#1 - C/5 CM Hive Bodies, 50 frames & 50 sheets of Plasticell

reg. $235.00 Sweetheart Special - $185.00!! and Free Shipping!*

#2 - C/5 CM 6 5/8 Supers, 50 frames & 50 sheets of Plasticell

reg. $195.00 Sweetheart Special - $170.00!! and Free Shipping!*

#3 - C/5 CM 5 11/16 Supers, 50 frames & 50 sheets of Plasticell

reg. $185.00 Sweetheart Special - $160.00!! and Free Shipping!*

#4 - Plastic Helmet with Folding Veil Sweetheart Special - $25.00!!

#5 - Colored Honeycomb Sheets - c/10 sheets available in 15 colors!

Sweetheart Special - $18.90

#6 - Cedar Reversible Bottom Boards - Budget Grade Now $7.00 each!!

(limit 50)

Prices good through March 10, 2018

Call us for all your treatment needs.

*Free shipping applies to those items denoted as qualifying for free shipping in your order of $100 or more in
the contiguous U.S. Any other items will incur shipping charges. Other conditions may apply.
See our online store’s homepage for details.

Serving the commercial beekeeper and the hobbyist since 1965.

Call Toll-Free 1-800-548-8440

Order Online! www.westernbee.com

Proudly made in the U.S.A.

126 100% Ponderosa Pine and Western Red Cedar. American Bee Journal
 Ho
w
to
Av
— oid
17 Cr
7 ow
ds
Volume 158 No. 2 February 2018

Contents
Email
info@americanbeejournal.com
Web
www.americanbeejournal.com
Editor-Kirsten Traynor Advertising Manager-Marta Menn
Publishing Department- Dianne Behnke & Susan Nichols

Hygeniec Behavior and the

Scent of Death — 183

● Props for Beekeepers

Howard Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

● Modeling the Effect of Mite Treatments

Randy Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
Articles

An Engineer Takes on Varroa — 215

● How to Avoid the Crowds
Caroline Abbott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Departments
● The Ancient Honey Bees Rome Letters to the
Fausto Ridolfi and Susan Cobey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Newsnotes . . . . . . . . . 137
● The Whole Food Diet of Bees
Stephanie Pain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 U .S . Honey Crops
and Markets . . . . . . . . 147
● Treatise of Practical Bee Management Beekeepers: The Next
Susan Holliday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Generation . . . . . . . . . 224

Classified
● An Engineer Takes on Varroa Advertising . . . . . . . . . 233
Charles Linder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Advertising Index . . . . 236

The Classroom
Columns Notes from the Lab: The Latest Bee Science Distilled
Jerry Hayes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Scott McArt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

A Quick-Start Guide to Honey Bee Antennae The Insider’s Perspective

Rusty Burlew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Alison McAfee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

February Cover Picture Bees & Beekeeping, Past & Present

Wyatt A. Mangum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
This incredible headshot of a bee was taken by photogra- For the Love of Bees and Beekeeping
pher Jonathan Willner. He found this little bee resting in Keith Delaplane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
the morning on a wooden post in a community garden in
town. To capture this incredible detail, he used a very cus- American Bee Journal ISSN 0002-7626
tom ‘’home made ‘’ set up using painters tape and gorilla AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL (ISSN 002-7626) is ing to National Archive Publishing Co., 300 N. Zeeb
tape. It involved 3 macro extension tubes with an 85mm published monthly at American Bee Journal, 51 S. Road, P.O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106.
1.8 lens mounted on the tubes and a 50mm 1.4 lens liter- 2nd Street, Hamilton, IL 62341. Periodicals Postage ©Copyright Dadant & Sons, Inc., 2017. All rights re-
ally taped on backwards to give a macro effect. Jonathan Paid at Hamilton, IL and at additional mailing offices. served, printed in USA. The Publishers cannot guar-
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to American antee advertisements in this magazine, but we ask that
Charles Willner - Photographer @ ArtofJCW Bee Journal, 51 S. 2nd Street, Hamilton, IL 62341. In any advertising complaints be made known to us, so we
Email : Jonathan_Willner@yahoo.com the United States, $28.00 a year; two years, $53.00 can further check the company’s reliability. Opinions
(661) 309-7628 and three years, $75.00. Canada $45.00 a year; two expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the
years $88.00. Foreign $52.00 a year; two years $99.00. publisher. American Bee Journal, 51 S. 2nd St., Hamil-
www.Facebook.com/ArtofJCW Subscriptions stop at expiration date printed on label. ton, IL 62341. (888) 922-1293. Fax (217) 847-3660.
Instagram @ArtofJCW Available in microfilm form at moderate prices by writ-

February 2018 127

128 American Bee Journal
130 American Bee Journal
Dear Readers,
The days are getting longer again.
The big winter beekeeping confer-
ences are behind us and commercial
beekeepers are already in full swing.
Backyard beekeepers in more temper-
ate climates often use this time of year
to catch up on mending boxes and to
prepare equipment for the spring.
They heft hives for weight to make
sure the bees have enough to eat.
I like this time of year, because it
forces me to slow down and reflect
on the spring that lies ahead. Plan
for what I want to achieve with my
bees. It’s also a time for catching up
on reading. I very much enjoy long-
form science articles. The Guardian
published an excellent one entitled
‘A different dimension of loss’: inside the
great insect die-off:
About 2m species of plants, ani-
mals and fungi are known to sci-
ence thus far. No one knows how
many are left to discover. Some put
it at around 2m, others at more than
100m. The true scope of the world’s
biodiversity is one of the biggest and
most intractable problems in the sci-
ences. … But even as thousands of
new species are being discovered
every year, thousands more seem to
be disappearing, swept away in an
ecological catastrophe that has come
to be known as the sixth extinction.
…We live in an invertebrate
world. Of all known animal species,
less than 5% have backbones. About
70% are insects. Fewer than one in
every 200 are mammals, and a huge
proportion of those are rodents.
Looked at from the point of view of
species diversity, we mammals are
just a handful of mice on a globe full
of beetles.
While honey bee colony losses con-
tinue to be high, our European honey
bees Apis mellifera are not in danger
of extinction. But their less social and
solitary cousins—the bumble bees,
the mining bees, the sweat bees, and
all the bees we have not yet named—
are at much greater risk of vanishing.
Many people have noted the wind-
shield phenomenon, described beau-
tifully in a Science article:
“If you talk to people, they have
a gut feeling. They remember how
insects used to smash on your wind-
screen,” says Wolfgang Wägele, di-
rector of the Leibniz Institute for
Animal Biodiversity in Bonn, Ger-
many. Today, drivers spend less
time scraping and scrubbing. “I’m a
very data-driven person,” says Scott
February 2018
Some of my honey bee queen cells. I always feed my colonies when rearing queens, and make
sure the cell builders are full of young bees, which results in light wax and well-mottled cells.
Black, executive director of the Xe-
rces Society for Invertebrate Conser-
vation in Portland, Oregon. “But it is
a visceral reaction when you realize
you don’t see that mess anymore.”
Myriad factors underlie these insect
losses. While we don’t often notice
insects, except when they’re buzzing
us at a picnic or feasting on us at twi-
light, they are the foundation blocks
of our entire food chain. As the insects
disappear, the larger animals that feed
on them go hungry.
Nutrition definitely underpins
honey bee health. Well-nourished
bees can fend off other stressors much
more easily. Check out this month’s
article on pg XXX by Stephanie Pain
on “The Whole Food Diet of Bees,”
which delves into the latest research.
The bees of backyard beekeeper Car-
oline Abbott flourished in her home
apiary until a large-scale operation
moved in nearby. Suddenly her bees
were competing for forage with 75
new colonies. The next year that grew
to 144. She needed to act, but what
could she do? Learn how she used
technology and sleuthing to find a
safe spot for her bees.
There has been much talk about
the glycerin and oxalic slow release
varroa mite treatments. Randy Oliver
released an update in last month’s
issue on his own trials. This month,
Charles Linder, an engineer by train-
ing, investigates how oxalic actually
kills varroa mites.
This month’s cover is by photog-
rapher Jonathan Willner, who I dis-
covered through a Facebook group
posting. The close-up detail on the
honey bee head seemed a perfect fit
for this issue as Rusty Burlew de-
scribes how honey bee antennae work
in her column The Curious Beekeeper.
We have some exciting articles in
the works from new and regular con-
tributors. As always, I encourage you
to reach out and let us know what top-
ics you would like to read about. Per-
sonally, I would love to see some more
on micro bee breeders and how they
adapt their operations to rear queens.
As I am always thinking a few months
ahead, I would enjoy receiving articles
on methods of how to boost honey
production, while minimizing swarm-
ing. Tell us what has worked for you
or what failed miserably.
Wishing you a very successful bee-
keeping season! Happy Reading,
Kirsten S. Traynor
editor@americanbeejournal.com
Endnotes
1 https://www.theguardian.com/environ
ment/2017/dec/14/a-different-dimension
-of-loss-great-insect-die-off-sixth-
extinction
2 h t t p : / / w w w. s c i e n c e m a g . o r g / n e w s /
2017/05/where-have-all-insects-gone
One of my young mated Carniolan
queens with an excellent retinue of
attendants.
131
132 American Bee Journal
 Letters to the Editor
Send your letters to the editor, Attn: Kirsten Traynor, Dadant, 51 S. 2nd Street,
Hamilton, IL 62341, Fax: 1-217-847-3660, or email: editor@americanbeejournal.com
Due to size and content, we may be unable to publish all information received. Thank You!

MAY 20TH DECLARED WORLD
BEE DAY
Dear beekeeping colleagues,
The 20th of May was declared as
World Bee Day on the 20th of Decem-
ber, 2017 at the General Assembly of
the United Nations in New York!
From now one every year on this
day, the attention of the global pub-
lic will be drawn to the importance of
preserving bees and other pollinators.
People will be reminded of the impor-
tance of bees for humanity and invited
to take concrete action to preserve and
protect them. The resolution was co-
sponsored by 115 UN Member States,
including the USA, Canada, China,
the Russian Federation, India, Brazil,
Argentina, Australia and all the Euro-
pean Union Member States.
Dejan Židan – head of the World
Bee Day project and Deputy Prime
Minister of the Republic of Slovenia,
the country that proposed the proc-
lamation of World Bee Day to the
UN in response to an initiative of the
Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association –
expressed his satisfaction at the out-
come: “After three years of efforts,
we have succeeded with this initia-
tive. Bees and other pollinators finally
have the place they deserve in view
of their importance for the world and
for humanity. The proclamation of
World Bee Day proves that the will
to take action does exist. I am happy
that realization of the importance of
bees for sustainable development and
the future of humanity in general has
(been) reflected in the consensual
support to the resolution.”
Mr Židan also took the opportu-
nity to thank all countries for their
support, but ended with a warning:
“This is just the beginning of the dif-
ficult process of the protection of bees
and other pollinators. In order to be
successful, we must bring on board
the governments of all countries, the
business community and civil society.
Awareness of the vital importance of
saving the bees must reach every in-
dividual. And we must do more than
just talk – we must undertake concrete
activities to increase care for bees and
promote the development of beekeep-
ing – everywhere, including in devel-
oping countries.”
Carla Mucavi, Director of the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) Liaison Office
in New York, commented: “Bees play
a crucial role in increasing crop yields
and promoting food security and nu-
trition. Without them, we could lose a
variety of food such as potatoes, pep-
per, coffee, pumpkins, carrots, apples,
almonds, tomatoes, just to name a
few. In short, without bees, FAO can-
not achieve a world without hunger.
World Bee Day recognizes the impor-
tance of these tiny helpers and will
increase awareness of the need to
protect them.”

February 2018 133

 “I believe we all agree that every
human being on this planet deserves
food every day. We have to produce
more food every day, and every day
more food is dependent on pollinators
– with honey bees in the lead. To talk
about reducing global hunger without
ensuring conditions for the survival of
bees and other pollinators, is simply
throwing sand in people’s eyes! It is
time for everyone to listen to bees,
in particular leaders and those who
make decisions,” said Boštjan No, pro-
moter of the World Bee Day initiative
and president of the Slovenian Bee-
keepers’ Association, adding: “From
today on, 20 May will be a worldwide
celebration of bees and beekeepers. I
believe that with the proclamation of
World Bee Day, the world will begin
to think more broadly about bees, in
particular in the context of ensuring
conditions for their survival, and thus
for the survival of the human race.”
ence and research, that will never hap-
pen. This new beehive on the grounds
of the Naval Observatory is nothing
more than window dressing. NOTICE: PHOTOS WANTED
EnclosEd ApiAriEs
Michael Benich Does your apiary have an enclosure
to keep it separate from humans? ABJ
is researching an article on apiary
enclosures, particularly for urban en-
vironments. Please send your image
(minimum 1200 pixels on the short
edge), with photographer credit, to
drone@urbanbee.com by April 30th.
By sending you are consenting to po-
tential publication in a future issue.

