Research Updates Archives - Scientific Beekeeping https://scientificbeekeeping.com/research-updates/ Beekeeping Through the Eyes of a Biologist Sat, 30 Dec 2023 12:30:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Drones and Varroa: Part 2 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/drones-and-varroa-part-2/ Sat, 30 Dec 2023 10:51:22 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=8347 Contents 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 […]

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]]> Drones and Varroa: Part 1 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/drones-and-varroa-part-1/ Sat, 30 Dec 2023 10:23:12 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=8328 Contents 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   […]

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]]> A Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration: Part 4 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/a-study-on-bee-drift-and-mite-immigration-part-4/ Sat, 22 Jul 2023 21:39:13 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=8196 Contents 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: […]

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]]> A Study on Bee Drift and Mite Immigration: Part 3 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/a-study-on-bee-drift-and-mite-immigration-part-3/ Sat, 22 Jul 2023 20:26:43 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=8170 Contents 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 […]

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]]> A Study on Bee and Mite Drift: Part 2 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/8063-2/ Wed, 03 May 2023 05:48:15 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=8063  Contents 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 […]

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]]> Testing Cotton Matrices for OAE https://scientificbeekeeping.com/testing-cotton-matrices-for-oae/ Wed, 29 Mar 2023 23:01:38 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=8009 Contents 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 […]

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]]> Walking the Walk Selective Breeding for Mite Resistance; 2022 Update, Part 1 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/walking-the-walk-selective-breeding-for-mite-resistance-2022-update-part-1/ Thu, 11 Aug 2022 19:52:44 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=7812 Contents 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   […]

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]]> Refining the Mite Wash: Part 2 – Mite Release https://scientificbeekeeping.com/6960-2/ Sat, 24 Oct 2020 18:34:26 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=6960 Refining the Mite Wash- Part 2 Mite Release Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in August 2020 The high efficacy of hand dishwashing detergent at getting mites to release their grip on bees bestirred me to investigate this finding more deeply.  What I’ve come to realize is that there are four steps involved between […]

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]]> Suggested protocol to determine amount of mite immigration https://scientificbeekeeping.com/suggested-protocol-to-determine-amount-of-mite-immigration/ Sun, 11 Feb 2018 21:11:02 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=3351 Suggested protocol to determine amount of mite immigration I’ve updated at the link below: @Citizen Science Mite Drift Instructions

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]]> Tips for Citizen Scientists https://scientificbeekeeping.com/tips-for-citizen-scientists/ Sun, 23 Nov 2014 01:28:23 +0000 https://scientificbeekeeping.com/?p=2335 Tips for Designing Bee Research Projects Beekeepers are known for being of curious and experimental minds. Since factors affecting beekeeping are continually changing, new unanswered questions are bound to arise; the beekeeper “citizen scientist” can often answer them himself by performing a well-designed experiment, and then share those results to the benefit of everyone. But […]

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