just below where you want
to locate the trap. (Don’t risk a
fall and a broken bone by going
too high! I’ve caught all of mine
at the 5-6 foot level.)
c. Optional for beginners: Secure
a ratchet strap around the tree
above the top step with the
ratchet mechanism pointing the
direction you want the box en-
trance to face. The mechanism
helps hold the box up in place.
d. Set the bait hive on the top of
the stepladder centered on the
tree trunk. (The top step of the
stepladder can be enlarged by
attaching a piece of plywood
so it is wide enough to hold the
box).
e. Run a ratchet strap around the
tree (a bit higher) and over the
middle part of the box and ad-
just the strap so that some of the
slack is taken up.
f. Standing on the lower part of the
ladder, adjust the box’s position
while you tighten the strap to
firmly hold the box in place.
Make sure the box is more or
less level and will not wiggle if
windy.
7. The “big catch”:
a. If possible check the box every
week or 10 days. The longer the
bees make their home inside
this box the harder it is to install
them in their final home. After
3-4 weeks, if you haven’t caught
anything, you may want to stick
in another Ziploc with fresh es-
sential oils.
b. When you see bees carrying pol-
len and flying in and out busy
at work, you know that you
have residents. Return at dusk
or after dark and you should
see a few guard bees around the
entrance. (If not and you think
they are inside, put your ear
firmly against the box and lis-
ten for the hum of bees. Many
“ranger” or “scout” bees often
visit the box during the day to
evaluate it prior to swarming.)
c. Gently nudge (or water mist)
the guard bees into the hole
by placing a 2X2” piece of # 8
screen wire over the hole and
firmly staple it in place so that
none of your guests will leave
home. Check the other parts of
the box to be sure there are no
other exits or guard bees.
d. Place your stepladder under
the box, loosen the ratchet strap
and lower the box to the top
step and eventually to your ve-
hicle.
e. Have a replacement box baited
and ready to put on the tree for
more fun another day. I have
caught 2 or 3 swarms at one lo-
cation in a week’s time.
8. Installing the bees in their new
home:
a. The same night you take the box
down, place it in your apiary
near the receptor hive (already
assembled, ready and waiting
with frames). Partially open the
bait hive screen covering the en-
trance so the bees can come and
go a bit in their new location.
In the morning gather your bee
gear and cordless drill and suit
up. (I don’t smoke the bees be-
cause they usually have no hon-
ey/nectar to engorge on.) Also
take a feeder jar of sugar water;
they need it to start building up
their numbers.
b. Remove the soffit scrap and the
two screws that are holding the
frames stationary (4j above).
c. Remove all of the screws from
one side of the bait box, remov-
American Bee Journal
 ing the top center one last. Upon
removing that side you should
see the swarm of bees clustered
in the box on the frames.
d. Using your “frame grabber,”
grasp the outer frame on the
side in its midsection and gen-
tly remove it from the box.
When you have bees on a frame
that has little or no free comb,
gently knock them off into the
target hive body (which has
most of the frames removed).
When a frame has a significant
amount of new foundationless
comb — or the original frame
of old comb with lots of bees —
then you want to consider mov-
ing that whole frame into the
target brood box. That is prob-
ably where the queen is. After
all the frames are out of the bait
box, bump-dump the remain-
ing bees onto the frames in the
target brood box. Fill the target
box with frames with founda-
tion and reassemble the target
hive with a feeder box above
the inner cover. Feed the new
hive sugar water as needed de-
pending on the current nectar
flow. Give them frames with
drawn comb if available for a
quicker jump start.
e. Take the unused empty frames
and the now-empty bait box (af-
ter you get most of the girls out
of it) back to the house because
some bees will want to return to
their old home.
9. Follow up:
a. Since they are broodless at in-
stallation stage, I like to treat
them with an appropriate
amount of Apigard for varroa
mites immediately after they
have been installed.
b. Feed them but leave them alone
for a while and you should see
brood-filled comb in a week or
two.
c. In the future, as the hive bees
move brood and food out of the
older dark comb frame, move
it to the far side of the box and
eventually replace that frame
with a new frame and founda-
tion/comb.
10. Final notes and problems:
a. Occasionally bees and queen
do not enter the bait box but
instead the swarm just clusters
on the tree and/or outside of
the box (see photos). I suspect it
March 2019
Really nice swarms that didn’t go inside!
may be too hot inside the box.
They may go inside eventu-
ally or may go away and come
again another day. Outside the
box they risk getting rained on.
b. Keep replacement bait boxes on
standby. Put the boxes up early
in swarm season and take them
down late in the summer. If a
swarm shows no interest in a
bait box after several weeks just
poke another Ziploc of attrac-
tant in through the entrance. If
there is still no interest after a
week you may want to take it
down and check for wax moth
damage – that happens occa-
sionally.
c. At times I do a “newspaper”
combination of bait box swarms
with weak hives.
d. I love feral survivor stock, so I
never replace the queen. Most
seem to do very well. They
probably raise a new queen the
first season in their new home.
e. There are many plans and vid-
eos on the internet. Seeley rec-
ommends, “The Right Box, In
The Right Place, At the Right
Time” (Tom Seeley, Apr. 2012
Bee Culture pg. 73), and I would
add, “with the Right Smell.”
The Harmless bait box is cheap-
er and better than building or
using a new box because an
old box just smells so much like
home to a bee. If you don’t have
an old brood box and a frame of
old comb, ask an old beekeeper
friend for some help. It is a great
way to use things that would
usually get burned up. Most
articles say that a 30% success-
ful catch rate is to be expected
(about 1 swarm per 3 boxes).
For 3 years now I have had 6
to 8 bait hives and have gotten
200% (average 2 swarms per
box/location)! Some locations
are more productive than oth-
ers. I see no need to put boxes
any higher than 5 to 6 feet off
the ground – I don’t bounce
well at my age! I usually place
them no closer than a mile from
one bait hive to another.
f. I’m not too interested in swarm
calls, unless they are on a tree
in my apiary. The swarms I get
calls on are often not honey
bees, “just left” or inconvenient
in location or time. Cut-outs are
lots of work! The bees come to
the “Harmless” bait hives when
they are ready and I can take
them home and install them
when I am ready.
g. Harmless Bait Hive? How do
you like that name? says Mr.
Harms. (I don’t care for the
term “swarm trap”; sounds like
it could hurt the bees!)
h. Have fun! And Bee Blessed!
Phill Harms - After
graduating from the
University of Illinois
(Ornamental horticul-
ture, 1968) Phill served
4 years in the US Air
Force. He and his
wife, Judy, were missionary-linguists for
37 years working with the Epena people
of the Pacific coastal area of Colombia,
South America. He got his first bee hives
in 2012. He enjoys mentoring new bee-
keepers, working with his 18 hives and
learning from and about bees through
several beekeeping associations.
333
334 American Bee Journal
March 2019 335
336 American Bee Journal
 The Beekeeping
Continuum
― What’s Your
Philosophy?

by Robyn M. Underwood
Department of Entomology,
Pennsylvania State University,
501 ASI Building,
University Park, PA 16802 USA;
rmu1@psu.edu; Tel.: 610-301-4283