With Best Regards,

The Slovenian Beekeepers Association

REGARDING THE ARTICLE:

THERE’S A NEW BUZZ IN DC
For real? A new buzz? Did the
author forget that in 2015 Michelle
Obama put a bee hive on the White
House grounds? I would also take
Mrs. Pence’s reported concern about
CCD more seriously if her husband
didn’t serve in an administration that
has effectively dismantled the EPA, re-
sulting in the loss of hundreds of val-
ued senior scientists. This is the same
agency that has the power to imple-
ment restrictions on the use of the very
chemicals that certainly play a role in
CCD. But without scientists and with
new EPA leadership dismissing sci- Example of a utilitarian bee enclosure

This bee enclosure blends in with the landscape The fencing can make a perfect backdrop for wildflowers

134 American Bee Journal

February 2018 135
136 American Bee Journal

News
Notes
HOW HONEY BEE GUT BACTERIA
HELP TO DIGEST THEIR
POLLEN-RICH DIET
The honey bee gut is colonized by specialized bacteria
that help digest components of the floral pollen diet and
produce molecules that likely promote bee health. In a
recent study published in PLOS Biology, a group of re-
searchers from Switzerland uncovered which bacterial
species perform which specific digestive functions in the
bee gut.
The authors measured the repertoire of simple chemi-
cal compounds - the so-called “metabolome” - from bee
guts. They then compared the gut metabolomes of bees
colonized with each bacterial species individually and in
combination. This let the team identify what each bacte-
rial species contributes to the bee.
They found one Lactobacillus that digests specific plant
compounds called flavonoids - abundant in pollen and
recently linked to the health of mice and humans through
their breakdown by the gut microbiota. Another bee gut
bacterial species, Bifidobacterium asteroides, triggered the
production of bee hormones that can modulate the im-
mune system and behavior of its host.
Scientists have uncovered which bacterial species in the bee
gut allow them to digest their pollen-rich diet.
Credit: Bob Peterson, Flickr
February 2018
Honey bees, a principal pollinator in agriculture and
natural environments, have suffered from colony declines
in recent years. The gut bacteria in bees and their pollen-
rich diet are known contributors to honey bees’ health,
and understanding the functions of the various bacteria
could have implications for colony health as a whole.
“We took advantage of the key characteristics of the
bee gut microbiota: its simplicity.” says lead author
Philipp Engel. “Contrary to human gut microbiota, the
bee gut is composed of only a few bacterial species. This
makes analyzing each member separately and determin-
ing its contribution to the overall metabolite changes in
the gut feasible.”
“We have identified many exciting metabolic functions
of bee gut bacteria. The next step is to understand how
these functions impact colony’s health so that one day we
can apply our findings in apiaries.”
The original research paper is freely available in
PLOS Biology: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/
article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2003467
NEW MAPS SHOW SHRINKING
WILDERNESS BEING
IGNORED AT OUR PERIL
by thE WildlifE consErvAtion sociEty
Credit: James Allan UQ
Humans have transformed the landscape to an amazing
degree. We are losing our wild places, where much biodi-
versity of insects still awaits undiscovered. Many species
of bees live in these untouched areas, pollinating a great
diversity of plants. A new study shows how much of our
wilderness areas we have lost since 1993.
These maps of our most important wilderness areas
are now freely available online following a University of
Queensland and Wildlife Conservation Society-led study.
The authors have made the maps available to assist re-
searchers, conservationists and policy makers to improve
wilderness conservation.
UQ School of Earth and Environmental Sciences PhD
student James Allan said these wilderness areas were
strongholds for endangered biodiversity and critical in
the fight to mitigate climate change.
“These ecosystems play a key role in regulating local
climates, sequestering and storing large amounts of car-
bon and supporting many of the world’s most culturally
diverse - but politically and economically marginalized
communities,” Allan said.
137
 The maps show that the majority of remaining wil-
derness areas are in the deserts of Central Australia, the
Amazon rainforest in South America, the Tibetan plateau
in central Asia, and the boreal (snow) forests of Canada,
Alaska, and Russia.
“Despite their importance, wilderness areas are being de-
stroyed at an alarming rate and need urgent protection with
almost 10 per cent being lost since the early 1990s. Their
conservation is a global priority,” Allan said.
Wildlife Conservation Society and UQ Associate Pro-
fessor James Watson said he anticipated the maps would
be important for identifying places where conservation
actions must occur. “Environmental policy almost com-
pletely ignored wilderness conservation but this has to
change. National governments and multilateral environ-
mental agreements such as the World Heritage convention
need to step up and protect wilderness before it is too late.”
WORLD BEE DAY
The resolution declaring May 20th as World Bee Day
was adopted at the plenary session of the United Nations
General Assembly on December 20th, 2017. See the Letter
to the Editor.
Bees and other pollinators are extremely important
when it comes to ensuring the global safety of the food
supply chain. Every third spoonful of food depends on
pollination. By pollinating crops, bees also provide a sig-
nificant source of jobs and income for farmers, which is
particularly important for developing countries. An inter-
national study of IPBES estimates that the annual global
food production which depends on pollination is worth
between USD $235 and $577 billion. In addition, bees also
have an important role in nature conservation. Studies of
UN Agencies and the International Union for Conserva-
tion of Nature show that bee populations and the popu-
lations of other pollinators have significantly decreased,
making them more and more endangered.
Therefore, the Republic of Slovenia, on the initiative
of the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association, initiated pro-
cedures in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations in 2015 to declare World Bee Day, and
proposed a resolution which would emphasize the im-
portance of bees and other pollinators.
IS “ORGANIC” GOING THROUGH AN
EXISTENTIAL CRISIS?
by Joan Conrow
Though it’s too early to tell whether it’s imploding — or
merely suffering growing pains — the $50 billion Ameri-
can organic industry is going through some serious soul-
searching.
138
While some organic pioneers are bemoaning what they
perceive as the ongoing degradation of a brand founded
in an ideological movement, others see this as a time to
critically reassess what organic really means, and how that
ancient model of agriculture fits into the bigger picture of
feeding and fueling 7.6 billion people in the 21st century.
Image by CNBC
The industry has long grappled with internal philo-
sophical fissures. But these recently turned into a very
public split when the US Department of Agriculture ruled
that hydroponic and aquaponic farms, which grow crops
in nutrient solutions, and frequently indoors, could con-
tinue to display the economically valuable organic seal.
Organic pioneers were outraged, claiming the Nov. 1
decision undermined the founding principles of a move-
ment dedicated to soil health and regeneration. “They did
incalculable damage to the seal,” lamented organic tomato
farmer Dave Chapman in an interview with the Washing-
ton Post. “It’s just going to take them a while to realize it.”
Some of the reaction was grounded in the organic move-
ment’s general disdain for large agribusiness firms, such
as Driscoll’s, a conventional and organic grower that has
used hydroponics to capture a significant share of the fresh
berry market. A similar uproar occurred earlier this year
around claims that certain producers, most notably “in-
dustrial” dairies, weren’t meeting the spirit —and perhaps
not even the legal requirements —of the organic brand.
Though big business doesn’t dovetail with the bucolic,
small farm image that the organic brand trades on, it’s
part and parcel of the actual workings of the industry.
Indeed, many organic food companies have already sold
out to multinational corporations like General Mills, Post,
Smuckers, Coca Cola, Miller-Coors, Nestle, Perdue Farms,
Kellog’s and Hain-Celestial.
And some hydroponic growers, such as those repre-
sented by the Recirculating Farms Coalition, are in fact
small, eco-friendly farmers who staunchly defended their
practices. Following the ruling, Marianne Cufone, the Co-
alition’s executive director, issued a statement that read,
in part:
“By siding with current science and recognizing that
existing law purposely leaves the door open for various
farming methods, the NOSB is sending a critical message
that sustainability and innovation are valuable in U.S. ag-
riculture.”
Still, as National Public Radio pointed out, the fight re-
ally seems to be grounded in market share, since hydro-
ponic operations are already dominating organic tomato,
pepper, lettuce, cucumber and berry production. That
economic reality may explain why the National Organic
Standards Board (NOSB) accepted hydroponics and aqua-
American Bee Journal
culture, but rejected aeroponics, a related practice that has
yet to attract the same consumer base.
Hydroponic lettuce. Image by Inhabit.com
And despite Cufone’s optimistic assessment, the NOSB
appears to have ignored sustainability, innovation and
science in its treatment of biotechnology, which is poised
to deliver crops that can survive on minimal water and
produce high yields without the use of chemical fertiliz-
ers. These applications and others now being developed
by public sector researchers certainly appear compatible
with the environmental and populist visions of the or-
ganic movement.
Nevertheless, the Board last year reaffirmed its com-
plete rejection of gene editing and synthetic biology with
the dubious claim that “every organic stakeholder is clear
that genetic engineering is an imminent threat to organic
integrity.”
However, at least two organic farmers, Raoul Adam-
chak and Amy Hepworth, see value in GE. They’re at the
forefront of an effort to make organic farming more in-
clusive, which could mean growing crops genetically en-
gineered to ward off insects without the use of pesticide
applications — synthetic or organic.
“The organic movement was successful in changing
the way the agricultural industry operates,” Hepworth, a
seventh-generation family farmer who grows 400 acres of
certified organic vegetables in New York, told the Alliance
for Science. “But the time has come to release ourselves
from the tyranny of the label — taking its valuable lessons
and evolving beyond organic to create the safest, most eco-
logically, economically, and socially-just agricultural system
possible. Advances in biotechnology are a natural fit to meet
the demand of the population for sustainably grown food.”
Adamchak, who teaches organic farming at the Univer-
sity of California-Davis, has proposed a new certification
program for “sustainable agriculture” that would include
GE crops. “I think there can be improvements made to
organic agriculture that are science-based,” he said. “It’s
a time when we need all the tools possible.”
Dan Blaustein-Rejto, The Breakthrough Institute’s agri-
cultural analyst, is taking it one step further. He’s begun
arguing that organic production is a luxury we can’t af-
ford to indulge in this era of increasingly erratic weather
patterns and a burgeoning population:
Rather than focusing on organic production, we ought
to promote any production method that minimizes land
use and farming’s other environmental impacts while
providing enough healthy food for everyone.
Biotech isn’t the only area where the organic industry has
found itself on the wrong side of science. The Organic Con-
February 2018
sumers Association helps to fund the anti-GMO movement,
which associates with anti-vaccine activists and health
quacks. This year, two documentaries — Food Evolution
and Science Moms — brought the anti-GMO movement’s
cognitive dissonance and scientific silliness to the screen.
Meanwhile, researchers have begun challenging the in-
dustry’s claims of environmental superiority, noting that
organic growers do use pesticides and typically engage
in more tillage than conventional farmers, a practice that
contributes to erosion, topsoil loss and carbon emissions.
Organic farmers also rely on animal fertilizers, and the
livestock industry has been taking a beating for its contri-
bution to climate change.
Other studies have questioned whether organic agri-
culture can produce sufficient quantities of food to meet
global demand — without requiring everyone to go veg-
etarian and/or expand farming into wild areas.
Nutritionists fret that pesticide fears stoked by the or-
ganic industry are causing people to shy away from eat-
ing conventionally grown fresh fruits and veggies, even
though samples consistently show they contain only trace
residues. Others object to the way that organic marketing
has contributed to food elitism and romanticized — some
would say impractical — notions about farming.
As a result, some media sources have been looking more
critically at core consumer assumptions about the organic
brand, notably its claims to be pesticide-free and more nu-
tritious than its conventionally grown counterpart.
And though the industry has been wildly successful
at marketing, it’s now facing challenges in that arena —
again from within its own ranks. The Detox Project re-
cently launched its “glyphosate residue-free” verification
and labeling project with the ominous warning that “even
organic isn’t enough” to ensure that a product is free of
the widely used— and heavily demonized — herbicide. In
the opportunistic world of marketing, it seems someone is
always ready to up the ante.
This new public scrutiny underscores a widening rift
within the industry itself over what organic really means
today, some 70 years after the movement first began to
take hold. Although some organic pioneers are threaten-
ing to pack up their marbles and go home, other farm-
ers and researchers are questioning whether the original
practices and philosophy can — or should — endure in-
tact in the face of climate change and science-based agri-
cultural innovations.
Published by Joan Conrow
Writer. Thinker. Multimedia communicator.
This article originally appeared on her website blog
https://joanconrow.net on Dec 5th, 2017. Visit her website
to read the article with extensive links to sources.
TOXIC COMBO: PESTICIDES
AND POOR NUTRITION
DAMAGE HONEY BEE HEALTH
The combined effects of pesticides and a lack of nutri-
tion form a deadly one-two punch, new research from
biologists at the University of California San Diego has
shown for the first time.
In a study published Dec. 20 in Proceedings of the Royal
Society B, Simone Tosi, James Nieh and their colleagues
139

