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
Contents Formic for mite management 1 A trick for using formic pro on weak colonies 2 Queen loss in hot weather 5 Why would queens be more susceptible to formic than workers?. 6 A test of queen loss in tiny colonies. 7 Taking advantage of opportunity. 10 Trial #1 — Would foil covers reduce queen […]
Read MoreSelective Breeding for Mite Resistance, Part 3 Shifting the Genetics of a Breeding Population Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com The alleles necessary for varroa resistance already existed in my stock of bees, so I didn’t need to “create” anything new. What I’m attempting to do via strong selective pressure is to (1) eliminate from our […]
Read MoreContents The Achilles’ heel of varroa. 2 Genotype vs. Individual- or colony-level phenotype. 2 gene regulation. 3 An example of the differential expression of genes in the honey bee. 4 What Is our own bees’ mechanism(s) for Resistance?. 6 Testing for Uncapping behavior 9 Is there a Cost to the colony for resistance?. 10 Our […]
Read MoreContents Resistance vs. Tolerance or “Survival” 1 Managed apiaries vs. natural evolution. 2 Background. 3 The necessity of Mechanical Agitators 3 The resistant colonies 6 So what’s our progress so far?. 10 A built-in lag inherent in open mating programs 13 Exhibit A: Mite-count tracking for our 2022 breeders 14 Coming. 16 References. 16 […]
Read MoreContents The slow effect of OaE. 1 Mite turnover 3 A bothersome question. 5 You don’t need to kill a single mite in order to control varroa! 5 Varroa’s world: Olfaction, taste, and touch. 7 Disruption of mite sensory perception. 9 “Blinding” or irritant?. 9 A relevant question. 9 Wrap Up. 10 Citations and notes […]
Read MoreContents An additional test of matrices and OA:gly ratios. 1 Cardboard Strips vs. Sponges. 3 Compostability of spent sponges. 3 A winter field trial 4 Methods. 5 Results. 9 Discussion. 11 The Elephant in the Room.. 12 Reality Check. 12 A possible easy solution for getting us legal 13 Citations and notes. 15 […]
Read MoreI’ve been speaking on a daily basis with one of the two beekeepers whose operations are infested, as well as others in the industry. So far, over 1000 of their colonies have been euthanized, with many more planned to be burned. As you can imagine, this is very emotional for those beekeepers, who have also been prevented from […]
Read MoreExtended-release oxalic acid for varroa management This method of application of oxalic acid is not yet approved by the EPA, so the instructions below are intended only for researchers having Pesticide Research Authorizations, Experimental Use Permits, or other permissions from their State Lead Agencies. FYI, the EPA does not require an Experimental Use Permit to […]
Read MoreBeekeeper-funded Research A Test of Thermal Treatment for Varroa Part 2 First published in ABJ April 2021 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com Last month I covered the theory of using thermal treatment (hyperthermia) to control varroa, and some of the designs of devices on the market. I’d like to now answer some questions regarding thermal treatment. I […]
Read MoreBeekeeper-funded Research A Test of Thermal Treatment for Varroa: Part 1 First published in ABJ March 2021 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com Last month I wrapped up the report on my testing of mite treatments suitable for application during a honey flow. A number of beekeepers have also asked me about using thermal treatment. I found […]
Read MoreCrystals from oxalic acid vaporization on bees’ bodies Randy Oliver February 2020 In order to determine how OA crystals settled on bees’ bodies after an OA vaporization, I set a graduated microscope slide and a number of dead bees under a 16-oz inverted plastic cup. I injected OA vapor briefly into a hole at the […]
Read MoreMite Control While Honey is on the Hive Part 4 First Published in ABJ February 2021 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com In the three previous articles in this series, I showed the results of my field trial of summer mite treatments. Now let’s go a little further with extended-release oxalic acid (OAE). A Note on […]
Read MoreMite Control While Honey is on the Hive Part 3 First Published in ABJ January 2021 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com In my two previous articles in this series, I showed the formal results of my field trial comparing summer mite treatments. We also have additional findings from other yards in which we applied extended-release OA. […]
Read MoreMite Control While Honey is on the Hive Part 2 First Published in ABJ December 2020 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com Last month I covered the setup of my field trial of summertime mite treatments, including experimental extended-release oxalic acid in glycerin. I’ll now share the results. The Results and Discussion Due to space limitations, […]
Read MoreMite Control While Honey is on the Hive Part 1 First Published in ABJ November 2020 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com During our hot, dry California summers most of our nectar flow may be over by early July, but if we’re lucky, our hives may still put on some harvestable honey. In any case, to control […]
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