A
s the old saying goes, ask ten
beekeepers a question and
you will get at least twelve
different answers. Then, the answer
will likely start with “Well, that de-
pends.” Beekeeping is a complex en-
deavor, requiring a problem-solving
mind. From the initial decision about
which equipment to purchase, to
how to handle a pest or parasite situ-
ation, there is a spectrum (or contin-
uum) of choices (Fig. 1). Some of the
Figure 1. The continuum of beekeeping choices. Beekeepers can choose from a vari-
ety of management practices for chemical use, hive manipulations, feeding, and bee-
keeping goals. Image by Nick Sloff. Reprinted from Underwood et al. (2019).
options require a high degree of in-
tervention while others involve do-
ing nothing at all. Placement on the
continuum depends on the degree of
intervention, which is higher when
(1) a chemical is present, as the raw
product or as a residual contaminant,
for a longer time, or (2) the honey
bee colony is more fundamentally
manipulated. While the continuum
here does not include every decision
a beekeeper must make, it is a subset
that includes management decisions
that can fundamentally describe a
beekeeper’s management system.
As you look over the continuum,
you will see your management choic-
es represented. If you are a new bee-
keeper, these are all things you will
have to consider before you begin
or as things arise. If you write down
your choice for each line on the con-
tinuum, you are recording the details
of your “management system.” That
is, you have a certain way of doing
things in your apiaries. Perhaps you
are noticing that your decisions fall
mostly within a given color on the
spectrum, or perhaps some of them
are on the far left while others are on
the far right. All of these things are
related to your personal philosophi-
cal values. Thus, you have a beekeep-
ing philosophy. This may or may not
match the philosophy of the beekeep-
ers around you. You also have a given
number of colonies you will keep and
this impacts your management.
In a research study, we used sur-
vey data from the Bee Informed
Partnership’s management survey
for the 2016–2017 beekeeping year
(the survey questions are available at
https://beeinformed.org/wp-content/
uploads/2017/03/2016-2017-Loss-and-
Management-Survey-PREVIEW-
final.pdf — accessed on 8 January
2018) to investigate whether manage-
ment decisions are made randomly
or if beekeeping philosophy and op-
eration size influence decisions. We
chose 13 of the 94 questions to include

March 2019 337

information about the type of feeding
and equipment used, the goals of the
beekeeping operation, the operation
size, and the beekeeper’s willingness
to use in-hive chemicals and the types
of chemicals used.
A beekeeper’s philosophy was de-
termined using the question: “When
choosing treatment or feeding strate-
gies for your colonies, would you say
that you …” The philosophy was nat-
ural if the answer was “are not willing
to use non-bee produced products in
the hive.” The philosophy was organ-
ic if the answer was “are only willing
to use natural or organic products in
the hive.” The philosophy was con-
ventional if the answer was a) “prefer
to use natural or organic products in
the hive but will use synthetic prod-
ucts if needed,” b) “will use synthetic
products if needed,” or c) “have no
preference.”
The operation size was described
using the question: “How many living
colonies did you have on October 1,
2016?” Beekeepers were categorized
as backyard if they had fewer than 50
colonies, sideline if they had between
50 and 499 colonies, and commercial
if they had more than 500 colonies.
Other aspects of management were
characterized using the remaining
set of questions, which were grouped
into the following categories: chemi-
cal use, hive manipulations, feeding,
and beekeeping goals.
There are general groups of man-
agement practices that separate
beekeepers by their philosophy:
conventional, organic, and natural
beekeepers (Table 1). In general, con-
ventional beekeepers vary widely in
their practices, but they tend to re-
place queens frequently, are willing
to use antibiotics and synthetic chem-
icals for pest and pathogen control,
supplement colonies with protein
and carbohydrates, and expect an
income. Organic beekeepers tend to
use alternative methods for pest con-
trol, including freezing comb prior to
reuse, screened bottom boards, and
drone brood removal, while replacing
queens only infrequently. The tenden-
cy for natural beekeepers is to use no
treatment for varroa mites, use small
cell comb, no queen replacement,
non-traditional equipment, and feed
colonies with honey or syrups that
contain a supplement. Most natural
beekeepers do not have financially
driven operations through bee or
honey production, but keep bees for
enjoyment, teaching, or research, and
they are less likely to earn an income
from their operations.
We also found general groups of
management practices that separate
beekeepers by the size of their op-
erations: commercial, sideline, and
backyard (Table 1). Commercial and
sideline beekeepers more consis-
tently use antibiotics and synthetic
chemical treatments to control pests
and parasites than backyard bee-
keepers. On the contrary, backyard
beekeepers vary more widely in their

Conventional Organic Natural Commercial Sideline Backyard

Chemical Use
Varroa mite organic acids, organic acids, organic acids, organic acids,
treatment: essential oils or no synthetics none essential oils or essential oils or essential oils, or
chemical synthetics synthetics synthetics none
Nosema treatment yes no
Antibiotic use yes no no yes yes no
Hive manipulations
screened bb,
Varroa mite treat-
not used drone brood Small cell comb not used not used
ment: cultural
removal
Queen
Infrequent or
replacement frequent Not frequent frequent frequent
to correct
frequency
Equipment traditional traditional Non-traditional
Feeding
yes, honey
carbs with some feed only
Carbs yes, any or carbs with yes yes
supplement honey
supplement
Protein yes, any no no yes yes yes or no
Beekeeping goals
Honey harvest yes yes maybe
enjoyment,
Why keep bees sell bees sell honey teaching,
research
Income expected yes maybe no
Table 1. Typical management practices of beekeepers broken into groups based on management philosophy (grey) or operation
size (blue) based on the outcome of a statistical analysis of beekeeping management practices. Conventional beekeepers are those
that are willing to use any legal substance in hives. Organic beekeepers are those that are willing to use some legal substances, but
not synthetics or antibiotics. Natural beekeepers are those that are not willing to use any non-bee derived substances in the hive.
Commercial operations have 500 or more colonies. Sideline operations have between 50 and 499 colonies. Backyard operations
have fewer than 50 colonies. Blank boxes indicate information that was not provided in the original article (Underwood et al. 2019).

338 American Bee Journal

choices of in-hive chemicals, some-
times using organic acids or essential
oils, and sometimes avoiding the use
of chemicals altogether. Other prac-
tices, such as frequent queen replace-
ment and not using cultural controls
for varroa mites, are more common
among commercial and sideline bee-
keepers. Commercial and sideline
beekeepers use pollen and carbohy-
drate supplements, while backyard
beekeepers range from the use of
both, to not using protein, to the ex-
clusive use of honey for carbohydrate
supplementation.
Analysis of survey data allowed us
to describe three groups of beekeep-
ers based on their philosophy toward
in-hive chemicals (conventional, or-
ganic, and natural) and characterize,
in detail, common management prac-
tices used by these groups. Addition-
ally, differences in the management
practices between commercial, side-
line, and backyard beekeepers are
now apparent. We can now discuss
groups of beekeepers with accuracy,
and research can be directed toward
the needs of particular groups. We
can also learn to accept beekeepers
with philosophies of all kinds.

acknowLedgmentS:
A huge thank you goes out to Steve
Finke and Steve Berner of the Le-
high Valley Beekeepers Association
in southeastern Pennsylvania. It was
their idea to explain, in picture form,
the idea that every aspect of beekeep-
ing has a spectrum of possible choices.
Their original diagram sparked this
work. This research was funded by
the United States Department of Ag-
riculture, National Institute of Food
and Agriculture, Organic Agriculture
Research and Extension Initiative,
Agreement Number 51300-26814.

referenceS:
Underwood, R, B. Traver, and M. Lopez-
Uribe. Beekeeping Management Practices
Are Associated with Operation Size and
Beekeepers’ Philosophy Towards In-Hive
Chemicals. Insects 10, 10; doi:10.3390/in-
sects10010010. 2019.

Robyn Underwood has

a PhD from the Universi-
ty of Manitoba, Canada,
and is currently an Assis-
tant Research Professor
at Penn State University
in the Lopez-Uribe lab
(lopezuribelab.com).
She has a passion for honey bee health,
focuses on research that is practical for
apiculture, and is constantly learning from
beekeepers.