Credit: Simone Tosi, UC San Diego
used honey bees due to their important role as agricul-
tural pollinators and “bioindicators” of environmental
quality. The researchers studied how honey bees fared
with exposure to neonicotinoids—pesticides broadly used
in agriculture—along with limited nutrient sources, sce-
narios that are commonly found in agricultural areas.
The scientists studied two common neonicotinoid pes-
ticides, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, which are used
worldwide in vegetable, fruit and grain crops. However,
after these pesticides are applied to crops they remain in
the environment and can be found in nectar, pollen, water
and soil.
The researchers were surprised to find that bee deaths
increased by up to 50 percent more than they expected
compared with the individual effects of pesticides and
poor nutrition. Surprisingly, no previous studies have
tested for such “synergistic” effects, where these threats
combine and amplify the negative impacts beyond the
sums of the individual factors.
“We tested the effects of different neonicotinoid pesti-
cides, because of a growing concern and evidence about
negative effects of these pesticides on pollinators,” said
Tosi, a postdoctoral researcher in UC San Diego’s Division
of Biological Sciences. “Our results provide the first dem-
onstration that these stressors can synergistically interact
and cause significant harm to animal survival.”
To measure energy levels in honey bees, researchers ex-
tracted their “blood” (hemolymph) using a microcapillary
tube. Credit: Riccardo Cabbri
140
Declines in honey bee health have caused global con-
cern due to the insect’s critical ecological role as a major
pollinator. Bee health has been closely watched in recent
years as nutritional sources available to honey bees have
declined and contamination from pesticides has increased.
Using honey bees as model animals, the researchers
found that combined exposure to pesticide and poor nu-
trition decreased their health. Bees use sugar to fuel their
flights and work inside the nest. Pesticides decreased their
hemolymph (“bee blood”) sugar levels and therefore de-
creased their energy stores.
“These findings should cause us to rethink our current
pesticide risk assessment procedures, which, based upon
our findings, may underestimate the toxic effects of pesti-
cides on bees,” said Tosi.
In addition, Nieh, a professor in the Section of Ecology,
Behavior and Evolution, noted that their results “may
have even broader implications beyond honey bees, be-
cause prior studies have not demonstrated a negative syn-
ergistic effect of pesticides and poor nutrition in animals.”
OBITUARY
PHIL MAY - SUNNY HILL HONEY COMPANY
An icon in the beekeeping industry recently passed
away on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2017 at the
age of eighty-three. The May family has been in beekeep-
ing and honey production since 1934 and were owners
of May’s Honey Farm and the producers of Sunny Hill
Honey.
Phil was born in Chicago in 1934 to George and Alvina
May. Phil and his father George got hives from an aunt
who moved to Palatine in 1948. There were two hives on
her property which they purchased. They kept expand-
ing, buying more and more equipment—new and used.
They would extract honey in their garage on the north-
west side of Chicago and sold to bakeries and on street
corners. In fact, George would drop Phil and his sister
off on street corners with a chair and honey and expect
them to sell.
In 1964, they bought an old school house in Marengo and
transformed it into an extracting facility. It was remodeled
and is a high-tech facility used to this day. George was
thrifty, but Phil kept expanding until they had about 1,400
hives in the ‘70s. They never sent hives out to almond pol-
American Bee Journal

lination, but do pollination for apples, pumpkins, cukes,
and vine crops within sixty miles of home.
The last twenty-five years, they have been packing and
selling everything to stores. Sunny Hill Honey is cur-
rently sold through over 150 retailers in the Chicago area.
Phil was really good at going out and getting accounts.
He loved selling more than working bees! He really en-
joyed getting out and meeting the people!
Phil kept right on working to the end. A year ago, he
was still extracting. More recently he could be found la-
beling and bottling several days a week.
Phil was active in the American Beekeeping Federation
for sixty years. He was twenty-three when he started and
went to almost all of the conventions. He also enjoyed at-
tending and speaking at the Northern Illinois Beekeepers’
Association and Cook DuPage Beekeepers’ Association.
According to his son Tim, Phil’s greatest pleasure came in
sharing his knowledge with other beekeepers.
In addition to his late father George, Phil’s sons Tim
and Tom as well as grandson Colin work in the business.
Phil’s wife Jeannine and family welcomed guests at his
funeral in Woodstock, Illinois.
February 2018
WORLDWIDE
3RD AUSTRALIAN BEE CONGRESS
Hosted by the
Australian Honey Bee Industry Council Inc.
June 27th – 30th, 2018
Theme of “Pollination and Beekeeping
for the Future”.
www.australianbeecongress.com.au
www.australianbeecongress.com.au
REGIONAL
Conference (Aug 15-17) Speakers Include:
(subject to change)
• Celia Davis, NOB (National Diploma in Beekeep-
ing, UK)
• Dr. Jamie Ellis, University of Florida
• Randy Oliver, Scientific Beekeeping
• Mike Palmer, French Hill Apiaries, Vermont
• Freddy Proni, North Carolina Grown
• Sammy Ramsey, University of Maryland
• Dr.Juliana Rangel, Texas A&M
• Dr. Jennifer Tsuruda, Clemson University
• Dr. Kirsten Traynor, American Bee Journal
• Michael Young, MBe, Institute of Northern Ireland
Beekeepers and many others
Short Course (Aug 13 & 14) Topics Include:
• Beginners Track
• Intermediate Track
• Apiary Track
• Electronic Hive Monitoring
• Excellence in Honey & Hive Products
• Queen Rearing
Special Events:
• Beekeepers’ Beach Bash
• Tea with Celia Davis
• Queen of the Sun Film Screening
• Honey Show and Awards Banquet
• Silent Auction and Dinner
• Trip to historic Jamestown, entry point for honey
bees into North America
• Trip to St. George’s Brewery and Apiary
141
 YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP TO ATTEND EAS
Ages 18-25
Win $1000 scholArship to Attend entire Week At
eAstern Apiculture society conference
Applications due by April 30, 2018.
Details at EAS website, click “Master Beekeepers”, se-
lect “scholarship”. http://www.easternapiculture.org/
master-beekeepers/youth-scholarship.html
HEARTLAND APICULTURAL SOCIETY
to host 16th AnnuAl Beekeeping Workshop
At WAshington university in st. louis on
JULY 11-13, 2018
Beekeeping Extension Specialists and Scientists
to Present Courses for
Beginners and Experienced Beekeepers
Program to feature Lectures, Labs, Queen Rearing, and
Classes, Field Trips to Sites of
National Significance, and Social Events
Planning continues for Heartland Apicultural Society’s
annual conference – HAS 2018 - to be held July 11-13, 2018
at Washington University, in St. Louis. HAS is an annual
conference focused on discussing the latest research and
methods in beekeeping. Established in 2001 by several
professional entomologists, the conference rotates through
the Midwest to make it easier for Midwest beekeepers to
attend the sessions. The conference was last held in Mis-
souri in 2012. “We are excited about the opportunity to
bring this conference back to Missouri,” said Bob Sears,
Heartland Apicultural Society president, and a St. Louis
area beekeeper. Sears is among several volunteers pulling
together the organizational structure that will support the
three-day conference featuring both keynote speakers as
well as concurrent break-out sessions and evening events.
Among the speakers confirmed to date:
• Bee Squad, a collaborative, beekeeping instructional
and public outreach team at the University of Min-
nesota Bee Lab, directed by Rebecca Masterman,
PhD
• Jennifer Berry, Apicultural Research Professional and
Lab Manager for the University of Georgia Honey Bee
Program
• Dr. Keith S. Delaplane, MBE Professor, Walter B. Hill
Fellow & Honey Bee Program Director University of
Georgia
• Samuel Ramsey, University of Maryland, PhD candi-
date and researcher
• Marla Spivak, PhD, Distinguished McKnight Univer-
sity Professor, Apiculture /Social Insects, University
of Minnesota
• Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp, Assistant Professor, Uni-
versity of Maryland
More details will be posted as they are finalized at http://
www.heartlandbees.org.
Save the Date: July 11-13, 2018
142
STATES
ARIZONA
11th Annual Organic Beekeepers Conference is now ac-
cepting speakers and attendees for the March 2-4, 2018
conference, held at Triangle YMCA Ranch in Oracle, AZ.
Registration fee is $240 per person and includes 2 nights
lodging, 6 catered meals, all refreshments during confer-
ence, and free vendor space.
Topics include chemical free beekeeping, bee breed-
ing, field hive management, and apitherapy. Contact Dee
Lusby to register at deealusby1@aol.com or by phone in
the evenings 520 748 0542.
CALIFORNIA
uc dAvis Beekeeping clAsses
Are you ready to become a beekeeper…or are you ready
to learn more about the bees you’re keeping?
Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the Univer-
sity of California, Davis, and her lab have announced a
series of short courses for the new year--and folks can reg-
ister now and/or purchase gift certificates. All will take
place at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Fa-
cility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis campus.
• Planning Ahead for Your First Hives: Saturday,
March 24
• Working Your Colonies: Sunday, March 25
• Queen-Rearing Techniques Short Course: Saturday
and Sunday, April 21-22 course; Saturday and Sun-
day, April 28-29 course
• Bee-Breeding Basics: Saturday, June 9
• Varroa Management Strategies: Saturday, June 16
For more information, visit: https://elninobeelab.ucda-
vis.edu/courses.html.
CONNECTICUT
connecticut Beekeepers AssociAtion
The February 17, 2018 meeting of The Connecticut Bee-
keepers Association will be held at the Connecticut Agri-
cultural Experimental Station, 123 Huntington Ave, New
Haven, Connecticut.
American Bee Journal
 Speaker Doctor Jack Rath, Co-Owner of Betterbee
Meeting begins at 9;00 A.M
Morning talk: “Your First Year of Beekeeping - Make it
a Success”--- the critical things new beekeepers need to do
in their first year to be successful.
Afternoon talk: “Nuc Production and Queen Rearing
for the Backyard Beekeeper” on how to produce your own
nucs and queens.
CONNECTICUT
bAck yArd bEEkEEpErs AssociAtion
Feb 27 – Kirsten Traynor, editor of American Bee Journal,
Winter Losses below 5% using Intensive German Beekeep-
ing Techniques
Each month we have timely weekend hands on inspec-
tion workshops, bee school, mentor program and more.
Please check our web site for the dates and locations or
more information at www.backyardbeekeepers.com
Back Yard Beekeepers Association 2017 Speaker Schedule:
Mar. 27 - Christy Hemingway ~ Top Bar Hive Beekeeping
April 24 - Roberta Glatz ~ The Biology of Swarming
FLORIDA
thE univErsity of floridA honEy bEE rEsEArch And
ExtEnsion lAb hosts:
2018 pAnhAndlE bEE collEgE
blountstoWn, fl
MArch 23 & 24, 2018
Panhandle Bee College is a two-day event offering train-
ing for beekeepers of all experience levels, gardeners, natu-
ralists, county agents, and anyone with an interest in bees.
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/honey-bee/extension/bee-
college/
ILLINOIS
univErsity of illinois bEEs And
bEEkEEping short coursE
April 7, 2018, 8:30 AM – 5:00 pM
Lectures, hands-on workshops, and informal discus-
sions on:
• Bee Anatomy
• Bee Breeding & Genetics
• Bee Diseases, Parasites and Pests
• Bee Health
February 2018
• Bee Learning
• Bee Nutrition
• Colony Collapse Disorder
• Pesticides & Bees
• Pollination
• Sting Allergies
• Swarm Control
• Wintering in the Midwest
INSTRUCTORS: Prof. Gene Robinson, Prof. May Beren-
baum, and Members of the University of Illinois Bee Re-
search Facility staff
GUEST INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Tammy Horn Potter, Ken-
tucky State Dept of Agriculture
LOCATION: Bee Research Facility and Carl R. Woese In-
stitute for Genomic Biology—both new, state-of-the-art
buildings. The Bee Research Facility has specially designed
flight cages that will allow us to do hands-on bee work in-
doors regardless of the weather. Those choosing to partici-
pate in the hands-on activities must bring and wear their
own protective veils, suits, or gloves. Non-participants can
view from outside the flight cages.
FEE: $100 includes course materials, refreshments and
lunch
REGISTRATION OPENS JANUARY 2, 2018: Email:
lcundiff@illinois.edu Phone: (217) 265-7614
Or mail your check (made out to: the University of Il-
linois) to:
Tish Cundiff, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Bi-
ology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206
W. Gregory, Room 2414, Urbana, IL 61801 (include your
name, address, phone number, and email address)
To pay by credit card, watch Facebook for link informa-
tion: https://www.facebook.com/IllinoisBeeShortCourse/
LIMITED TO 50 PARTICIPANTS,
SO REGISTER EARLY!
Sponsored by:
Department of Entomology
School of Integrative Biology
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
MISSOURI
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers To Host Annual
Beekeeping Workshop and Banquet in St. Louis on
February 10, 2018
Beekeeping Education Specialists
to Present Courses for
Beginners and Experienced Beekeepers
The Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association (EMBA)
will offer a full day of professional beekeeping instruction
for beginners and experienced beekeepers on Saturday, Feb-
ruary 10, 2018, at Maritz in Fenton, Missouri. Registrants
are encouraged to attend The Sixth Annual EMBA St. Louis
Beekeepers Mardi Gras Banquet the evening before the
workshop on Friday, February 9, at Maritz.
143
 Leading beekeeping educators, and honey bee research
scientists from the University of California, Davis, De-
partment of Entomology, the University of Minnesota
Bee Lab, and Oregon State University Honey Bee Lab,
will be among the visiting faculty leading the workshop.
Instructors will include Elina. L. Nino, PhD., apiculture
research and extension, UC Davis, Becky Masterman,
PhD, University of Minnesota Bee Lab Team Leader, Ana
Heck, Minnesota Bee Lab Bee Squad Instructor, and Ra-
mesh Sagili, PhD, 2017 EAS Hambleton Award Winner,
Oregon State University, College of Agricultural Sciences,
Honey Bee Lab.
The Experienced Beekeepers course will be tailored to-
wards intermediate and expert level beekeepers and will
place special emphasis on hive management and honey
bee health issues.
The Beginners Beekeeping course is intended for novice
beekeepers and persons with no prior beekeeping experi-
ence. The class will cover all aspects of basic beekeeping to
prepare students to start keeping bees in 2018.
Tuition for the workshop is $85 per person if reg-
istered by January 21, 2018. Tuition is $95 per person
for those registering on or after January 22. Banquet
registration costs $30. Banquet registration closes
February 4th.
Lunch and refreshments are included with the work-
shop. Registration packets will include course materials,
an authoritative reference book, beekeeping periodicals,
and equipment catalogs.
The Friday evening banquet features New Orleans
style food and music, a cash bar, door prizes, includ-
ing nucs, queens and beekeeping equipment, and a
keynote speaker. The cost of the banquet is in addi-
tion to the workshop. For more information, visit www.
easternmobeekeepers.com.
Equipment vendors include representatives of Dadant &
Sons, Kelley Beekeeping Co., and others.
EMBA supports beekeepers with a broad program of co-
operative procurement and educational events throughout
the year. Members may obtain complete beginner’s equip-
ment kits, nucleus bee colonies, and queens for delivery in
the spring. The Club also sponsors open hive instructional
workshops and guided colony health monitoring, during
the season, at the Club’s teaching apiary in Creve Coeur,
Missouri.
Registration is available online at www.eastern
mobeekeepers.com
More information is available by email to info@
easternmobeekeepers.com or calling 314-669-1828.
OKLAHOMA
tulsA, oklAhoMA
thE bEE buzz –
fEbruAry 23-24, 2018
The Northeast Oklahoma Beekeepers Association will
hold the Big Bee Buzz on the evening of February 23 and
all day February 24, 2018. The Buzz is one of the largest
beekeeping conferences in Oklahoma and the region.
The event will be held at Venue 68, located at 6910 S 101st
E Ave Tulsa OK 74134.
There will be plenty of information for beekeepers of all
levels of experience, from seasoned beekeepers to people
144
who want to give it a try. Two lectures will be happening
almost all of the time, with one talk geared to beginners
and the other devoted to more advanced subjects.
This year’s speakers include Dr. Keith Delaplane, Dr.
Clarence Collison, Adrian Quiney, Ed Levi, and Grant
Gillard.
The price is $40.00 if you pre-register at a NEOBA meeting
or use online registration, which is available at NEOBA.org.
The price will be $50.00 at the door. Pre-registration is not
required but saves you $10.00.
OKLAHOMA
oklAhoMA stAtE bEEkEEpErs AssociAtion
spring convEntion
MArch 3rd
southErn oklAhoMA tEchnology cEntEr,
2610 sAM noblE pArkWAy in ArdMorE, oklAhoMA
Registration begins at 8:30 am with the convention start-
ing at 9. Lunch will be provided. A fund raising auction
held in the afternoon. Speakers will be from the Noble Re-
search Institute and Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture. We
are adding nationally recognized speakers and updates
can be found at OKBEES.ORG.
VIRGINIA
The Northern Virginia Beekeeping Teaching Consor-
tium is offering Practical Beekeeping for Beginners in
several counties throughout Virginia starting in January,
2018. The class is intensive, meets weekly for approxi-
mately 2 months, and is designed primarily for people
who want to keep honey bees. Classes are open to adults
and children (age 10 + accompanied by a paying adult).
Classes are taught by experienced beekeepers and in-
cludes information on buying equipment & obtaining
bees. See full listing here:
https://tinyurl.com/y88vbe34
WEST VIRGINIA
WEst virginiA bEEkEEpErs AssociAtion
spring confErEncE 2018
MArch 23 & 24
The 2018 West Virginia Beekeepers Association’s Spring
Conference will be hosted by the Raleigh County Beekeep-
ers Cooperative Association and the Appalachian Bee-
keeping Collective. This event will be held at Tamarack
Conference Center in Beckley, WV on March 23 & 24, 2018.
Featured speakers will include Dr. Debbie Delaney, Associ-
ate Professor of Entomology for the College of Agriculture
and Natural Resources at the University of Delaware and
Dr. Parry Kietzman, Head Beekeeper/Researcher for the
Appalachian Beekeeping Collective.
For more information please visit www.raleighcounty
beekeepers.com to register for the conference. Questions
can be directed to Mark Lilly at (304)860-9638.
American Bee Journal
February 2018 145
146 American Bee Journal

