Beekeeping Through the Eyes of a Biologist
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Allow me to start with an excellent assessment by Bee Culture’s Phil Craft (BC July 2015): Perhaps beekeepers who have come to the craft in the last few decades aren’t aware of the effect varroa had when it first arrived on this continent and of how it earned its full name, Varroa destructor. Whatever the reason, every year, beekeepers all over the country lose colonies to mites and the viruses of which they are carriers, and they never know what hit them. They blame pesticides,or CCD, or habitat loss, and sometimes those really are causes, or at least significant factors. However, too, too often, the underlying cause is a lack of effective management, which allows a mite infestation to overwhelm a colony or weaken it to the point that it succumbs easily to other stressors. The most frustrating thing about these losses is that they don’t have to happen. Watch Dennis vanEngelsdorp explain why mite management is critical for colony survival, and which methods work or don’t at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bm3Y4t1NwQ
Selective Breeding Progress Report 2023 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ September 2023 In 2017 I proposed a simplified method for commercial queen breeders to select for varroa-resistant stock, and then undertook a demonstration project to see if it would work. After six years of strong selection, we appear to be making substantial progress! […]
Read MoreContents Testing Hypothesis #2. 2 Let’s Do the Calcs! 11 Conclusions 11 Why Would Mites Prefer Drones?. 12 Acknowledgements. 12 Citations and Notes 12 Drones and Varroa Part 2 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ November 2023 In the May issue of this journal, Dr. Zac Lamas presented some findings of […]
Read MoreContents The Proposed Hypotheses 2 Monitoring of the Mite Infestation. 3 How Best to Obtain a Representative and Consistent Sample?. 3 Testing Hypothesis #1. 4 Field Observations. 5 Results. 9 The Take Home. 15 Citations and Notes 16 Drones and Varroa Part 1 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ October 2023 […]
Read MoreThe Status of Our Industry Regarding Varroa Management and What Can We Do About It? Part 2 First Published in ABJ August 2023 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com CATCH UP Last month I wrote about the options (legal or unapproved) that beekeepers are taking to deal with varroa as it evolves resistance to amitraz. In this […]
Read MoreA Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration Part 6 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ July 2023 In our 2018 study in the California foothills, we confirmed that bees indeed drift from collapsing colonies to other hives, even to those at considerable distance. And that drifting can result in a substantial […]
Read MoreTips for Using the XXX cup for Monitoring Varroa TAKING THE SAMPLE Use an 18-quart dishwashing tub and a stainless-steel half cup (125 mL) measuring cup (for measuring live bees, a deep cup is more accurate than a shallow cup). Take the bee sample from a frame (or frames) adjacent to the broodnest, but not […]
Read MoreContents Introduction: A Reality Check on the American Beekeeping Industry’s Varroa Control Predicament 2 The Lead Up. 2 The Elephant in the Room.. 2 Our Conundrum.. 3 Our Predicament 3 A Personal Note. 4 Rationalization and Lack of Unreasonable Risk. 4 How the EPA Can Help Us 4 Our Current Arsenal: The Registered Varroacides 5 […]
Read MoreContents A Deeper Look into our Data. 1 Was Robbing Involved with Mite Immigration?. 6 Discussion on Robbing. 8 Study Wrap Up. 9 Review.. 10 Next Month. 10 Acknowledgements. 11 Citations and Notes 11 A Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration Part 5 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ June 2023 […]
Read MoreContents Distance that Worker Bees will Drift 1 Effect of Distance upon Bee Drift 4 Hive-to-Hive Variation in Captured Tags 7 Validating our Methodology. 8 Mite Immigration: Results of the Stickyboard Counts. 10 Cumulative Mite Immigration. 11 Next Month. 12 Acknowledgements. 13 Citations and Notes 13 A Study on Bee and Mite Drift: […]
Read MoreContents The Donor Colonies 1 Tagging. 1 Results and Discussion. 2 Did the Tagged Bees Behave Normally?. 2 Progress of the Colonies. 4 Answering our Questions 4 Observations from the Donor Hives. 5 Correlation With Varroa Infestation. 6 Tag Recovery by Date. 8 Timelines of Recovery of Drifted Bees 9 Relevance to Mite Immigration. 10 […]
Read MoreContents Questions to Answer 1 Materials and Methods 2 Placement of the hives 2 Preparation of the Mite Donor Colonies. 3 Tagging the bees 3 The Control Group. 7 Preparation of the Mite Receiver Hives 7 Eliminating the mites. 7 Magnetic tag recovery. 9 The stickyboards. 10 The hive scales. 10 Layout of the Donor […]
Read MoreContents The Fabrics to Test Preparation A Field Trial Results Discussion TESTING COTTON MATRICES FOR OAE Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ January 2023 I continue to look for improved methods for application of extended-release oxalic acid (OAE), and thought that perhaps there might be an inexpensive, fully biodegradable all-cotton fabric that […]
Read MoreContents Extended-release thymol 1 The optimal release rate and placement of thymol 1 What’s The Optimal Dose?. 2 Our Field Testing. 3 The Dose-Response Curve. 12 Discussion. 12 Citations and notes 13 Thymol — A new application method? Part 2 First published in ABJ in December 2022 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com I do a […]
Read MoreContents “Off-Label” use of thymol 4 Thymol products for varroa control 5 Understanding Thymol 6 Reaction to the delivery matrix by the bees 6 Thymol in Shop Towels. 7 Removal and dispersion of thymol matrices by the Bees 9 Extended-Release Thymol?. 11 A Thicker Matrix. 11 moving ahead to 2022. 15 Citations and notes 15 […]
Read MoreContents Hard “Flash Treatment” vs Slow-Release. 1 Flash Treatments 1 Extended-Release Application. 2 our Follow-up experiments. 3 But Did the Wrapped Strips Kill Mites?. 8 Discussion. 9 Citations and Notes 9 Formic Pro in Hot Weather — Slowing the Rate of Vapor Release Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ in October 2022 […]
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