March 2019 339

340 American Bee Journal
 What’s Eating My Bees?
Part Two
Robbers and Dragonflies
by John Phipps
I
n the first part of my study (see
ABJ December 2018), I focused
on the impact of social wasps and
hornets on colonies of honeybees. The
relationship between these insect spe-
cies and honeybees is most often on a
warlike basis, with many aggressors
usually challenging a mostly well-
defended bastion. Often, due to many
varying circumstances, the colonies
succumb to heavy predation, espe-
cially if the beekeeper hasn’t adopted
strategies to control the invaders.
However, the damage these hyme-
noptera insects can wreak on a colony
cannot be predicted, as their strength
or even absences of a cyclic nature is
a phenomenon which is still puzzling
to many entomologists.
The insects and spiders that are
featured in this issue do not attack in
Robber Fly ― the key anatomical characteristics of the fly can be seen in this photo
― the short horn-like antennae, the bristly moustache (mystax), the concave struc-
ture (divot) between the large compound eyes, the sword-like mouthparts and the
spiky, long legs. (J. Phipps)
March 2019
hordes; they are mostly lone enemies
of bees — though, despite acting in-
dependently, their numbers are nev-
ertheless large enough, at particular
times of the season and in particular
localities, to have some minor effect
on colony life.
roBBer/aSSaSSin fLieS
Robber or Assassin flies are mem-
bers of the Asilidae family. There are
many species varying in size from
3mm to 50mm, each of them shar-
ing the same physical and behavioral
characteristics which help them to
cope with stinging insects sometimes
larger than themselves. The head has
two very large eyes between a hol-
low, above which are a pair of short,
sharp, horn-like antennae. The face
has stiff moustache-like bristles for
Dragonfly: (J. Phipps)
protection and the strong mouthparts
are adapted to impale and inject fluid
into its prey. The long, spiky legs en-
able the fly to grasp its captured boo-
ty securely.
In my apiary in Greece these flies
are abundant from early to mid-
summer. They choose a perch near
the hives and await a passing bee.
Then, swiftly, a bee is caught in mid-
flight and immediately paralyzed
by chemicals in the saliva which the
fly injects into its body. Once a bee
is caught, the fly settles some way
from the hive, allowing chemicals in
the saliva (neurotoxic and proteolytic
enzymes) to work on the bee, liquify-
ing the contents of its body. This fluid
meal is then sucked up and digested
by the fly. Each robber fly can catch
several bees each day. Whilst honey
bees often have a chance of defend-
ing themselves from most of their en-
emies, against a robber fly they have
no chance, hence their other apt name
of ‘assassin’ fly.
The females lay clumps of eggs in
the ground or on the surface, the lar-
vae feeding mostly on rotting vegeta-
tion and the larvae of other insects.
The larvae go through three instars,
followed by pupation (overwinter-
ing below soil level), with the adults
emerging in spring. However, de-
pending on the habitat and climate,
metamorphosis can sometimes take
up to three years.
Seeing Robber Flies at work is not
at all pleasant, and eliminating them
from the apiary is very difficult, indeed
impossible. The best chance of catch-
ing them is when they have secured
their prey and have settled down to
enjoy their meal, using a small net that
children use on the beach. Where I live
is an excellent habitat for the Asilidae
species. They love open sunny spaces
341

Robber fly perching near a hive. (J. Phipps)
with low vegetation growing on light
soils. They are particularly at home in
arid conditions.
Apparently, there are about 1000
species of Robber Flies in the USA
with over 100 in Florida. Surprising-
ly, they are not mentioned in Morse
and Flottum’s “Honey Bee Pests,
Predators and Diseases” (Third Edi-
tion, Root 1997), and just one sen-
tence is attributed to them in “The
Honey bee caught by Robber Fly. The spiky legs can be seen to grasp its prey tightly. I
have always noticed that when a bee is captured by any of its enemies, the proboscis
is always fully extended. (J. Phipps)
342
Hive and the Honey Bee” edited by
Joe Graham (Dadant 1992). For more
information about these flies in the
USA, the reader could check on the
internet for “Introduction - Distribu-
tion - Description - Biology - Behav-
ior - Key to the Subfamilies of Florida
Asilidae” by E M Finn, University of
Florida, January 2008, which also has
some excellent photos by the same
author.
dragonfLieS
The presence of dragonflies in my
mountain apiary surprises me. From
May to mid-September we have hot,
dry, drought-like conditions with
hardly any rain. Whilst olive grow-
ers hope for some rain at the end of
August and in September, to swell
the developing fruit, often the au-
tumn storms don’t arrive until Octo-
ber. The olives shrivel — and if there
are strong hot winds from the Sahara
they will fall from the trees.
In order to complete their life cycle,
the larval ‘nymphs’ can take from
the more normal one-to-two years
to up to six years before they finally
leave the water at their last molt and
emerge as adults. There is no pupal
stage. I do not know any area locally
where such wet conditions last for
such a time, unless they are able to
make use of sea water or troughs in
which water is provided for livestock.
It is a mystery.
Our dragonflies occur in late sum-
mer and early autumn and fly round
the apiary from morning until dusk.
Whilst they are always quartering the
garden where the hives are located,
I have not as yet been able to pho-
tograph a dragonfly with a captured
bee, which I am sure must happen.
As a species, their large, two pairs of
wings enable them to be real masters
of the air, well adapted to catching
their prey: They can fly swiftly —
forward up to 100 times their body
length in a second and backwards at
3 body lengths a second; and they can
also hover for up to a minute. By con-
tinuously adapting to the movements
of its prey by adjusting its speed and
direction of flight, the dragonfly is a
most successful hunter, and said to
have a 95% rate of capture. It can use
its legs to scoop up a bee and draw
it into its mouth, which is equipped
with strong mandibles. The dragon-
flies have a voracious appetite and
can consume up to 15% of their body
weight each day, even more in the
case of maturing males, and females
during ovulation.
Like wasps and hornets, large pop-
ulations of dragonflies tend to be of
a cyclic nature. However, when they
do occur, considerable damage can be
done to apiaries with losses of not only
workers and drones, but also queens
returning from mating flights. I have
found no information about damage
to colonies in Greece, but examples of
devastation of colonies in Germany,
Russia, India, Australia and the USA
are cited by Dewy Caron in Morse’s
American Bee Journal
 Dragonfly: (J. Phipps)

book (see above). For example, some

time ago in a Louisiana apiary which
had a usual 75-85% return of queens
on mating flights, of 79 queen flights
only 3 returned to the hives when
dragonfly populations were high. In
Florida, in 1966, Root recorded that
the sky was so dark with dragonflies
over five days, that over $1000 worth
of damage was done to 300-400 colo-
nies — due to worker bee predation.
Fortunately, such disasters rarely
happen and normally predation oc-
curs only during a very short season
and in few localities.
However, despite their pest status,
dragonflies are a delight to watch,
not only for their incredible fight
routines, but also for their beautiful
iridescent colors, usually in shades of
metallic blues and greens.

John Phipps has been

a beekeeper for 46
years, 28 in the UK and
18 years in Greece. As
well as producing his
own honey he used
to import many vari-
eties of mono-floral
ones from different
countries and sell them to prestigious Lon-
don stores. In 1983 he started The Beekeep-
ers Annual, in 1984 The Beekeepers Quarterly
and in 2016 Natural Bee Husbandry maga-
zine, all of which are published by North-
ern Bee Books, Halifax, UK. In 2013 his book
“A Beekeeper's Progress” was published, in
which he describes the ways in which his
beekeeping has developed and his experi-
ences with beekeepers particularly in East-
ern Europe. Apart from beekeeping, his main
hobby is photography and as well as con-
ventional digital photography he has now
reverted to using film once more.