H
United States
oney production is down
in a large part of the
United States due to se-
vere weather events. Most honey
has sold briskly and uncommit-
ted stores are hard to find. This
increased demand is driving
up prices across the board. The
Southeast and Southwest experi-
enced lower than average honey
harvests. Colonies are coming into
California a bit bedraggled from
extreme weather events. “We can
only do so much in our efforts to
bring weak colonies back,” one
beekeeper said. “Over pushing
seems to cause queens to fail a
lot sooner. The bees need a rest.”
Many beekeepers have moved to
warmer climates and bulk fed to
try and make up numbers for al-
mond pollination contracts.
Northeast—In the Northeast,
beekeepers are expecting colony
numbers to be down 5-30% after
the winter. Colonies entered the
winter in fair to poor condition,
requiring more than normal feed-
ing. Winter stores varied greatly
by location, as the northeast ex-
perienced sporadic flows this fall.
The majority of colonies stayed in
PA over the winter, with only 15%
estimated to be moved south or to
“Do you wholesale and or
retail your honey?
Would you like a free subscription to
American Bee Journal?
We are looking for U.S. Crop & Market
Reporters, especially in the West, Inter-
mountain, Southwest (outside of Texas),
Northeast and Mideast regions. We send
out monthly short questionnairs and in
return offer reporters a few subscrip-
tion to the magazine. First come, first
serve basis! Send an email to editor@
americanbeejournal.com or write us at
51 S. 2nd St. Hamilton, IL 62341.
February 2018
California. Beekeepers foresee an
increased demand in queens for
the spring. Killing frosts arrived
early in some parts, surprising
beekeepers who still intended to
combine weak colonies. New York
enjoyed an unseasonably warm
October, which helped salvage
honey production. Varroa levels
appeared manageable this year.
A Pennsylvania reporter notes
that there is “Good demand fill-
ing lots of beekeeper’s buckets,
because of a short crop in this part
of the country. This year PA & NY
beekeepers experienced “one of
the worst honey crops in years.
Just too wet.”
Mideast—Colonies are entering
the winter in fair to poor condition
in the Mideast, with colony num-
bers down 5-50% compared to the
previous year. Bees are hungry and
are requiring more than normal
feeding. The movement of colonies
from the Mideast over the winter
varies greatly by state, with only
10% estimated to be moved further
south or to California from Ten-
nessee and Virginia, but 90% from
West Virginia.
There is a shortage of good
quality, light honey, so remaining
stores are selling well at good re-
tail and wholesale prices. Harvests
from Tulip Poplar were down sig-
nificantly in Tennessee, with lower
overall production. What has been
harvested is lighter in color than
Northeast
Intermountain
West West Central East Central
Mideast
Southeast
Southwest
normal. The crop throughout the
regions has fallen short and so
“packers are trying to stock up.”
Southeast—Florida was hit hard
by the hurricane season, which im-
pacted the fall nectar flow. Report-
ers note that compared to last year,
the size of this year’s crop is 80%
overall, with beekeepers harvesting
85% for orange, 150% for palmetto,
and 50-60% for pepper. “Hurri-
cane Irma caused a lot of flooding
throughout FL. Many hives were
lost. Many orange groves were
damaged as well by the wind and
flooding.” In Georgia, Galberry
was down substantially, with col-
onies only producing 40% of last
year’s production. Most colonies
are prepped and ready for the
southern winter, with enough food
stores. In Alabama harvests were
up 20%, though state yields were
reported at only 38 lbs per colony.
Colonies are entering the winter
in poor to good condition, depend-
ing on location. Losses are expected
and operations predict running
only 70%-90% of the same number
of colonies in the following spring.
Package bees and queens are ex-
pected to be at the usual demand.
“Bees seem to be smaller clusters at
this time this year compared to last
year. The mite count seems harder
to control this year.” Beekeepers
are still concerned about the dif-
ficulty in obtaining antibiotics.
Frequent discussions were held at
the county level during October in
order to become more familiar with
the revised regulatory mandates.
Because of the severe weather
events, honey crops are down and
prices have increased, especially at
the retail level. However, imports
from foreign countries slow sales
on most honey except orange blos-
som. Though one reporter notes
that “buyers do want good clean
USA honey.”
Southwest—The Southwest
has been struggling with a dearth
and then the aftereffects of Hur-
ricane Harvey. Honey crops were
reported down 10% compared to
last year. Despite the poor weather
conditions during the summer,
colonies are entering the winter in
good shape with adequate stores.
In Louisiana colonies produced
90 lbs, with beekeepers increasing
colony numbers by 5%.
East Central—Overall beekeep-
ers report that colonies are entering
147
 U.S. HONEY PRICES FROM OUR REPORTERS HONEY MARKET FOR THE
North- Mid- South- South- East West- Inter- MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2017
east east east west Central Central Mountain West
In volumes of 10,000 pounds or greater
Wholesale unless otherwise stated
White lb. Blk.$2.00-$3.00 $2.00-$2.90 $1.60-$2.50 $1.95-$2.30 $1.70-$2.60 $2.08-$3.30 $1.60-$2.60 $1.75-$2.50 (Courtesy November 2017
Amber lb. Blk $1.80-$2.50 $1.95-$2.25 $1.50-$2.25 $1.90-$2.25 $2.00-$2.60 $1.95-$2.80 $1.50-$2.50 $1.60-$2.35 USDA National Honey Report)
1 lb. CS 24 $ 60.00- $ 55.00- $ 60.00- $ 80.00- $ 80.00- $ 84.00- $ 60.00- $ 58.00- Prices paid to beekeepers for extracted, unprocessed
$115.00 $100.00 $120.00 $120.00 $134.00 $104.00 $150.00 $115.00 honey in major producing states by packers, han-
dlers & other large users, cents per pound, f.o.b. or
2 lb. CS 12 $ 60.00- $ 60.00- $ 60.00- $ 90.00- $ 60.00- $ 60.00- $ 57.00- $ 60.00- delivered nearby, containers exchanged or returned,
$ 85.00 $ 88.80 $ 108.00 $ 120.00 $ 82.00 $ 85.00 $ 110.00 $ 84.00 prompt delivery & payment unless otherwise stated.
5 lb. CS 6 $ 72.00- $ 60.00- $ 60.00- $ 58.00- $ 87.00- $ 84.00 $ 60.00- $ 60.00- -Report includes both new and old crop honey-
$105.00 $102.00 $ 100.00 $ 98.00 $115.00 $101.00 $103.00 $104.00
Retail (# Some in Small Lot — +Some delayed pay-
Jars 8 oz. $ 2.50- $ 2.40- $ 2.50- $ 2.50- $ 4.00- $ 3.00- $ 2.00- $ 2.25- ments or previous commitment)
$ 4.00 $ 4.00 $ 4.00 $ 4.50 $ 6.00 $ 4.00 $ 4.00 $ 4.00 Arkansas
Squeeze $ 3.50- $ 3.00- $ 3.69- $ 2.80- $ 3.00- $ 4.25- $ 3.50- $ 3.25- Soybean Light Amber $1.68
Bear 12 oz.$ 4.90 $ 4.99 $ 5.00 $ 4.75 $ 6.00 $ 4.90 $ 4.85 $ 4.95 California
Avocado Extra Light Amber $1.80 - $2.08
Jars 1 lb. $ 3.95- $ 3.55- $ 5.69- $ 6.00- $ 4.00- $ 4.69- $ 3.75- $ 4.00- Alfalfa Extra Light Amber $1.65
$ 12.00 $ 8.25 $ 7.00 $ 12.00 $ 8.25 $ 8.25 $ 8.00 $ 9.00 Alfalfa Light Amber $1.55
Jars 11/2lb.$ 5.50- $ 5.25- $ 5.50- $ 5.45- $ 6.00- $ 6.65- $ 4.75- $ 4.75- Buckwheat Light Amber $1.80
(Pint) $ 13.00 $ 10.00 $ 9.70 $ 10.00 $ 12.00 $ 9.50 $ 10.00 $ 10.25 Cotton Extra Light Amber $2.08
Jars 2 lb. $ 7.99- $ 6.95- $ 6.79- $ 7.00- $ 6.50- $ 7.25- $ 6.25- $ 6.50- Cotton Light Amber $1.80 - 2.08
$ 15.00 $ 10.50 $ 12.00 $ 18.00 $ 12.00 $ 10.50 $ 11.25 $ 11.50 Sage Light Amber $1.65
Jars 3 lb. $ 9.50- $ 8.95- $ 8.79- $ 8.25- $ 10.00- $ 11.50- $ 8.10- $ 8.00- Orange White $2.40
(Quart) $ 25.00 $ 22.00 $ 18.00 $ 21.00 $ 24.00 $ 22.00 $ 23.00 $ 25.00 Valley Extra Light Amber $2.08
Jars 4 lb. $ 10.00- $ 10.00- $ 11.00- $ 18.00- $ 10.00- $ 10.00- $ 11.00- $ 10.00- Wildflower Extra Light Amber $2.08
$ 35.00 $ 30.00 $ 29.75 $ 30.00 $ 30.00 $ 30.50 $ 28.50 $ 32.00 Wildflower Light Amber $1.80
Jars 5 lb. $ 16.99- $ 15.00- $ 15.50- $ 16.25- $ 14.00- $ 15.75- $ 16.00- $ 16.50- Dakotas
$ 40.00 $ 39.50 $ 35.50 $ 32.00 $ 40.00 $ 35.00 $ 33.25 $ 35.00 Alfalfa White $2.08
Creamed $ 5.50- $ 5.50- $ 5.49- $ 5.25- $ 6.00- $ 3.95- $ 4.75- $ 5.25- Alfalfa Extra Light Amber $2.08
12 oz. $ 7.50 $ 7.00 $ 6.95 $ 6.99 $ 9.00 $ 7.25 $ 7.00 $ 7.25 Buckwheat Extra Light Amber $2.08
Buckwheat Light Amber $1.60
Comb $ 6.00- $ 5.50- $ 5.25- $ 5.50- $ 8.00- $ 5.50- $ 5.50- $ 5.75-
Canola White $2.08
12 oz. $14.00 $13.00 $13.25 $13.50 $15.00 $14.50 $13.75 $13.50
Canola Light Amber $1.60
Round $ 5.00- $ 4.50- $ 4.50- $ 4.00- $ 5.00- $ 4.00- $ 4.25- $ 4.50- Clover White $1.92 - $2.08
Plas. Comb$ 8.50 $ 8.50 $ 7.50 $ 8.25 $ 10.00 $ 7.50 $ 7.00 $ 8.50 Clover Extra Light Amber $2.08
1 Gallon $ 76.00 $ 56.99 $ 45.00- $ 36.00- $ 36.00- $ 23.00- $ 24.00- $ 25.00- Sunflower White $1.65
$ 50.00 $ 100.00 $ 96.00 $ 45.00 $ 50.00 $ 50.00 Wildflower Extra Light Amber $2.08
Wildflower Light Amber $2.08
60 lb. $180.00- $130.00- $175.00- $140.00- $160.00- $140.00- $140.00- $140.00- Florida
$225.00 $200.00 $220.00 $200.00 $360.00 $220.00 $225.00 $230.00 Brazilian Pepper Light Amber $1.70
Mangrove Light Amber $1.75
The above prices are not meant to provide a realistic picture of prices in all states of the
Georgia
particular area. They are intended merely to show what a few beekeepers are receiving
Cotton Light Amber $1.75
for their honey and we realize prices may vary tremendously, even within individual
Tupelo Extra Light Amber $1.75
states. The bulk prices for honey are stated per pound, delivered buyer’s warehouse,
Wildflower Extra Light Amber $1.75
containers exchanged or furnished by buyer, unless otherwise noted. Where prices are
Wildflower Light Amber $1.60
not shown, insufficient data were available.
Idaho
Wildflower Amber $1.60
the winter in good condition with moved their colonies south or to Hawaii
fair to adequate winter stores, with California for the winter. There is Brazilian Pepper Light Amber $1.80
Wildflower Light Amber $1.60
beekeepers feeding to bulk up colo- an expected increase for package Minnesota
nies when necessary. Reports from bees for the spring. Beekeepers are Basswood White $2.08
Michigan attest that the honey joining the local initiative of spe- Basswood Extra Light Amber $2.08
Buckwheat Light Amber $1.80
harvest is down substantially com- cialty marketing “Indiana Grown”, Canola White $2.08
pared to last year, though colony an as members can use the trade- Clover White $2.08
numbers are up 5-10%, while In- marked logo on their honey jars. Clover Extra Light Amber $2.08
Clover Light Amber $2.08
diana reports a 10% increase in Honey prices are down somewhat, Sunflower Extra Light Amber $2.08
harvest. The majority of the bees though sales are brisk because of Wildflower Extra Light Amber $2.08
have been moved out of the state to a shortage in honey. During the Mississippi
Soy Light Amber $1.75
southern climates for the winter. In winter months honey sales are Tallow Light Amber $1.60
Wisconsin, there was a late honey traditionally slower than during Montana
flow that provided extra honey. the summer. Because of strong Clover White $2.08
Clover Extra Light Amber $2.08
Indiana reports that bees are en- demand “some beekeepers are al- Knapweed White $2.08
tering the winter in good condition most sold out; never enough honey Wildflower Extra Light Amber $2.08
with adequate honey stores. Flows available.” New York
Basswood Extra Light Amber $2.35
were good with colonies averag- llinois reporters note that colo- Nebraska
ing 110-130 lbs over the season. “A nies are in good shape for the Clover White $2.08
good year, lots of nice good quality winter with adequate stores. Op- Clover Extra Light $2.08
Spurge Light Amber $1.60 - $2.08
honey.” Varroa populations have erations are planning to increase Wildflower Extra Light Amber $2.08
been monitored and assuming in size through extensive splitting Washington
normal winter losses, colony num- in the coming spring. The winter Alfalfa Light Amber $1.80
Alfalfa Amber $1.80
bers next year should be similar or stores are currently adequate, with Wildberry Light Amber $1.80
increased by 25% compared to last few bees being moved out of the
year. About 30-50% of beekeepers state. Honey prices are stable, with

