APHA scientists spotlight how micro-transmitters are turning yellow-legged hornets into flying beacons, leading inspectors straight to hidden nests in record time.| aphascience.blog.gov.uk
Climate change affects habitats, food sources, and more. Learn all about the impact of climate change on bee populations with this overview.| Beekeeping Supplies & Equipment | Dadant & Sons 1863
Pesticides aren’t just harmful to pests; they can also have consequences for local pollinators. Explore the impact of pesticides on bee health with this guide.| Beekeeping Supplies & Equipment | Dadant & Sons 1863
12-18 May is Invasive Species Week, led by the GB Non-native Species Secretariat (NNSS), part of APHA. This annual week of events and activities is held to raise awareness of invasive non-native species and how we can all help prevent their spread. It is also an opportunity to highlight the work many organisations are doing all year round.| APHA Science Blog
Honey Bee Health Coalition Varroa Management| Bee Health
Authors: Philip A. Moore, Michael E. Wilson, John A. Skinner| Bee Health
This webinar series will provide an overview of pollination requirements and strategies to ensure pollination of different specialty crops. Farmers and gardeners rely on crop pollinators, including honey bees, alternative managed bees like the blue orchard bee, and wild bees. Pollination experts will discuss how to support these pollinators in almond, blueberry, tree fruit, pumpkin, and watermelon. Webinars will take place on selected Tuesdays at 11a.m. Pacific time, noon Mountain time, 1 p.m...| Bee Health
What is Integrated Crop Pollination?| Bee Health
Honey bees are the most important pollinator in the United States and worldwide. Pollination is essential and a critically important process in producing much of the food we eat. Without pollinators, such as the honey bee, we would have few fruits, vegetables, nuts and many other types of food we depend upon. This 52-minute video gives an overview of the pollination process, the value of bees and the benefit humans gain from this relationship. It also provides insight into the complexity and ...| Bee Health
Yes and no. A drone’s (male bee) purpose is to mate with a queen (female reproductive bee). All other colony activities are performed by worker bees (female bees). To discuss how a bee is born, we can start with when the egg is laid. Generally speaking, if the queen fertilizes this egg with sperm, it will become a worker bee, or another queen. If she does not fertilize the egg, it will become a drone (male). The care and feeding of the larvae that hatches from these eggs are done by worker ...| Bee Health
The only way to be sure is to examine bees by microscope. A sample of bees is macerated in a small amount of water, and then a drop of the liquid is examined on a microscope slide at 400 power. Spores appear as ovals, about 3 by 5 microns. One outward indication of Nosema is brown spots (fecal material) on the outside or inside of a hive. The inner cover or top bars can be soiled with feces in a hive that carries Nosema ceranae. However, a hive heavily infested with Nosema ceranae may appear ...| Bee Health
Mite-resistant Bees. In response to development of resistance to chemical miticides, and in order to provide more sustainable mite management, honey bees have been selectively bred for resistance to, or tolerance of, Varroa. There are two known mechanisms of resistance: hygienic behavior and suppression of mite reproduction (SMR). Hygiene is the removal of diseased (including mite-parasitized) brood by workers; SMR is the reduction in reproduction of female mites within brood cells. Types of ...| Bee Health
Bees produce the beeswax used in the construction of their combs from the four pair of wax glands located on the underside of the abdomen. These glands are most highly developed and active in bees 10-18 days old. The wax appears in small, irregular oval flakes or scales that project between the overlapped portions of the last four abdominal segments. Wax can be secreted only at relatively high temperatures and after a large intake of honey or nectar. -John Skinner, University of Tennessee| Bee Health
Nosema disease can be treated successfully with Fumigillin (trade name Fumidil). Colonies are usually treated in the fall, spring, or both. Follow the directions on the label and feed the correct dosage in 50% sugar syrup (1:1 sugar:water, with antibiotic dissolved in 5-10 ml warm water then mixed into the syrup) in the spring, 66% in the fall. Nosema ceranae also responds to Fumidil treatment, but may require a higher dosage. The antibiotic does not kill the spores, but disrupts vegetative r...| Bee Health