March 2019 343

344 American Bee Journal
 From the
Archives
A Century Old Tale of
‘Beekeeping in the South’
Editor’s note: The following is reprint-
ed from the December 15 “Melitto Files,”
courtesy of Mary Bammer of the Univer-
sity of Florida’s Honey Bee Research and
Extension Laboratory.
In 1920 the American Bee Journal
published a book called “Beekeeping
In The South; A Handbook on Sea-
sons, Methods and Honey Flora of
the Fifteen Southern States.” Written
by Kennith Hawkins, a Beekeeping
Specialist and “Former Special Agent
in Bee Culture,” this book paints a
nostalgic picture of what it took to
keep honey bees in the south a cen-
tury ago. While major players of to-
day’s industry like the infamous Var-
roa mite are missing from this text, it
is surprising to see just how well the
author’s advice holds up in today’s
beekeeping industry. Below is an ex-
The book as it appears in the American
Bee Journal Library in Hamilton, Illinois
March 2019
cerpt from this book, a chapter enti-
tled “What a Beginner Must Learn,”
shared here with permission from the
American Bee Journal. Many thanks
to Susan Harris, Master Craftsman
Beekeeper, for bringing this work to
our attention!
what a Beginner muSt Learn
The fundamentals of beekeeping
are simple. Only the details require
time to learn. To be successful in bee-
keeping, one must accomplish these
three things:
Build up your colonies to the peak
of storing strength coincident with
the beginning of bloom of your most
important honey plants
Prevent any division of strength or
storing instinct of the colonies there-
after
Conserve the strength of the colo-
ny at all other seasons of the year, to
prepare again for No. 1 the next bee
season
Anyone who can master those three
details will be a successful beekeeper
anywhere. This is particularly true
of the South. There are several ways
these methods can be learned in de-
tail. One is to work for a season in the
bee yard of a successful beekeeper, af-
ter you have first mastered the theory
of beekeeping. Another, harder, but
often best in the long run, is to buy
a few bees and work it out yourself,
with the aid of other beekeepers and
by attending conventions and bee-
keeping demonstrations.
BuiLding up coLonieS
Stimulating colonies is a good deal
like giving a man medicine. If the
conditions are right, the medicine
stimulates the body to action. If con-
ditions are wrong, no medicine will
help. So in beekeeping, one must sup-
ply a few simple conditions and let
the bees do the rest. No colony will
build up well in spring to reach prop-
er strength at the right time without
a young queen. Therefore, requeen
at least every 2 years. No colony can
build up if not supplied with suffi-
cient food, either natural or artificial,
secured the fall before, to last through
the period of rest and until natural
stores are available again in spring.
Therefore, one must learn to gauge
the amount of supplies within the
hive and to feed the bees when nec-
essary. No colony can build up prop-
erly unless the queen and bees have
ample comb room for brood and sur-
plus honey. Therefore, one must learn
to enable the bees to produce really
good combs and learn how to supply
them at the right time to expand the
brood nest and storage room. Given
a young queen, ample stores and suf-
ficient room, the swarming problem
becomes less. The proper presenta-
tion of these necessities to the bees
most frequently stops swarming.
preventing Swarming
Of as much importance as room,
stores, and a young queen, is the time
of giving this additional room so vi-
tal to swarm prevention. A beekeeper
should figure that he has failed in the
case of every swarm which issues.
Giving the needed brood or surplus
room too late is certain to induce
swarming. Every beekeeper must
have an acquaintance with the prin-
cipal honey plants of his locality and
the time of their bloom. When this is
available, he can tell just when to give
added brood room and can gauge the
345

“Home and queen mating yard of J. L. Leath of Corinth, Mississippi.”
building up of his colonies to have
the peak of this expansion coincident
with the first honey flows. The added
surplus room must follow then, else
all previous efforts are lost. The meth-
od of giving this additional surplus
room, especially in comb honey pro-
duction, bears vitally on the success
of swarm prevention.
getting the maximum crop
Given “strong colonies of strong
bees,” as Dr. Miller says and after giv-
ing the bees ample brood room and
the first storage room, a crop failure
still looms ahead for the beginner, if
he does not gauge the speed of the
incoming honey. Too much surplus
room will result in unfinished sec-
tion; too little, in swarming and a
loss of part of the crop which might
have been secured. No beekeeper can
“Figures from the U.S. Census and U.S. Bureau of Crop Estimates.” Note, that in 1910,
there were a reported 38,895 beekeepers in Florida.
346
succeed in honey production or in
swarm prevention if he tries to oper-
ate his bees without sufficient supers
and hive bodies. Penurious beekeep-
ers who try to run the season through
with only two supers, juggling these
between the hives and the honey
house for filling and emptying, are
in the class with the beekeeper who
puts on one super and who takes it
off only in the “full moon of June.”
Sufficient equipment is absolutely es-
sential. Better run fewer colonies with
ample equipment, than so many with
a shortage of things essential to good
beekeeping practice.
conServing the BeeS
The beekeeper’s “New Year” be-
gins with the cessation of the honey
flow for the season. His efforts from
then on gauge far more than is fre-
quently credited, the success he may
have another season. Toward the end
of the honey flow is the best time to
requeen colonies, when the period
of broodlessness coincident with re-
queening does not interfere with the
strength of the colony immediately
before a honey flow. This is also a
time to discourage too much brood
rearing, when there is nothing ahead
to demand more bees. The introduc-
tion of young queens insures brood
later, in the fall, when young bees
are so essential to produce a strong
colony to love through the period of
rest, whether winter temperatures are
low or not. This is also the period for
removing supers and preparing the
bee yard for another season, as well
as preparing the honey crop for the
market. Cooperative marketing as-
sociations will soon enable the bee-
keeper to sell his crop at a fair price
without the losses incident to poor
salesmanship so frequent in the bee-
keeping past.
wintering the BeeS
Whether the beekeeper be in the
land where snows fall and tempera-
tures drop low in winter, or in a land
of sunshine, winter is the time for
the conservation of the bee. At this
time good beekeeping makes defi-
nite plans for the next spring. Ample
stores for winter and the succeeding
spring, until natural honey is avail-
able, are essential. Space for the bees
to heat and care for in the winter
should be reduced to a minimum.
Remember that a temperature of 57
degrees F., requires work on the part
of the bees to prevent lower tempera-
tures in their cluster. The more of this
work they do, the more the colony
loses in numbers and in the vitality
of its individuals. Have good hives,
tight water-proof covers, reduced
entrances, and protection by fence or
trees, against the prevailing winds of
winter days. If your part of the South
is where snow falls and temperatures
drop low, your bees might profit from
being packed. Send for the govern-
ment’s free bulletin on “Wintering
Bees Outdoors.”
the theory and practice
The theories of successful bee-
keeping have been stated in the
first paragraph of this chapter.
Learn them well first. This will en-
able you to separate the chaff from
the wheat in what you read, or what
you are told by beekeepers who
may not be as well posted as they
American Bee Journal
 TABER’S on the web...

Queens & Packages

New USDA Russian
ARS Yugoslavians
Free Brochure Call
“Mrs. Grace Allen’s backlot bees, Nashville, Tenn.”
Phone 707-449-0440
believe. Given the mastered theory, theories into practice modestly, Fax 707-449-8127
the practice will not only become search your practices for a confes- P.O. Box 1672
easy, but will prove the most inter- sion of fault as you go. Above all,
esting study you ever attempted, if remain open-minded about your Vacaville, CA 95696
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If you are not, give up beekeeping be sure to succeed. In any event, in-
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many men and women masquer- bees keep you.
ading under the title “beekeeper”.
Subscribe for bee papers and get
one or two of the better bee books,
which give results of practice, and
not theory alone. Attend the short
courses for beekeepers and witness
demonstrations in handling bees
made by the bee culture extension
men. If there are no such meetings
near you, take the initiate and ar-
range for some. Begin to put your

“Suit worn by a Florida Inspector.”