148 American Bee Journal


Prices paid to Canadian Beekeepers for unpro-
cessed, bulk honey by packers and importers in U. S.
currency, f.o.b. shipping point, containers included
unless otherwise stated. Duty and crossing charges
extra. Cents per pound.
Canola White $1.03 - 1.25
Basswood White $1.03
Prices paid to importers for bulk honey, duty paid,
containers included, cents per pound, ex-dock or
point of entry unless otherwise stated.
Argentina
Mixed Flowers Extra Light $1.39
Mixed Flowers Light Amber $1.39
Brazil
Mixed Flowers Extra Light $2.10 - $2.16
ORGANIC Extra Light $2.27
ORGANIC Light Amber $2.10
India
Mixed Flower Extra Light $0.94 - $0.98
Mixed Flower Light Amber $0.92 - $0.99
Mustard Extra Light $0.89 - $1.07
Mustard Light Amber $0.89 - $1.07
Vietnam
Mixed Flower Light Amber $0.86 - $1.15
Mixed Flower Amber $0.82 - $1.07
Ukraine
Mixed Flower Extra Light $0.89 - $1.24
Sunflower White $0.89 - $1.07
Sunflower Extra Light $1.07
only fair movement in the whole-
sale market.
In Wisconsin, one reporter pre-
dicts that demand for packages and
queens will be down 25% and 10%
respectively. Also, as the state is
in a fire ant free zone “Brokers are
now taking any strong hive from
1-1,000. They are letting hobby bee-
keepers piggyback rides or trucks to
California. ….There will be a major
demand for queens in March and
April if all those bees come back
home strong and need to be split.”
Due to lower harvests than in prior
years, the region as a whole reports
strong to heavy demand for honey
in both the wholesale and retail
market. One reporter notes that
there is “more public demand for
local honey.”
West Central—In this region bees
are entering the winter in fair to
good shape with adequate to good
stores, especially in North Dakota.
Assuming normal winter losses, re-
porters in Kansas note that they will
be running larger operations next
year, while in the Dakotas they es-
timate running similar numbers or
decreasing by 5%. About 70%-95%
of commercial colonies are expected
to move south or to California for
the winter. Colony numbers are
down in South Dakota, with 16%
loss reported from set out to super-
ing and 20% loss from supering to
shipping.
A reporter from Iowa notes that
February 2018
“colony health is much improved
over last year. But that may be due
to the fact that most of our colonies
are 2 years or younger. We struggle
to get colonies past their 3rd year.
We’ve tried multiple formic acid
treatments, oxalic treatments, split-
ting hives in the spring, resistant
genetic sotck! Things that used to
work are not working anymore. It
is getting frustrating.”
Reporters attest that honey har-
vests are down 20-22% in South
Dakota with colony averages of 56
lbs, down 25% in Kansas averag-
ing 84 lbs per colony, down 25% in
Iowa with colony averages of 80 lbs,
but match or exceed by 10% har-
vests from the prior year in the rest
of the region. From Nebraska we
learn that an “unusually strong fall
flow augmented surplus and laid in
winter stores,” leaving “colonies in
great shape for winter.”
Due to adequate supply, honey
prices are stable, and low avail-
ability in many other parts of the
country is driving brisk sales in
both the retail and the wholesale
market. “Small packers and small
beekeepers are looking hard for
Kansas honey to fill their orders.”
A shortage in honey availability is
driving large packers to offer price
increases. Bulk honey prices are
thus rapidly rising. “Honey is sell-
ing well everywhere.” Very little
uncommitted stores remain. Every-
one wants “Local, local, local.”
Intermountain—This region re-
ports varied honey crops. Beekeep-
ers now have supers pulled and
honey extracted. Honey produc-
tion was around average in Utah
and Idaho and below average in
Colorado. October was cool with
varied precipitation.
Colony health is very varied,
depending on the location. Some
colonies that looked great in Sep-
tember took a turn for the worse in
October. The problem is scattered
in nature, with some yards experi-
encing minimal loss while others
have almost total loss. Beekeepers
suspect either the mite popula-
tions were larger than anticipated
or some of the treatments failed.
Many beekeepers moved their col-
onies south to warmer climates.
In Nevada harvests doubled
compared to last year, with colo-
nies averaging 46 lbs. Good flows
mean the colonies have good stores
going into winter, with no feed-
ing required. Overall the bees look
good.
By the end of October or first part
of November, many commercial
beekeepers moved their bees to
California or other Southern States
for the winter. Others were still
planning to place their bees into
potato sheds in November prior
to taking them to California in the
early spring for the almond pollina-
tion. Of course this time of the year,
beekeepers also utilize their time to
take care of maintenance issues on
supers, top and bottom boards and
frames.
West—We had no individual
reports from this region. The na-
tional USDA report notes that hot,
dry weather in California persisted
into late October with temperatures
soaring into the low 100s. Such heat
means bees continue to struggle.
Beekeepers are doing their best to
bulk up hives to get them strong
enough for almonds.
California hives have been hurt
this summer, shrinking in some
cases from 9 to 10 frames down to
4 to 5. A beekeeper noted that there
was a steady stream of trucks re-
turning bees to California to settle
for the winter. Bees that had been
placed out of state also have suf-
fered, especially those that were in
hurricane-hit states like Texas and
Florida, where many colonies were
lost or damaged and forage was re-
duced.
In many cases in California and
elsewhere, beekeepers will make
extra efforts to rebuild colonies with
extra artificial feeding. California
almond trees begin their bloom in
mid-February, and growers want
bees in the orchards by the first of
the month. In order to secure crop
insurance, growers need a mini-
mum of two hives per acre. Typical
rates for an eight-frame colony have
ranged recently from $170-190.Bee-
keepers will learn the survival rates
for their hives in mid-late January.
As November approached, bee-
keepers anticipated seasonal rains
ahead, which could mean mustard
and willow blooms for the bees to
forage on by mid-December. Euca-
lyptus will start later in the month.
Beekeepers say the fires in Cali-
fornia’s Sonoma Valley had limited
impact on bees, since few if any
commercial beekeepers are in the
area, though some hobby hives may
have been hurt.
149
150 American Bee Journal
 Borntrager Bee Farm
4036 Gaitan Lane
Beeville, TX 78102
361-362-1408 (Let ring during business hours)
Italian & Carniolan Queens 2018 Prices
1-9 10-24 25-99 100+
$25.00 $23.00 $21.00 $20.00
Virgins $10.00
Ask for cells and nucs
Queens shipped Priority or Express Mail - Insured
or UPS overnight Uninsured
All postal claims are to be made by customer

BEE HIVE THERMAL South Georgia Apiaries

INDUSTRIES
ORGANIC TERMINATION
OF THE VARROA MITE
LEARN MORE AT
www.beehivethermalindustries.com
803-504-9313
lynn@beehivethermalindustries.com
Quality Italian Queens
Queen cells
for pick-up only at:
300 Wisteria Ln.
Baxley, GA 31513
Tel (912) 366-9022
Fax (912) 367-0012

February 2018 151

 TABER’S on the web...

