Hope for the Honey Bee

The Varroa mite has been wiping out bee populations around the world.
Now there may be hope to fight the pesticide resistant strain.

A British beekeeper said on Wednesday he may have discovered a strain of honey bee immune to a parasite that has been gradually wiping out populations of the vital insect worldwide.

Scientists have been trying to find a way to fight the pesticide-resistant Varroa mite.

But now a retired heating engineer who has spent 18 years searching for a mite-resistant breed may have made a breakthrough.

Ron Hoskins, 79, from Swindon in southern England, says he has managed to isolate and breed a strain of bees which "groom" one another, removing the mites.

Read the rest here.

Bee Concerned

We went into the hive yesterday. The idea was to check on honey stores and see if we would be in a position to try and harvest some honey at the end of the month.

But their progress has been less than stellar. When we added the third super, the bees had quickly filled the first two. Honey was copious and I was really excited about their progress. This time was different.

While I was feeling much better about handling the bees and the frames and such (I'm still not bare handed), the bees hadn't moved into the third super.

The bottom two were full of capped honey. The bees were building everywhere, but they had not moved up at all. My son and I were both surprised and disappointed.

I've read that sometimes the worker bees don't know to move up when you add a new super, so I moved some of the filled honey comb up a level, in hopes that the bees would do the same.

I was hoping to treat for mites and disease in the beginning of September, after we harvested just a few pounds of honey. Unless something big happens, I don't know that we will get any honey. My son was counting on getting some this year. He wanted to give it as presents for Christmas.

Would the bees go into overdrive if I started feeding right now? I don't know. But I might try it.

Stop calling

I'm not sure what to make of this one. But it is interesting to note. If we want to save the worlds food supply, we might need to stop using cell phones.

What, doesn't make sense?

Well, your cell phone may be effecting the pollination of our flowers.

For years, bee populations have been declining, and a recent study questions whether cell-phone radiation may be to blame.

Last year, bee populations dropped 17 percent in England, according to the British Bee Association, and almost 30 percent in America, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Since the 1980s, the varroa mite has been considered a prime suspect as the killer of billions of bees around the world. It's a parasitic mite, sucking the blood of the bee, and it can also reportedly spread a virus that causes a bee's wing to become deformed. Much time and energy has gone into fighting the varroa mite -- New Zealand, for instance, plans to soon release bees that are genetically resistant to varroa mites.

And while this news doesn't really get the varroa mite off the hook -- or the hive beetle, another pest that threatens our pollinating friends -- the study, conducted by researchers at Panjab University in India, suggests that cell-phone radiation may also be hurting the bee cause.

Researchers fitted cell phones to a hive and powered up the phones for two 15-minute periods each day. Three months later, the honey stopped. The Queen Bee also had trouble with her egg production, and the size of the hive diminished.

There may be reason to sound the alarm. Bees pollinate 90 percent of commercial crops, worth $12 billion in the United States, according to CNN. But almost every country has a thriving beekeeping industry. A lot of money -- not to mention food -- stands to be lost if bees someday die off.

Read the rest of the article here.

Beekeeping at the White House

Inside The White House - Bees! from The White House on Vimeo.

Gettin' busy

I'm new to this beekeeping thing, but so far - it's pretty cool. The bees have been busy.

I have no idea how much honey they should be making, nor at what rate we need to add more supers, so my son and I are kind of playing it by ear.

He stoked up the smoker. He's one of those kids who likes fire - so he loves this job. i got on the bee suite and we went to work.

We checked the combs and the bees had been busy, every one we saw was filled with honey. All of this in only a couple of weeks.

We replaced the super, then added another. my son and his friend looked on, smoking the whole time.

It will be interesting to see what happens the rest of the summer.

The hat makes the difference

The bees have been busy and it was long over time to put a new super on. I had gotten my bee keepers coat and hat in the mail just the other day (thanks ebay) and was now ready to try it again. I have to say, I was much calmer wearing the right equipment.

My son manned the smoker.


We opened the hive and checked the combs.


To my untrained eye, everything looked good. The bees had been working hard and there was activity on every comb that I looked at.

I'm not sure if we will get honey this fall - but these bees are looking really good to me.

We added the new super and closed up the hive.



Mission accomplished. I stayed cool as a cucumber.

Luke says A- O.K.

First sting

Well, it had to happen. I got stung for the first time. It wasn't as bad as I expected. I don't know if it is the strain of bees (Italian), or if the stings just aren't as bad as I remember, but it has happened.

A few days previous we had gone into the hive for the first time. They didn't seem at all happy when we did that, but they tolerated it. The real problem is that we only have one beekeepers hood and my son gets to wear it. First time violating hte hive went without incident.

We've been feeding the bees with a front feeder since they came in. I wanted to be sure they were getting plenty of food as they settled in. I went to change the feeder.

It was early in the morning, and the bees were slow and lethargic. I pulled the feeder out from the front of the hive, and the bees immediately began to swarm out of the hale recently vacated by the feeder. Up around my body and head.

I wasn't wearing gear. I was only changing the feeder.

I backed up, bu was too slow. One had landed high on my left cheek, and plunged its stinger into my face. I didn't feel it as first, as I brushed the bee off, but a warmth slowly spread across my face.

I backed up further and found my way inside. My cheek was hot to the touch, and I could feel the stinger under my eye, like an errant whisker.

Peering in the mirror, my face was starting to swell. I took a few Benedryl, squeezed out the stinger and that was it. No climax.

The swelling went down and I went to work. Nobody noticed.

I ordered a bee keepers hood and jacket, now my son and I can work together. I need to put a super on top of the hive. I'm going to wait until my new gear shows up.

Colony Collapse

Some people say that the bee is in danger. You bee people out there know all about it. Here is a short clip about the problem.

Filling time until next falconry season

This was my sons Christmas present. He put a couple of coats of paint on it, and we ordered bees. And we're just waiting for them to arrive.

questioning Bees

I've always been fascinated by the prospect of beekeeping. I know virtually nothing about it, but the idea intrigues me. There are a number of bee keepers on the recommended reads to the right, and I have been following along. I understand the basic concept. I understand the need to feed, and winterize, tap and scrape - but I need a book.

There is beekeeping for dummies, which will probably work just fine for a beginner. But I never enjoy the writing in the Dummies books.

Some of my favorite falconry books are Bodio's books. Technically, they are not "how to" books, but I love them because the writing is so good.


Equinox, by Dan O'brien - is another great one. Just good writing about falconry.


And I can't forget Mullinex. He creates great imagery with his words.


Again, I realize that these aren't manuals on how to become a falconer, but I like how they write.

So here is today's question. If I could pick one good book - that is a pleasure to read - that can help me learn how to set up my first hive (maybe next summer, not this one). What would it be, and why?

Thanks.