March 2019 347

348 American Bee Journal
 E. Suhre Bees
Package Bees available April and May

Queens available April through October

For information, pricing or ordering

call Eric (530) 228-3197

March 2019 349

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350 American Bee Journal


MarketPlace
FOR SALE
1000 hives 10-frame two-story on 4-way pallets,
new outfit & queens, excellent condition, available
in May in California. (530) 671-6188.
FOR SALE: Singles and 1 1/2 story hives for sale.
1000 available. Call for Pricing, Jon@(208) 412-
1092 or Golden @ (208) 250-8420. www.golden
beeinc.com
Five frame NUCS for sale mid-April through Fall.
Price dependent on season and quantity of order.
Minimum order of 24 NUCS. No frame trade,
only return of our boxes. Call early to secure your
order. FOB Lewistown PA or Dade City, FL.
Please call W. Fisher Bee Farm for more infor-
mation. 1-800-736-6205. Ask for Aaron.
Cowen Heated top and bottom bar cleaner with
extra SS tub and hot water supply unit purchased
in 2009 less than 40 hours, asking $6000.00.
Item available for pickup in Lewistown, PA or
Dade City, Florida. For more information call
800-736-6205.
Singles for sale, delivery possible on orders over
200. For pricing and availability call: 800-736-6205.
2000 10-frame hives, new queens, on 4-way pal-
lets, very good equipment in FL. Now or after al-
monds in CA. Limited numbers of 4 and 5-frame
deep nucs. Also available in FL starting in March.
Call NOW!! (262) 689-1000.
Make your own Honey Sticks. Complete sys-
tem to start putting your honey in your own
sticks for pennies per stick. Keep the profits
for yourself. www.honeystickmachine.com
Strong, healthy 5 frame Nucs (deep or medium)
available in South Florida starting in April of
2018. Limited quantities of mated queens are also
available. Call Joseph at (561) 715-5715 to place
your order.
HONEY PRICE UPDATES. Call Honey Hot
Line. (763) 658-4193.
PACKAGED BEES AND 5-FRAME NUCS.
TAKING ORDERS NOW FOR 2018. CALL
(231) 735-1203.
For Sale: 200 5-frame nucs and 400 single hives
in Florida. (772) 633-1134.
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING-Net price $1.00 per word per insertion. Initials, letters as in street address, counted as individual words. No advertisement accepted for less than 10
words. Payable cash in advance. Blind Classified 10% additional. (A blind ad is one in which responses are addressed to the ABJ and then forwarded to the advertiser.) Extreme care
always is exercised in establishing the reliability of all advertisers, but the publishers do not guarantee advertisements. Orders close the 20th of the second month preceding cover
date. Send typed copy to : Advertising Dept., American Bee Journal, 51 S. 2nd St., Hamilton, IL 62341 or FAX to 217-847-3660 or e-mail to: abjads@dadant.com.
March 2019
American Bee Journal
PARSONS’ GOLD SOLUTION - The Only
Solution For Keeping Your Honey Bees
Healthy! Herbal Treatment Oil & Jelly
- Bee Grooming Stimulant - Train The
Bees To Do The Work - Healthy Bees
Year Round. No Negative Effects On
Bees, Queen, Wax or Honey. Business
(419) 273-3066; Cell (419) 235-7037.
www.parsonsgoldhoneybees.com #33
Treatment Loaded Syringe - $20.00
plus $8.00 S/H. Checks, Money Orders,
Credit Cards. Parsons’ Gold Apiaries,
c/o Robert B. Parsons, 2092 Twp. Rd.,
195, Forest, OH 45843.
For Sale – 3000 10-frame singles. 2015
queens, new equipment. Also, 5-frame
nucs available. Call Chris (941) 720-
6025.
Bobcat, Hummerbee and Superbee Trailers cus-
tom built. New S450 Bobcat’s, set up with masts
and fifth wheels complete. Fifth Wheels sold
separately. Used Bobcat’s bought, sold and trade-
ins welcome. Custom truck bodies and Custom
smoker boxes, all built by a beekeeper FOR bee-
keepers. www.tropictrailer.com - Eli Mendes
239-340-0484, eli@tropictrailer.com
5 frame Nucs, 10 frame single hives on four-way
pallets, doubles, and story and a half hives, avail-
able year round in large and small quantities. Lo-
cated in the Florida Panhandle. Call for pricing,
Ryan Faircloth 850-510-4627.
FOR SALE: Deep extracting supers, 9-frames per
super. (308) 470-0177.
5 Frame nucs in NorthEast Oklahoma. Available
Late April through Fall. No minimums. Taking
orders now for Spring 2019. www.RoarkAcres.
com Michael Roark (918)578-9201 nucs@
roarkacres.com
Hundreds of boxes with drawn comb. Deeps
+ shallows. Phoenix, Arizona (480) 206-8740.
ATTENTION BEEKEEPERS!!! OUT OF BUSI-
NESS SALE IN CALIFORNIA!!! REDUCED
PRICING!!! TRUCKS DO NOT MEET CALI-
FORNIA CARB REQUIREMENTS. 2 - 2007
Freightliner Flatbeds, 10-Wheelers 23’x8’
bed $30,000 each. 2006 International Flatbed
6-Wheeler 23’x8’ bed $15,000. USED IN BEE-
KEEPING OPERATION. ALL IN EXCEL-
LENT SHAPE. CALL FOR DETAILS - ANNE
661-805-0058.
New Beekeepers Forklift Trailers: 8000 lb. torflex
axle, 17.5/16 ply tires, electric brakes, tilt bed, ex-
panded metal treads. $6,500.00 For photos E-mail:
gcamfab@yahoo.com 269-685-1000 (cell/text).
BUSINESS FOR SALE! 600 PLUS HIVES,
COWEN 120 EXTRACTING SYSTEM, HONEY
TANKS, SUPERS, BOBCAT, TRUCKS AND
MORE! EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO SUC-
CEED! POSSIBLE OWNER FINANCING,
PLEASE CONTACT KEVIN@SARTINFARMS.
COM 909-800-2695
HIVES FOR SALE! DOUBLE DEEPS, GOOD
EQUIPMENT, CALL WITH ANY QUESTIONS
909-800-2695
Top quality cut comb honey. Comb in the jar,
and extracted star thistle, basswood, Florida or-
ange and melaleuca free pepper honey. 10 frame
singles and 5 frame nuc’s available for almonds.
Call Larry at 231-735-1203 or email debbie@
hilbertshoney.com
For Sale: 1000 hives; 10-frame doubles or singles
on 4-way clipped pallets, available after Almond
Pollination 2019. Very good condition. 5-frame
nuc’s available May 24th. Call (559) 974-4042,
Madera, CA.
For Sale: 1000 singles, 500 1 1/2 story on 4-way
pallets available after almond pollination in
CA. Very good condition. Also, 300 5-frame
nucs with new 2019 queens available April/
May. Contact (510) 731-7801.
New 700 --6 5/8 supers w/foundation, painted,
ready for bees. $30 each. (360) 263-2425.
FOR SALE: Good bees in newer equipment. Dou-
ble deep 8-frame hives and 1 ½ -story 10-frame
hives available after almonds in California. Call
Mark McCoy (561) 723-2921.
FOR SALE: 8-frame doubles, heavy, 2018
Queens, on 4-way pallets. Newer equipment.
$315.00 before almonds. $175.00 after almonds.
$140.00 second week of May. Cottonwood, CA.
Sam & Joyce Van Vleet, (530) 347-1987.
Bees and equipment for sale. 10-framer before
and after Almonds, new store bought queens. Pick
up 50 miles north of Bakersfield in Terra Bella,
CA. Call mornings: Fred Jones 559-719-9734.
BEES FOR SALE - After Almond Pollination,
10 Frame Double Deep, (951) 906-4254.
4-way clip pallets, hive lids, empty hive boxes,
gallon feeder jars and extracting equipment
(209)324-6873.
5-frame nucs for sale in May - $125.00. 100 or
more $120.00. Bees are state inspected. Nice
equipment. Moses Stoltzfus, W12235 Spring
Creek Road, Black River Falls, WI 54615.
West central North Dakota beekeeping opera-
tion. Currently running 4000 plus story and
a half colonies. All 6 5/8” honey supers. 9000
square foot warehouse with employee living
quarters. Cowen 120 system, Cook and Beals
spin float and heat exchanger. 120 plus regis-
tered North Dakota locations and California al-
mond contracts. Complete turn key operation
with trucks, trailers, bobcats or partial sale.
All past production records available. Contact
phones: 701-938-4647 or 701-290-0175. Email
contact: bon@ndsupernet.com
FOR SALE: 5 SEMI LOADS of 1 1/2 story
beehives in excellent shape with new queens.
Available in March after the almonds in Cali-
fornia. Contact Bill Rhodes, 352-516-1134.
Single hives after almonds. 209-600-9905.
2500 10 Frame hives, 5 frame nucs.
Available in CA and CO. 970-856-6710
irishtemperbees@yahoo.com Will fill equip-
ment.
Retiring. 75 colonies, 120 Cowen Decapper De-
boxer, Auger, Spinner, Pump, 1000 6-5/8th Su-
pers, Lids, Pollen Traps, Drip Boards 6-5/8th
End bar machine, Much misc. 951-694-5319
For Sale: New 5-frame nucs with covers, bottoms
and frames. Preassembled and painted. 300 avail-
able. Call Riley 801-471-6910. Based in TX.
351
700 strong honeybee colonies available after
spring 2019 almond pollination. Price: 180/unit
in semiload lots, F.O.B. Wasco, CA. Like new
equipment. Downsizing. Ask for photos. Call
Ed 231-408-7485 or email: edeisele@gmail.com
2007 Freightliner truck, M2 Series, fully cus-
tomized with 25 ft bed, 4 mounted tool boxes,
two 80 gallon fuel tanks, good rubber, 480K
road miles. Price: 25,000. Photos available.
Downsizing. Call Ed 231-408-7485 or email:
edeisele@gmail.com
2017 Turbo II Hummerbee, fully loaded, tall