Queens & Packages

New USDA Russian
ARS Yugoslavians
Free Brochure Call

Phone 707-449-0440
Fax 707-449-8127
P.O. Box 1672
Vacaville, CA 95696
www.honeybeegenetics.com

152 American Bee Journal


Mites, mites, mites
A Comment from Wil in Alabama
Hi Jerry, I just read your reply to
Mac in Maine in the December issue.
I totally agree with you that a sticky
board is a not too accurate estimation
of mites in a colony. I have been tell-
ing other beekeepers to do the follow-
ing: Take a pint jar and mark, with
a permanent marker, a line up 1.5
inches from the bottom. Then install
a circle of 1/8th inch hardware cloth
(same material in a screened bottom
board) into the ring of a canning jar
lid so it can’t fall out.
Take a frame from the brood nest
and collect a few bees by holding the
frame in one hand and gently scrape it
upwards from bottom to top and tap
the jar on a hive lid to settle what you
have down. Set the jar lid upside down
on the jar so the bees can’t escape.
Take a second brood frame and repeat
the process until you have bees up to
the 1.5 mark. This should be very close
to 300 worker bees. But be sure you
do not have the queen. Find her frame
first of all and set it in an empty box
for safe keeping until you’re through
with this IPM procedure.
Now with the jar lid on dump 2 to
3 heaping spoonful’s of powdered
sugar into the jar. Just one spoonful at
a time. You will need to press some
of the powdered sugar down into the
jar with the palm of your hand. Fi-
nally shake the jar violently with both
hands, one on top and the other at the
bottom.
Lastly dump the sugar out into a
white plastic container, the kind whip
cream or margarine comes in with 1/2
February 2018
inch of water. The sugar will dissolve
instantly and the mites are visible
making them easy to count.
Remember you have only tested
for the phoretic mites not any
under capped brood. But this IPM
process should give you enough
information as to the status of your
mite population.
Sincerely, Wil Montgomery
Southside, Alabama
Q TOP ENTRANCE….
WHAT DOES THAT
REALLY MEAN?
A month or so ago I emailed you
about the viability of using Lang-
stroth equipment to build a hive with
a top entrance instead of a standard
bottom entrance. Your reply at that
time was extremely helpful and an-
swered a number of questions I had.
As would be expected, answered
questions have led to new unan-
swered questions. Perhaps you could
once again help me with questions
that have arisen.
1. When adding a second brood
chamber to my top entrance hive
should it go above or below the first
brood chamber?
2. When adding honey supers
should they be place d above or below
the brood chambers? I’m guessing
above the brood chambers because
bees place their honey stores above
their brood.
3. Should I add a second entrance
for the bees between the brood cham-
bers and the honey supers for the con-
venience of the field bees returning
with nectar?
Once again, any help you could pro-
vide would be greatly appreciated.
Hope all is well,
Hal
Connecticut
A
Hello Hal, more questions are good.
1) Entrance should be above the
brood chamber. My question is why
are you adding another brood box to
expand the brood nest? Honey bees
anticipate and plan forward for col-
ony size based on the volume of their
nest cavity. If more (bees) is better for
our beekeeper goals, then giving the
colony early indications of what they
have to work with is something to
consider.
2) Honey supers go above the en-
trance. And place them early as well.
A long time ago there was some re-
search that indicated a 10% bump in
honey crop if bees knew early how
much room they had.
3) If we are duplicating nature then
no. And one reason is that there are
lots of potential pests and predators
that could potentially benefit from
more entrances/exits that are hard to
defend.
I hope that helps.
MORE FROM HAL
I’m a little confused. If you have
time perhaps you can help me under-
stand your answers to my questions.
1. I understand the entrance should
be above the brood chamber. What is
unclear is your recommendation for
the number of brood chambers. Two
brood chambers (deep supers) have
always been the recommendation for
wintering hives in CT to ensure ample
food is available.
2. I understand that the honey su-
pers should be placed above the brood
chambers. I don’t understand why the
honey supers should be placed above
the top entrance as you suggest espe-
cially if it is the only entrance.
3. I understand. One entrance only
at the top.
Hope I am not being a pest and tak-
ing up too much of your time.
Thanks again,
Hal
153
 FROM JERRY
Hey Hal,
On #1, I wasn’t very clear was I. I
guess what I was asking is how come
you are adding a brood chamber
when it should already be on…. 2
generally.
On #2, if you put the entrance at the
top of the 'brood chamber' area it al-
lows the pollen foragers to go directly
in and down where it is needed for
feeding larvae along with nectar col-
lectors and then surplus nectar to sim-
ply go up to honey supers. Distance
traveled is shorter and more trips can
be made into the field.
If you didn’t do this, it would be no
different than an entrance at the very
bottom. Bees would have to traverse
the whole length of the hive just like
from a bottom entrance.
This make more sense?
FROM HAL:
Thanks for the clarification Jerry.
Makes perfect sense.
Hal
Protein in Pollen
COMMENT FROM
ROSS CONRAD
Hi Jerry,
In the November 2017 classroom
answer to a question regarding the
protein content of pollen, you state
that you don’t believe “the nutritional
value of fresh pollen is less nutritious
than in the past.” Plants exposed
to higher CO2 levels produce more
starch and sugar but less protein.
Scientists have consistently found this
trend—diminished protein content
with increased CO2 levels—in studies
of human food crops. In fact, it is
precisely the trend in food crops that
prompted the recent study below that
showed that the pollen protein levels
in Goldenrod have declined by up to
a third since the 1850s, when atmo-
spheric CO2 levels began rising, and
that the most serious declines have
occurred since 1960, when CO2 levels
began rising dramatically. To mimic
the effects of climate change over the
past 150 years, they exposed golden-
rod growing in chambers of undis-
turbed soil in Texas to graduated levels
of CO2. To get a historical perspective,
they analyzed goldenrod pollen from
across the United States collected as
far back as 1842 and stored at the Na-
tional Museum of Natural History.
154
Rising atmospheric CO2 is reducing
the protein concentration of a floral pollen
source essential for North American bees.
Ziska LH, Pettis JS, Edwards J, Han-
cock JE, Tomecek MB, Clark A, Dukes
JS, Loladze I, Polley HW. Proc Biol Sci.
2016 Apr 13;283(1828). pii: 20160414.
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0414.
I urge you to benefit your readers by
sharing this important information.
Ross Conrad
Middlebury, Vermont
JERRY’S RESPONSE
Thank you Ross for sharing this re-
search.
I will include in The Classroom.
I appreciate it.
Q
WE HAVE SEEN
THE ENEMY AND
THEY IS US
I have been a beekeeper for about 5
years. It is tough to keep honey bees
alive and environmentally aware
with sampling and treatments and
more treatments and the bees still die
or never produce any honey. Was it
easier years ago or is this the way it
has always been?
Marcus A. Illinois
A
It was easier Marcus. A beekeeper
didn’t have to be much of a beekeeper,
more of a BeeHaver with this insect
that basically just tolerated us because
we provided a free home, some free
food and they could reproduce freely.
Since the introduction of tracheal
mites and varroa mites, honey bees
are no longer wild animals that can
survive on their own generally. They
are animals like our pets or livestock
or zoo animals that require manage-
ment or they die prematurely.
I copied and pasted the review ar-
ticle below from Science Daily.
Link is https://www.sciencedaily.
com/releases/2017/04/170406121535.
htm.
Looks like the enemy is us. And so
we have to fix it.
Robert Owen is author of The Aus-
tralian Beekeeping Handbook, owner of
a beekeeping supply company, and a
Ph.D. candidate at the Centre of Ex-
cellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis
(CEBRA) at the University of Mel-
bourne. In his essay in the Journal of
Economic Entomology, he outlines an
array of human-driven factors that
have enabled the spread of honey bee
pathogens:
• Regular, large-scale, and loosely
regulated movement of bee colo-
nies for commercial pollination.
(For instance, in February 2016
alone, of the 2.66 million managed
bee colonies in the United States,
1.8 million were transported
to California for almond crop
pollination.).
• Carelessness in the application
of integrated pest management
principles leading to overuse of
pesticides and antibiotics, result-
ing in increased resistance to them
among honey bee parasites and
pathogens such as the Varroa de-
structor mite and the American
Foul Brood bacterium (Paenibacil-
lus larvae),
• The international trade in honey
bees and honey bee products that
has enabled the global spread
of pathogens such as varroa de-
structor, tracheal mite (Acarapis
woodi), Nosema cerana, Small Hive
Beetle (Aethina tumida), and the
fungal disease chalkbrood (Asco-
sphaera apis).
• Lack of skill or dedication among
hobbyist beekeepers to adequately
inspect and manage colonies for
disease.
Owen offers several suggestions
for changes in human behavior to im-
prove honey bee health, including:
• Stronger regulation both of global
transport of honey bees and bee
products and of migratory bee-
keeping practices within countries
for commercial pollination.
• Greater adherence to integrated
pest management practices among
both commercial and hobbyist
beekeepers.
• Increased education of beekeepers
on pathogen management (per-
haps requiring such education for
registration as a beekeeper).
• Deeper support networks for
hobby beekeepers, aided by scien-
tists, beekeeping associations, and
government.
“The problems facing honeybees
today are complex and will not be
easy to mitigate,” says Owen. “The
American Bee Journal
role of inappropriate human action
in the spread of pathogens and the re-
sulting high numbers of colony losses
needs to be brought into the fore of
management and policy decisions if
we are to reduce colony losses to ac-
ceptable levels.”
Q WAX MOTHS….OFF
LABEL “BT”
I found a BT (Bacillus thurigiensis)
product from a company XenTari that
I want to use to protect my combs
from wax moths. Can I?
Leonard
Leonard,
Here is the response from the man-
ufacture of this product that I asked
about for you:
Thank you for your inquiry about
XenTari for control of bee wax moth
and I’m very sorry that it took this
long for you to get a response!
The active ingredient, Bacillus
thuringiensis subsp. aizawai is known
to have activity on wax moth larvae.
Unfortunately, wax moth is not
currently on the XenTari label and
VBC cannot condone this use.
All the best,
Daniel
Q
RAISING QUEENS
Hi Jerry,
I have read your article from May
1991 on raising queens using the
Hopkins Method. I plan on doing this
next year coupling it with the Cloake
Board for the cell builder and finisher.
I wonder if you still use the Hopkins
method and/or if you could relate
some of your experiences with it and/
or the Cloake Board. I did a Google
search to see if you had written any-
thing on it since May 1991 but came
up empty.
February 2018
Thank you for The Classroom. Good
stuff.
Bill Abell
Lexington, VA
A
Yikes, 1991!!!
The problem I had with the Hop-
kins method was that if I didn’t
destroy the cells with appropriate
aged larvae and leave room for the
cells with appropriate aged larvae
that I did want, queen cells would
be clumped together and not sepa-
rate and movable. Like a cluster of
grapes, ugh. It can produce lots of
queens.
Everything else is the same as
many other queen producing meth-
ods so that you biologically provide
the best queen rearing opportunity. I
like it because there was no mechani-
cal manipulation of the individual
larvae.
I have to admit that I only tried the
Cloake board method once. Maybe I
am lazy or maybe something else but
I thought there must be an easier way.
After separating boxes and turning
them one way, closing this entrance
and opening another, placing queen
excluders and Cloake boards, then
coming back and opening a different
entrance, moving frames around, put-
ting metal sheets in and taking them
out, then closing a different entrance
and more, I convinced myself there
must be an easier way.
Not that Cloake won’t work, but oh
my, it is fairly involved.
Thank you for The Classroom com-
pliment
Have fun. Jerry
Q
TREATING FOR MITES
AND SWARMING
I apparently did not treat several
hives for mites and wondered if it
would be alright to use oxalic acid va-
porization. The temperature is in the
40’s. Do I have nothing to lose or take
my chances by not doing anything?
Tough call. Thanks.
Also, why do some bee yards
swarm so much while others swarm
very little and produce a lot of honey.
The yards that swarm a lot produce
a lot of mites and bees, but that is
about it.
I want to dissect varroa mites and
identify organs. Can you help me
with more information about this?
George Ruble
A
It is a tough call George. It is prob-
ably too late to make much of a dif-
ference in overwintering colonies in
a temperate climate north of the Ma-
son-Dixon line. The bees created to
go into winter are physiologically dif-
ferent than short lived summer bees.
Winter bees raised in Aug/Sept have
more fat bodies and other differences
that allow them to live 6-8 months in
comparison with 6-8 week summer
bees. But, they have to be healthy
and relatively virus free to live that
long and that means varroa control in
Aug/Sept.
Let’s assume they are compromised
health wise George. If they are de-
signed to live let’s say 20 weeks in a
perfect world to get thru winter and
early spring that is the colony goal.
And if they can only live 19 weeks
because of this Varroa/Virus legacy
the colony will die in the late winter
or in early spring as many do, because
of this Varroa/Virus legacy issue. All
that to say you can experiment and
see how it goes. Let me know.
Swarming is reproduction. Asexual
reproduction. Hard to stop reproduc-
tion. If the bees that swarm are suc-
cessful for themselves and survive,
that is really the only honey bee goal.
They don’t really care about you or
honey production or anything else.
Some are more successful in multiple
swarms and people collect them and
155
keep the trait going which is passed
down to those drones that contrib-
ute to your local Drone Congrega-
tion Area (DCA). Those successful
swarming drones and those success-
ful swarming queens mate and voila
you have more successful swarming
colonies.
Everything you wanted to know
about Varroa is in link below. Hope it
answers your questions.
Take care. Jerry
http://caes2.caes.uga.edu/bees/
documents/JARstandardmethods
forvarroa.09.pdf
Q
BEETLE ID
Jerry, hopefully you, Jamie, or
someone you know, can ID the beetle
recently found in 2 of my hives. I have
heard of the Australian Sap Beetle
being in the western US, but not in
my area. It does bear a resemblance
to ASB, but I’m no beetle expert. As
you can see from the photos, it is 1/4”
in length, a reddish-brown color and
narrower than SHB. I found 2 of them
and a couple of SHB herded on top
of the inner cover by the bees. Also,
I don’t recall seeing this particular
beetle in any of my hives before.
Terry
FROM JAMIE ELLIS TO
A Beetle Expert
Hey Lyle, (Dr. Lyle Buss UF, Insect
ID Lab)
Do you know what the first beetle
is? Is it a scarab? It’s similar to what
I called a “Christmas Beetle” when I
lived in South Africa.
Thanks.
Jamie Ellis, PhD
FROM LYLE
The beetle is in the family Tene-
brionidae, maybe one of the flour
beetles in the genus Tribolium. But it
156
doesn’t seem quite right to be a red or
confused flour beetle. I’d love to take
a closer look at some actual specimens
if you’re up for sending some to me
(the more the better).
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/
urban/beetles/red_flour_beetle.htm
Lyle
Q
HIGH VARROA
COUNTS
Hello Jerry,
I am one of the long time readers of
your articles on the Classroom and a
beekeeper for over 12 years in Spring-
field, MO handling over 100 colonies.
I truly appreciate and value your
opinion.
I need your idea about the problem
that I am facing. 3 weeks ago I used
oxalic acid vaporization on all of my
hives as directed. My varroa count
was way higher than the threshold,
indeed most of the hives contained
some brood at the time of applying.
Two days ago I rechecked my var-
roa count via alcohol washing and
was very surprised. The mite level
was over 10 varroa per 100 bees. Now
the question is, should I go ahead and
use again the oxalic vaporization or
other chemicals like ApiVar or else?
Or just leave them alone???
Please advise me at your soonest
possible time, I do appreciate it.
You have a blessed day.
David and Paula
A
Yes, it does happen with oxalic as it
doesn’t get all the mites reproducing
behind capped cells. When the bees
emerge, so do the mites.
Short answer is that it may be too
late for the ‘winter bees’ who are sup-
posed to be long lived, so cross your
fingers as you apply ApiVar a soon as
possible.
In your prayers, say one for a short
warm winter.
Hang in there,
Jerry
Q HONEY BEE
MOUTH PARTS
Hi Jerry, I enjoy the classroom and
had a question about your response
to the bees eating blueberries ques-
tion in the Nov. issue of ABJ. You
state in your response "honey bees
do not have biting, piercing, chewing,
crunching mouthparts".
I’m a first year beekeeper but I’ve
observed my bees chewing wood-
enware as well as chewing through
nylon window screen used as robbing
screens. How do they do it if they
don’t have the proper mouthparts?
How also do the "ankle biter" Purdue
bees chew legs off mites or the "Mite
Mauler" Italian redline bees chew
chunks from the mites?
Thanks for all the info,
Josh
A
Great question Josh. Honey bees
have sucking, smoothing, shaping
mouthparts. Honey bees obviously
suck up liquids like water, nectar and
honey using their straw like mouth
parts. The honey bee has spatula like
mouth parts that are used to primarily
grab and take up and shape the bees-
wax flakes that bees produce in wax
glands on the underside of their abdo-
men into the complex shape of honey
comb. They also use these spatulas to
access and manipulate beebread and
propolis.
These unique structures are not bit-
ing, chewing or piercing, but can be
used to smooth out and rub and wear
down wooden hive parts or to rub,
rub, and rub some more to scrub, buff,
wear away over time harder surfaces.
On mites the bees can grab the
smaller mite and pull it forcibly off
another bee, sometimes damaging
it. Or have a tug of war with it and
another bee etc.. pulling legs or other
mite parts off.
But no biting, chewing, crunching,
snipping. I hope this makes sense. If
not give me another try. Thanks for
The Classroom compliment.
American Bee Journal
E
very few weeks a photo of a fly
lands in my inbox, always ac-
companied by the same ques-
tion: “What kind of bee is this?” The
answer is simple. If your insect has
short, stubby, barely visible antennae,
it is not a bee.
On the contrary, a bee antenna is
long, graceful, mobile, and insanely
cute. But beyond that, the antennae
are a bee’s major data collection tools,
containing receptors for touch, taste,
and smell. Antennae can also detect
temperature, humidity, and carbon
dioxide, along with gravity and wind
speed.1 Much of what a bee “knows”
arrives through those two slender
filaments.
The word antenna is derived from
the Latin antemna. On Roman sailing
ships, an antemna was a type of hori-
zontal mast-mounted spar designed
to spread square-rigged sails. With
a little imagination, perhaps you too
can envision your bees with rigging.
Sail ho!
omones, and chemicals which can af-
fect the social structure of the entire
colony.3
Basic antenna structure
The basic structure of antennae
is the same for all bees. The base of
each antennae sits in a bowl-like
depression in the bee’s head, some-
times called the antennal socket. Four
muscles extend from the base of the
antenna into the bee’s head to control
antennal movement.
The antenna itself is divided into
three main parts. The first part, which
rises from the antennal socket is called
the scape. It is the longest single seg-
ment of the antenna. Attached to the
distal end of the scape is the pedicel,
a much shorter segment that has a
rounded appearance. These two seg-
ments together are responsible for the
way the antenna moves. The pedicel
fits within the end of the scape to form
an elbow-like joint that allows easy
rotation in many directions. If you
look at a bee whose antenna is flexed,
the bend you see occurs between the
scape and the pedicel.
The third major section of the an-
tenna is called the flagellum. The
flagellum is especially interesting to
bee taxonomists because it can often
be used to determine bee sex. The fla-
gellum is divided into sub-segments
called flagomeres. In nearly all species,
including the honey bee, females have
10 flagomeres and males have 11. In

Centralized data collection

The importance and complexity
of antennae is not limited to honey
bees. Bees of all types have similar
antennae that collect the information
needed for survival. But eusocial
bees2—those that live in organized
groups—need more information
than solitary bees, so their data col-
lection is more complex. Not only do
they need details about food sources,
weather conditions, and mates, but
they also need to communicate with
other colony members. Social bees Many flies mimic bees in their coloring. If you’re unsure whether you are seeing a
have receptors that can perceive bee or a fly, check the antennae. Flies have short and stubby antennae, whereas bee
queen pheromones, behavioral pher- antennae are long.

February 2018 157


This sweat bee, Halictus rubicundus, is
pulling one antenna through his antenna
cleaner.
some species, such as the long-horned
bees, the male’s sub-segments are
much longer than the female’s, giving
him a noticeably longer antenna.
The sensory receptors
The outer surface of the flagellum
is covered with different types of re-
ceptors, each type having a special
purpose. The receptors can be identi-
fied by their shape and are often de-
scribed as plates, pits, pegs, and hairs.
In general, peg organs are chemore-
ceptors used for smelling, sensory
hairs are mechanoreceptors used for
tactile functions, and plate organs are
both chemo- and photoreceptors. Esti-
mates vary, but each worker antenna
This honey bee is drinking water. Her antennae are bent so she can examine the
surface of the leaf.
158
has roughly 3,000 chemoreceptors,
whereas a queen’s antenna has only
about 1,600. But drones, whose job is
to find virgins queens in midair, have
an estimated 300,000 chemoreceptors.1
The distribution of sensors on the
antennae is very specific. For example,
the honey bee uses a tuft of sensory
hairs at the very tip of the flagellum
to determine surface texture. Tem-
perature sensors are found on the last
six sub-segments, and the majority of
olfactory sensors, called pore plates,
are distributed over the last eight sub-
segments of the worker’s antennae.4
The gustatory sensors, far fewer in
number, are thread-like chemorecep-
tors with a pore at the end that can
perceive sugar concentrations as low
as one or two percent.3 Other sensors,
not as well understood, can detect
pheromones, humidity, carbon diox-
ide, gravity, and shape.
The inside of the antenna contains a
nerve that leads from the receptors to
the antennal lobe of the brain. It also
contains two additional muscles that
are independent of those found in the
scape, and which pull the flagellum
up and down. The nerve and antennal
muscles receive oxygen through small
tracheal tubes and hemolymph via
the bee’s circulatory system. The an-
tennae are so important that they have
auxiliary hemolymph pumps, one at
the base of each antenna, which help
pump bee blood through the organ.
The Johnston’s organ
An additional receptor, known as
the Johnston’s organ, is found inside
the pedicel at the base of the flagel-
lum. This sensor is able to detect
vibrations and slight changes in an-
tennal position. For example, in flight,
bending of the antenna due to airflow
helps the bee to determine her speed
through the air.5
In addition, the Johnston’s organ
is responsible for the bee’s ability to
“read” dance language even in the
dark. It works like this. The danc-
ing bee causes sound waves to travel
through the air. These waves deflect
and vibrate the flagellum of a “listen-
ing” bee. The vibrations are transmit-
ted from the flagellum to the pedicel
where they bounce into a tight mem-
brane that separates the pedicel from
the scape. You can think of this inter-
segmental membrane as being simi-
lar to an eardrum. When it vibrates, it
stimulates sensory cells in the pedicel
which then send nerve impulses to
the bee’s brain.6
Since the Johnston’s organ detects
sound vibrations, it is sometimes
called the “bee’s ear.” But unlike a
typical ear, the Johnston’s organ is
able to detect extremely slight deflec-
tions, such as those caused by both
magnetic and electric fields.7 For ex-
ample, Greggers demonstrated that
electric fields are created when bees
move, and these fields cause small but
perceivable antennal movements in a
receiving bee.8
How bees use their antennae
Bee antennae are in constant mo-
tion—touching, reaching, bending,
and seeking. With so many receptors
of different types, a seemingly endless
stream of environmental data flows
into the bee’s brain. What does the
bee do with it all?
The ability to “hear,” taste, smell,
and feel are essential to every part of
the bee’s life. For example, the bee’s
ability to detect surface texture helps
a forager find her way into a flower.
As we know, many flowers have vi-
sual patterns on their petals known
as nectar guides that help a bee see
her way to the nectaries. But in ad-
dition to visual clues, many flowers
have tactile clues as well. The surface
of some flower petals is texturally
unique in the area leading to the nec-
tary, a difference bees can detect with
the tips of their antennae.9
The bees’ sense of smell is especially
attuned to odors associated with food.
This heightened sensitivity allows
workers to find flowers and other
potential food sources, including
neighboring hives and hummingbird
feeders. Since a bee has two antennae,
American Bee Journal
she can compare the relative strengths
of the two signals to guide her to the
source. She uses this comparative
analysis to fly in the direction that’s
slightly stronger, continually adjust-
ing her flight as she follows the odor
stream.
Since bees are extremely sensi-
tive to sweetness, they can decide
whether a certain nectar is worth
collecting. Nectar with a very low
sugar concentration could be a waste
of time for honey bees to harvest, so
after a quick taste with their anten-
nae, a forager can reject the source
and search for something better. Al-
though bees also have taste receptors
on their mouth parts and feet,7 the
antennal taste receptors often make
the initial contact.

Communicating in the dark Certain types of pollen stick to a bee’s antennae, forcing her to stop and clean.
Antennation is a process in which
bees use their antennae to commu- alarm pheromone. The antennae even activity the bees stand on the exterior
nicate with each other. For example, perceive substances such as ethyl ole- of the hive and rock back and forth,
the antennae are very active during ate, a primer pheromone11 that regu- rubbing the surface with their man-
trophallaxis, the transfer of food from lates the development of foragers. dibles. As they rock, their antennae
one bee to another. Observers believe An increasing level of ethyl oleate is are in constant motion, frequently ex-
that bees, both givers and receivers, a signal from the active foragers that amining the surface.10 Washboarding
signal their readiness to begin food the work force is large enough. As a is a fascinating behavior we still don’t
transfer by using their antennae.6 In result, the rate of transition of nurse understand, though it’s usually done
addition, the antennae help them bees into foragers slows down and by young adult bees.
align their bodies for the transfer. Like bees prolong their nursing phase.3
nearly everything else a honey bee When the workforce drops, ethyl ole- Keeping it all clean
does, trophallaxis usually happens in ate levels decrease, and the rate of Antennae are vital to bee life, so it is
total darkness, so bees must rely on maturation from in-hive bees to forag- not surprising that bees have unique
tactile clues to get the job done. ing bees returns to normal. But if lots ways to keep them spit-shined and
Honey bees also use their tactile of foragers are lost, then bees will ac- polished. Each of the forelegs of all
sense to build wax combs.10 Although celerate development and transition bees are equipped with an antenna
the hive interior is dark, the bees can to foraging precociously. cleaner. The antenna cleaner is made
detect comb dimensions with their Bees even use their antennae while of two parts: a notch in the basitar-
antennae. The shape of the cells, as washboarding. During this strange sus, which is outfitted with a ring of
well as the thickness and depth of the
wax walls, are determined by using
the antennae.
Because sensors on the antenna can
detect small changes in carbon diox-
ide levels, bees can take corrective
action. As carbon dioxide in the hive
rises, bees may increase fanning to
aid ventilation and lower the carbon
dioxide concentration.4 The ability to
detect carbon dioxide may also as-
sist with colony defense. Sometimes
spikes in carbon dioxide levels are
due to the exhalation of a threatening
creature, such as a beekeeper.