mast for semi loading, loaded tires, HD hy-
draulic pump, clamp down kit, etc. Only 300
hrs, Price: 44,000. 2013 Hummerbee trailer,
3,500. Photos available. Call for Ed 231-408-
7485 or email: edeisele@gmail.com
Foundation Support Products: Poly foundation
support rods and pins. E-Z installation, reusable
wax foundation support products. Color coded
available, wholesale supplier. Contact; Tepweld@
comcast.net, 717-713-8693. Bees and Baskets
Carlisle Pa.
4 & 5 Frame Nucs For Sale $125-$140. Quantity
Discounts Available. **Almond Field Discount**
You bring the boxes, we’ll fill them. Call for info.
608-553-3470.
2,000, two story, ten frame hives on four-way pal-
lets ready to split after the almonds in Bakersfield,
CA area. Call Ray at 909-709-9192.
For sale, 1,500, two story, ten frame hives after
almonds. Phone Chad at 951-265-7594.
1,000 strong two-story, ten frame hives, excellent
equipment after almonds. Call Steve 951-551-7150.
300 five frame nucs available mid to late April
Northern California pickup. 120$ each. Fresh
queens, good equipment. (530)415-3172
Travis Neves.
Ten frame hive bottom pollen traps.
200 plus. $8 each. Also have other bee
equipment located in Wyoming. Call for
pricing. 801-916-4592 Leave message -
might be out some of March.
Hives and Splits available after CA Pollination,
apx. 600 Deep Boxes w/drawn comb, 400 Deep
Boxes w/foundation, 2014 Ford F450 12’ Bed,
1600 Swinger Forklift. Will sell separately, but
bees have to go first. Serious Inquiries only! 509-
731-1560.
4 FRAME NUCS - Calm & Gentle Bees. Pickup
in SW MO. Mid-May $145 each. ph 417-882-
8008
LARGE SINGLES - New Equipment - Late May
in SW MO $215 each. These will make honey!!
ph 417-882-8008
5 frame nucs ready to go end of April - get your
numbers back up fast and more economical -
make honey!! Arrowsmith & Sons 530 515 4522.
2000 colonies 1 3/4 story new pallets, good equip-
ment & ready to split shake. Make nucs after al-
monds in Red Bluff CA - call Arrowsmith and
Sons (530) 515 -4522.
FOR SALE: 240 Deep extraction supers 9-framer
per super. For more information contact Pat at
Chandler’s Sandhill Honey 308.880.1733.
Cowen Wax Spinner and Stainless Steel Auger,
excellent condition, $10,000 for both. Jonesboro,
AR. Steve Culp 870-931-8647.
Retiring - 1000 colony operation. 2000 deep
brood boxes, 3000+ med honey supers, covers,
bottom bds, pallets etc. Cowen (60 fr extrac-
tor, uncapper, spinner, and auger), Fager melter,
tanks. SE Minn. Call 651-463-8716. Email:
srduff1@hotmail.com
For Sale....400+ d.d. also singles available....after
Almonds ...in CA or near Sioux Falls or Sioux
City...605.809.6291.
Bee colonies for sale after almonds. (541)223-
2009.
352
For Sale: 5-frame nucs - $130.00. Available May
2019. Ask for quantity discounts. 207 down pay-
ment with order. Pick up at: Aaron Yoder, N5304
Wold Rd., Black River Falls, WI 54615.
For Sale: Double deeps and single hives, 10
frames or 8 frames. 24 hive minimum. Near
Tracy, CA. 925-626-7800 lendelta@yahoo.com
For Sale: 170 double deep bee hives after almonds
in Texas. $220 ea. 417-955-3207
Retiring Complete Bee Operation in Western
South Dakota with excellent locations on alfalfa
and clover. Serious inquiries only. 605-210-0235.
FOR SALE: 1000 story and a half beehives after
almonds in California - $175.00 each. For Sale:
4-frame nucs with new queens - $95.00 each. Pick
up in Lemoore, California after April 1st. Call
(714) 745-2518.
POLLEN TRAPS – queen excluders, internal
feeder, boxes with comb, empty boxes, pallets,
lids, wax spinner. Arizona (480) 206-8740.
Varroa thermal treatment kills phoretic AND
capped mites with warm air. The Victor is $195
plus shipping and uses $.08 of electricity per
treatment. Greenbeehives.com
Frame Jig 2.0 makes stronger frames with NO
staples or brads. Just TiiteBond III glue and press.
$39 plus shipping. Greenbeehives.com.
The IPK (screened bottom board with oil tray)
eliminates Small Hive Beetles in 48 hours, not
weeks for $32 plus shipping. GreenBeehives.com.
Super assembly jig for 8 & 10 frame Langstroth
hives. $10 plus shipping. Greenbeehives.com.
500 five frame nucs for sale April-May in
southern Arizona. Lots of 100@$120.00 each.
520-730-8884 garden88@cox.net
2004 Swinger 1600 Forklift, Low Hours, Very
Good Condition. Dominisse Honey, Randolph,
NE (402) 360-0952.
HONEY FOR SALE
Excellent clover honey in drums and light beeswax
available. Mark Gilberts Apiaries, (608) 482-1988.
U.S. sweet clover, alfalfa, thistle mix, (9 drums of
black locust-limited supply), white honey, melter
honey, filtered, new drums, excellent honey-
f.o.b. several loads available. Produced by Bald-
win Apiaries, Darlington, WI (608) 776-3700.
Very nice looking & good tasting Nebraska
bottling honey. (402) 319-5125.
CLOVER – Buckwheat, Orange, Tupelo, and
Wildflower – pails or drums. PURE SWEET
HONEY FARM, 514 Commerce Parkway,
Verona, Wisconsin 53593. (608) 845-9601.
Clover, Basswood, Wildflower honey available in
pails and drums in WI. Great tasting! Light bees-
wax available. Call (262) 689-1000.
Honey and beeswax for sale. Clover, Orange
Blossom, Wildflower. Many varietals available.
Smitty Bee Honey (712) 748-4292.
QUALITY HONEY, barrels, your buckets.
Hollenbeck, Kirksville, Missouri. (660) 665-2542
evenings.
Premium Michigan Honey from blueberries,
wildflowers and thistle. Selling by truck load.
Call Cory at 269.217.4404.
Premium Florida honeys for all your pack-
ing needs: gallberry, mangrove, pepper,
orange blossom, call Ed 231-408-7485 or Steve
239-896-0777, email: edeisele@gmail.com or
seisele007@gmail.com.
Barrels ND white honey by the drum or truckload.
Call 701-650-0200. mackrillhoney@hotmail.com
Premium Oregon meadowfoam, blackberry,
clover, alfalfa honey in drums. Prescott Honey
Farms. 541-977-8848.
HONEY AND
BEESWAX WANTED
HONEY WANTED—Extracted or comb.
LEIGHTON’S HONEY, INC., 1203 Commerce
Ave. Haines City, Florida 33844. (863) 422-1773.
FAX (863) 421-2299
HONEY WANTED– all grades. Also, honey barrels
for sale. Contact Pure Sweet Honey Farm Inc., 514
Commerce Parkway, Verona, WI. (608) 845-9601.
Round comb, Fresh, good tasting
Pollen, Varietal Honeys. 800-678-1226.
tasty@zspecialtyfood.com
HONEY PRICE UPDATES. Call Honey
Hot Line. (763) 658-4193.
ROYAL JELLY
BEST 100% PURE FRESH ROYAL JELLY.
$65.00 per kilo + shipping. HIGHEST PO-
TENCY. LOWEST PRICES guaranteed on
large orders. TOP QUALITY. Stakich, Inc.
248-642-7023 X 301
POLLEN
QUALITY, CLEAN, LOW MOISTURE POL-
LEN $5.50/lb. Min. 10 lbs. + shipping. LOW-
EST PRICES guaranteed for large orders.
Stakich, Inc. Phone 248-642-7023 X 301
Fresh 2018 Northern California raw bulk pol-
len available. Available raw uncleaned and
semi-dried and cleaned. Call for pricing at
(916) 224-2211.
Irradiated fresh pollen guaranteed from Cali-
fornia. We have irradiated fresh bee pollen for
sale. For inquiries or to place an order, please
email us at: backroadbeekeeping@gmail.com,
or call 916-716-0302. You can also visit us at
our website at backroadbeekeeping.com
POLLINATION
Bees wanted for the Almonds. Art Harris, 6301
Victor St. #63, Bakersfield, CA 93308 (661) 444-
1470.
Almond Pollination 2019 - We are looking for
over 4,000 additional hives for the 2019 season.
Wintering yards with full service maintenance,
feeding and medication. We have trucks, fork-
lifts and crew to place hives in orchard. You are
paid 50% on February 25th and 50% April 20th.
Visit:www.almondbeepollination.com for more
details. California Almond Pollination Service,
Inc. (209) 202-8915. E Mail: steve@almondbee.
buzz
BEES AND QUEENS
JERRY FOSTER QUEENS quality Carniolan and
hybrid Italian queens at competitive prices. Nucs
and packages also. Jerry Foster Apiaries, 937 9th
St., Colusa, CA 95932. Phone (530) 458-4234.
Pacific Northwest mated queens. Orders of 50 or
more. Treasure Valley Idaho. Call for Pricing, Jon
@ (208) 412-1092. www.goldenbeeinc.com
QUALITY QUEENS from HAWAII, available
year round. Call KARRUS QUEENS (808)
854-5308.
3 lb Packages Bees for sale, for pick up in
Wisconsin. Contact: Mark Gilberts Apiaries 608-
482-1988.
Let us put bees into your equipment with enough
time to feed them up for the almonds. May be
willing to do the feeding. Also, willing to fill your
equipment in the spring. Call Rick Riggs (661)
204-2631.
American Bee Journal
Doubles, singles, brood for sale
year round. FOB Jan-April, Oak-
dale, CA. April-Dec., Milton Freewa-
ter, OR. Queens less than 6 months,
great equipment. Ryan@sweetbee
honeyco.com (360) 907-0842. $5k min.
purchase.
Marked Queens - 25 minimum order, tested
on full size deep frames - Breeders selected
from our most productive hives-$28 per queen
+ UPS overnight. outwestapiary@gmail.com
(530) 908 1311.
WILD SURVIVOR BREEDER QUEENS
NW Feral Stock - Hardy - Hygienic
Mite Tolerant - Disease Resistant.
– OLYMPIC WILDERNESS APIARY
Isolated Yards – (360) 928-3125. www.
wildernessbees.com
2019 Early-bird pricing–School House Bees.
Italian & Russian-hybrid pkg bees & queens:
P/U–KY ship-midwest. 5-Frame Nucs, Single &
Double Hives P/U–KY. Pails of Spille’s honey all
year. www.schoolhousebees.com (859) 356-1350.
ITALIAN PACKAGE BEES, 3# $90.00, cage in-
cluded. Pick up only. 50 minimum. 10% deposit.
Cottonwood, CA. Sam & Joyce Van Vleet, (530)
347-1987.
HAWAIIAN QUEEN BEES
AVAILABLE JANUARY-APRIL.
971-808-3223. LIMITED QUANTI-
TIES - SCHEDULE YOUR DELIVERY
TODAY!
PACKAGE BEES AND QUEENS for sale
spring 2019. Also, 10-frame singles and some
double deep 10-frame and 8-frame hives. Powell
Apiaries, 4140 Co. Rd. KK, Orland, CA 95963.
Phone (530) 865-3346. FAX (530) 865-3043.
Package Honey bees FOR SALE
in Ohio and eastern Indiana
www.olddrone.net
ITALIAN QUEENS, MARKED AND MATED.
JONES BEE FARM, HOUSTON, MS 38851.
CALL SAM JONES: 662-456-6285.
5 Frame Nucs for sale mid-April in Ventura
CA. Minimum order is 20 nucs. Call early
to secure your order. Brand new 2019 Italian
queens, 3 frames of brood, a frame of pollen
and honey $125 each. Call Steve 805-636-4426
www.missionbeekeeping.com
Eastern Bee Supply - Nucs /Queens/Pack-
ages. 910-290-4186 https://easternbeesupply.
my-free.website/
NUCS & QUEENS – shipping available.
NorthFloridaBees@mail.com (850) 661-
8077
George S Zimmerman in northern California
is now taking orders for 2019 Queens being
ready around first of April. VSH trait (Varroa
Sensitive Hygiene) hybrid queens or Cordovan
Italian Queens. All queens are open mated in
my Cordovan Italian yard. Call 530-736-7343 or
email me at gszimm42@gmail.com
A & W Enterprises, Northern California Queen’s.
Now taking orders for Queens, competitive pric-
ing, Mated Italians and Carniolan Queens. Order
100 Queens or more and get special pricing. All
orders shipped next day UPS, pick-ups are wel-
come. Call for pricing - Dave @208-861-8303 All
orders email to BeesAWenterprise@gmail.com
for confirmation.
NorCal Bee has 500 5 frame nucs with bees and
laying queen available for purchase . Call or text
us at (530) 300-3500.
March 2019
NUCS
NEW! ZipNetBags.com! 36”x26” double-
layered net bag w/36” zipper to
transport NUC of bees. 281/556-6798,
info@ZipNetBags.com
WANTED
Honey and Beeswax wanted. All colors and
varietals. Send samples or call Smitty Bee Honey
(712) 748-4292.
Beekeeper w/bees needed for 2019 North Da-
kota Honey Season. Serious inquiries only.
Contact: BumblebeePalace76@outlook.com
Would you like to operate your bee company in
North Dakota? Contact: carrot201611@yahoo.
com
North Dakota beekeeper looking to lease bees for
2019 honey season - May through September.
Call Larry at 701-226-9999 for more information.
Bismarck ND.
HELP WANTED
Full time position available in Oregon. Bee-
keeping experience and CDL required. Contact
Ryan@sweetbeehoneyco.com PO Box 558,
Milton Freewater, OR 97862 (360)907-0842.
Seasonal and full-time help needed at our migratory
bee operation. We are located in FL and WI. We do
pollination, queen rearing and honey production.
Some experience preferred, team environment,
wages dependent on experience, good opportunity
or advancement. Prior work history and references
required. Contact Gary at (262) 689-1000.
Olivarez Honey Bees/Big Island Queens is seek-
ing motivated beekeepers to join our Hawaii
team! Experience preferred. Self-motivator and
ability to work in a team environment a plus. Po-
sitions are full time, salary based on experience.
Great Benefits Package. Prior work history and
references required. Advancement opportunities
available. Submit resume to info@ohbees.com
or Olivarez Honey Bees Inc/Big Island Queens,
P O Box 847 Orland Ca 95963, Fax: 530-865-
5570, Phone 530-865-0298
MISCELLANEOUS
The AMERICAN BEEKEEPING FEDERA-
TION has many benefits to offer its members.
Send for a membership packet of information
today! We also offer a free Beginning Beekeeping
Packet. Contact the AMERICAN BEEKEEPING
FEDERATION, 3525 Piedmont Rd. NE, Bld. 5.
Suite 300, Atlanta, GA 30305-1509, Phone (404)
760-2875, Fax 404-240-0998, or email info@
abfnet.org.
PERIODICALS
L’ABEILLE DE FRANCE—The most important
of the monthly publications in France - for all
beekeepers, from the amateurs to the professional.
Each month: an article for beginners, reports from
specialists, a review of the latest information all
over the world. Ask for a sample Annual subscrip-
tion: 40$ US. ABEILLE DE FRANCE- 5, rue du
Copenhague-F 75008 PARIS.
THE AUSTRALASIAN BEEKEEPER—
Senior Beekeeping Journal of the Southern
Hemisphere. Complete coverage of all bee-
keeping topics in one of the world’s largest
beekeeping countries. Published by Pender
Beekeeping Supplies Pty. Ltd., “Bilga” 79 Nay-
lor Road, Urila, N.S.W. 2620, Australia. Annual
subscription paid in advance $160 AUD.
THE AUSTRALIAN BEE JOURNAL—
Caters to both amateur and commercial
apiarists. Subscription $120.00 Australian
currently for all overseas subscribers per annum.
Published monthly. Victorian Apiarists’ Asso-
ciation, Inc., P.O. Box 40, California Gully,Vic.
Australia 3556 Ph: 03 5446 1543, Email:
vaa@vicbeekeepers.com.au.
BEECRAFT The UK’s leading monthly beekeep-
ing magazine. View a digital copy and subscribe
on line at www.bee-craft.com.
DIE BIENE – ALLGEMEINE DEUTSCHE IM-
KERZEITUNG (ADIZ) – IMKERFREUND The
Bee magazines with special publications in bee
science and management for the hobbyist as well
as for the sideliner and professional beekeeper.
Three regional titles but same content today for
Germany except partly Imkerfreund for Bavaria.
Monthly publications with 64 pages. Subscription
Euro 44.50 per year – Deutscher Landwirtschafts-
verlag GmbH, Postfach 870324, 13162 Berlin, Tel.
+49(0)30/293974-87, Fax +49(0) 30/293974-59,
www.diebiene.de
HIVELIGHTS, National magazine of the Cana-
dian Honey Council. Published quarterly. Free
sample on request, write to Canadian Honey
Council, Suite 236, 234-5149 Country Hills
Blvd. NW, Calgary AB T3A 5K8, CANADA.
Subscription information available at www.
honeycouncil.ca.
HONEYBEE NEWS, The Journal of the New
South Wales Apiarists’ Association, Inc., Inter-
national Subscription AUS$50.00 (Airmail) Bank
Draft, Visa or MasterCard payable to NSW AA.
Published bi-monthly—For more information
contact: The Editor, PO Box 352, Leichhardt
NSW 2040 Australia. E-mail: honeybee@
accsoft.com.au
IBRA (the International Bee Research Associa-
tion) is a unique organization established in 1949
for the advancement of bee science and beekeep-
ing. It publishes two magazines: JAR – the Journal
of Apiculture Research, for scientists, and BW
- Bee World, for beekeepers who want broaden
their horizons by learning about other beekeeping
traditions, other bees, other ideas. Members chose
which magazine(s) to include in their membership.
IBRA is a vital bridge between the local (hive)
and global concerns. IBRA is registered under UK
charity law (Office: 91 Brinsea Road, Congresbury,
Bristol, BS49 5JJ, UK) www.ibrabee.org.uk
IRISH BEEKEEPING—Read An Beachaire
(The Irish Beekeeper). Published monthly. Sub-
scription $50.00 per annum post free. Dermot
O’Flaherty, Journal Manager, Rosbeg, Westport,
Co. Mayo, Ireland
ATTENTION LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS—
Ranch Magazine is your monthly information
guide for Angora, Cashmere and meat goats, as
well as sheep and cattle. Comprehensive Breeder
Directory. 1-Yr $27, 2-Yrs $54. Foreign &
Canada add $36 per yr. postage. Subscribe today!
Box 2678-ABJ, San Angelo, TX 76902. Call for
free sample. (325) 655-4434
THE SCOTTISH BEEKEEPER—Monthly Maga-
zine of the Scottish Beekeeper’s Association. Inter-
national in appeal, Scottish in character. View back
numbers and Subscription rates at: http://scottish
beekeepers.org.uk
SOUTH AFRICAN BEE JOURNAL – The
official magazine of the South African Bee In-
dustry Organization (SABIO). Published quar-
terly in English, with Afrikaans articles, on the
South African Honeybee sub-species of Cape
Bees and African bees. For enquiries send to
info@sabio.org.za or refer www.sabio.org.za
ULADAG BEE JOURNAL - Publication of
Uludag Beekeeping Association, published quar-
terly in Turkish (with English titles and summaries
of all articles) and English in all aspects of bee-
keeping; beekeeping news, practical beekeeping,
and research articles, and considered a link be-
tween Turkish beekeeping and the world. Gazcilar
Cad. No. 9/2 16220 Bursa-TURKEY Fax:+90 224
224 3964 http://www.uludagaricilik.org.tr
353

A.N. Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
A & O Forklift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Acorn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
American Bee Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
American Honey Producers . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Bastin Honey Bee Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
BeeCulture.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Bee Excellent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Bee Hive Thermal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
BeeInformed.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Beekeepingins.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Beeline Apiaries & Woodenware . . . . . . . 354
Beelite Wax Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Bee Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Bee Smart Designs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Betterbee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Blue Ridge Honey Company . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Blue Sky Bee Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Bordelon Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Borntrager Bee Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Brand New Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Brother Bee Queen Company . . . . . . . . . . 343
Brown Honey Co. Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Browning Cut Stock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Brumley Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Bucko Gloves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Butte Valley Apiaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Buzz’s Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
CC Pollen Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Complete Bee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
Contract Pros Mfg.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Cook & Beals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Cowen Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Dadant & Sons, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . 247, 268, 274,
330 & Back Cover
Dakota Gunness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Duo Hive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Ernst Seeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
East Texas 10-Frame Singles for Sale . . . . 340
354
Advertising Index
Globalpatties.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Hardeman Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Hawaiian Queen Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Heilyser Technology Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Heine, Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Heitkams Honey Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
Hilbert’s Honey Bees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Hogg Halfcomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Honey B Healthy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Honey Land Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Horace Bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
JJ’s Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Kelley Beekeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Koehnen, C.F. & Sons, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Kona Queen Hawaii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Koppert Biological Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Lohman Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Mann Lake Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Maxant Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Meyers, A.H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Miller Bee Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Mother Lode Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Mr. Wayne’s Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
NakedBeeHives.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Nod Apiary Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
NUCS.US. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Old Sol Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Olivarez Honey Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
OxaVap.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Paradise Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Park-Burris Queens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Pierco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Plastic Packaging Concept. . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Pollination Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Powell Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Queen Right Colonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
QSI Honey and Food Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
R.M. Farms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Roberts Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Ross Rounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Rossman Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Sanders Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Selby Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Shastina Millwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Sherriff, B.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Simpson’s Bee Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Smith Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
South Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
South Georgia Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Spell Bee Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Stan’s Pure Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
Stayers Quality Queens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Strachan Apiaries Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Suhre, Adam Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Suhre, E. Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Sunshine Honey Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Superior Bee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Swienty Beekeeping Equipment . . . . . . . . 323
Taber’s Honey Bee Genetics . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Tauzer Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Texas Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Thorne Bee Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Tree’s for Bees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
T.R.S. Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Vidalia Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
VP Queen Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Weaver, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Western Bee Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Wicwas Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Wilbanks Apiaries Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Wintersun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Wooten’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Z’s Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Z Specialty Food, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
American Bee Journal
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356 American Bee Journal