Colony regulation
The antennal sensors also help
maintain the colony as a cohesive
unit. They allow the workers to moni-
tor the queen by tracking her phero-
mones, they enable the bees to “hear”
queen piping, and they allow the bees The semicircular antennae cleaner is clearly visible on this foreleg from a honey bee
to “read” messages of danger, such as drone.

February 2018 159


Some male bees, such as this Eucera, have especially long antennae. Males have an
extra subsegment in the flagellum and each subsegment is longer than the female’s.
stiff hairs, and a corresponding spur
on the tibia. According to Mattingly,
“To use the antenna cleaner, the [bee]
raises her foreleg over her antenna
and then flexes her tarsus. This action
allows the spur to close the notch and
form a ring around the antenna.”9 As
the bee pulls each antenna through
the circular enclosure, the bristles re-
move debris such as pollen and dust
which otherwise might interfere with
the sensory organs of the antenna.
Some bee species tend to clean their
antenna more frequently than others.
Worker honey bees don’t clean after
every flower, but they clean frequently
after visiting blooms containing espe-
cially heavy or sticky pollen. Squash
and hibiscus blossoms, for example,
This queen, just returning from her mating flight, is antennated by three workers.
160
can trigger repeated antennal clean-
ing. Honey bee drones tend to clean
their antennae before going in search
of virgin queens. Often they can be
seen on the landing board polishing
their antennae in advance of the big
event. On the other hand, species such
as Halictus rubicundus clean their an-
tenna constantly. In fact, after an after-
noon of watching them, I wonder how
they get anything else done.
A sensory bundle
Besides containing the equivalent
of nose, fingers, ears, and taste buds,
the antenna functions as a protractor,
hygrometer, thermometer, speedom-
eter, direction finder, and CO2 sen-
sor. What could be more convenient?
Now that I think about it, I wonder
how those flies manage to find their
way around from day to day.
Notes and References
1. Sammataro D, Morse RA. 1998.
The Beekeeper’s Handbook. Ithica
NY. Cornell University Press.
2. Eusocial bees are those that live in
cooperative groups characterized
by shared brood rearing, overlap-
ping generations, and a division of
labor. Both honey bees and bumble
bees are considered eusocial.
3. Southwick E. 2015. Physiol-
ogy and Social Physiology of the
Honey Bee. In JM Graham (ED.)
The Hive and the Honey Bee (pp. 183-
202 ). Hamilton IL. Dadant & Sons.
4. Snodgrass RE, Erickson EH, Fahr-
bach SE. 2015. The Anatomy of the
Honey Bee. In JM Graham (ED.)
The Hive and the Honey Bee (pp. 183-
202 ). Hamilton IL. Dadant & Sons.
5. Winston ML. 1987. The Biology
of the Honey Bee. Cambridge MA.
Harvard University Press.
6. Kevan PG. 2007. Bees: Biology &
Management. Cambridge ON. En-
viroquest Ltd.
7. Caron DM, Connor LJ. 2013.
Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping.
Kalamazoo MI. Wicwas Press.
8. Greggers U, Koch G, Schmidt
V, Dürr A, Floriou-Servou A,
Piepenbrock D, Göpfert MC,
Menzel R. 2013. Reception and
learning of electric fields in bees.
Proc. R. Soc. B 2013 280 20130528;
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0528.
9. Mattingly, RL. 2012. Honey-Maker:
How the Honey Bee Worker Does
What She Does. Portland OR. Bear-
grass Press.
10. Gary N. 2015. Activities and Be-
havior of Honey Bees. In JM Gra-
ham (ED.) The Hive and the Honey
Bee (pp. 271-308). Hamilton IL.
Dadant & Sons.
11. A primer pheromone causes long-
term changes in both physiol-
ogy and behavior. In contrast, a
releaser pheromone causes rapid
changes in behavior.
Rusty Burlew has
studied agriculture,
honey bees, and envi-
ronmental science for
over 30 years. She is
a passionate advocate
of native bee conser-
vation and founded
the Native Bee Con-
servancy in Washington State. You can visit
her website at https://honeybeesuite.com or
email her at rusty@honeybeesuite.com.
American Bee Journal
 SAVE EXPENSE HARDEMAN APIARIES 2018
PICK-UP WITH 906 South Railroad Ext.
A FRIEND!!!! P.O. Box 214
Mt. Vernon, GA 30445
SPRING
Phone (912) 583-2710
Fax (912) 583-4920
PRICES
“ITALIAN QUEENS AND PACKAGES”
QUEENS PKGS. 1-9 10-24 25-99 100-UP
1-9 $20.50 #3 $81.00 $79.00 $77.00 $75.00
10-24 $19.00 #4 $96.50 $94.50 $92.50 $90.50
25-UP $18.75 NO NUCS THIS SEASON

QUEENS “RUSSIAN HYBRID QUEENS & PACKAGES”

1-9 $23.00 PKGS. 1-9 10-24 25-99 100-UP Marking
10-24 $21.25 #3 $84.00 $82.00 $80.00 $78.00 $2.25
25-UP $21.00 #4 $99.50 $97.50 $95.50 $93.50 Clipping
NO NUCS THIS SEASON $2.25
WE WILL START TAKING ORDERS IN DECEMBER
PICK-UPS ARE WELCOME. YEARLY INSPECTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
PACKAGE AND QUEEN PRICES DO NOT INCLUDE POSTAGE. ALL SHIPMENTS MUST BE PAID IN
FULL BEFORE WE SHIP. NO PAYMENT MAY CAUSE DELAYS IN YOUR SHIPPING.
ALL POSTAL CLAIMS ARE TO BE MADE BY CUSTOMER. HARDEMAN APIARIES
ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE. WE ACCEPT ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS.
WE WILL NOT SHIP PACKAGES TO ZONE 5 AND UP, NO EXCEPTIONS. POSTAL SERVICE WILL NOT
INSURE PACKAGES PAST ZONE 4. ZONE 5 AND UP PACKAGE CUSTOMERS SHOULD TRY YOUR
LOCAL BEE CLUBS TO SEE IF THEY MAY BE PICKING UP PACKAGES. QUEENS CAN BE SHIPPED
AND ARE INSURED TO MOST UNITED STATES CUSTOMERS.

February 2018 161

162 American Bee Journal
F
or most small-scale beekeepers, corrupted product, even if the taste dart from one bottle to the other.
selling their honey direct is a approximates honey. You’re buying Typically, he gets quiet. But, with the
simple transaction. The seller junk. You could also buy supermarket visualization, his mind is whirring
has what the customer wants, and or store honey, which is priced between and he will most likely never buy
the buyer is willing to pay for it. my honey and this fake Chinese ver- cheap honey again. Chalk up another
But for the last few years I have sion. But it is batched honey col- victory. Of course, I could let him
used props to help inform people lected from several beekeepers. And it’s sample both bottles, and that would
and increase sales. These interactive heated for filtering, which kills all the cement the conversion. Then I make
props provide buyers with a sense of healthy enzymes. So, even with store the sale. Or make the point. Or teach
quality, cementing our relationship honey, you don’t know what you’re a lesson.
for a long time. I also use my prop buying. You are getting a poor substi- I use my prop in other ways also.
any time I talk about honey varietals. tute instead of the real thing. Whenever I give talks, I bring the prop
A prop is some physical object and discuss the difference between
that the listener can look at and During my fulmination, the cus- the real McCoy and imitations. It
touch, something that adds validity tomer stares at the prop. His eyes helps to be holding something up
to one’s assertions. My prop is a box
divided into two compartments with
my honey jar set in one compartment
and a jar of blended Chinese honey
set in the other compartment, with
its price ($1.55) clearly marked on the
lid. Seems silly, you say. Everyone
knows that Chinese honey is a poor
substitute for the real thing.
Well, actually most people outside
the beekeeping industry don’t know
this. And besides, seeing it first-hand
underscores the reality. Whenever I
receive a price objection, I hold up
the box, showing both honeys, and
say something like this:

You’re right. Local honey is expen-

sive. But at the other end of the
spectrum, here’s what your buying,
Chinese honey. See the ingredients:
honey, syrup. In other words, you’re
buying sugar syrup laced with honey.
See the price $1.55. You’re buying a

February 2018 163


that everyone can see. Depending
on the crowd, I might pass the prop
around, so people can get a closer
look. If it is a small audience, I might
bring popsicle sticks and let every-
one come up and sample both items,
side by side. Their expressions range
from anguished disgust to bitter gri-
mace when tasting Chinese honey.
Being able to see and touch and even
taste something is, as they say, worth
1,000 words.
My prop is a handy device to
have around. When someone asks
me to explain why local honey is
so special, I whip out my prop and
make my points. I compare the natu-
ral healthiness of local honey to the
gooey stickiness of fake honey that is
essentially fructose syrup. I discuss
the healthy enzymes in local honey
that are blasted out of existence when
heated in the Chinese product. When
a neighbor asks about buying my
honey, I take out my prop and point
out that you get what you pay for,
especially with honey. It helps to
have such a gross product alongside.
When someone complains about my
high price, I once again rely on my
prop. I ask her to look at the two
bottles and suggest that they look
quite alike. Then I offer her to sample
both items. That does it. My point is
made. The customer eagerly makes
the purchase.
When I do a bee school presenta-
tion for my club, I use the prop. I
insist that both items look identical,
164
but are totally different. One is the
real thing and the other is a fake.
I conclude by suggesting that one
must be careful, lest he is tricked.
When not in use, I keep my prop
on the mantle above the fireplace in
my office. Looking up at it from my
desk gives me a confidence. Along
with my bees, I am creating some-
thing special, something that can
be imitated, but never reproduced.
Furthermore, my product is local
because my bees gathered the ingre-
dients from within flying range of
my particular location. As such, my
honey is the embodiment of local
nature. Its DNA, if you will, is com-
pletely unique. And with all kinds of
lesser items in the marketplace, such
as this Chinese honey, I am—dare I
say—offering something real, some-
thing special that blows all the others
away.
True confession: I did not make
my prop box. I had the perfect box
in the basement. But for those who
aren’t so lucky to find the proper
size, the prop can be made simply.
It’s a wooden box with a divider. My
box’s measurements are 8 ½” high
by 10 ½” wide by 2 ½” deep. Insert
a divider and you have a two-sided
box.
One 7/16” five-foot-long pine
board would do for making your
own. Figure out the measurements.
Cut up the board with your electric
saw and bond one edge to the next
with Gorilla glue or some similar
product. Use any thin board for a
back plate. Paste heavy cardboard
signs above each compartment.
One sign says ‘Real.’ The other says
‘Fake.’ Then insert the bottles. To
make semi-permanent, secure bottles
with a hot glue gun. Voila, you have
your prop box.
You can purchase the jar of Chinese
honey at most Asian supermarkets.
In our neck of the woods, there
are Chinatown sections in Boston,
Cambridge, and Quincy. It might not
be labeled Chinese Honey. It might
be called Honey or Honey Syrup.
The important thing is that the ingre-
dients are labeled ‘honey and syrup,’
and that the jar says ‘product of
China.’ The kicker is the price tag. If
there isn’t a price tag on the bottle,
place one there. A 10 oz. jar might
run anywhere from $1.25 to $2.00.
A 16 oz. jar might range from $2.00
to $3.00.
This is just one prop you can use.
For the more artistic or creative bee-
keeper, there are a lot of possibili-
ties. If you own a large lathe, cre-
ate a four-foot high honey dipper.
Imagine how that would create a
stir—no pun intended—at fairs or
speaking engagements.
Create a hexagon wall, using 5”
wide boards pasted together. Glue a
piece of plywood as a background.
Place your assorted products—liquid
honey, comb honey, candles, pollen,
wax blocks—in each of the hexagon
spheres. Such a prop makes an excel-
lent backdrop at speaking engage-
ments. It would also work in your
honey store, where customers come
to buy product.
Decorate a column of wooden
package boxes with assorted colors
of wax. Let the wax drip on the top
and screens. Using colored candles
can create interesting effects. Another
option is to purchase encaustic wax
blocks available at art stores. Use
the column as an art object when
giving talks. Give out a few boxes to
attendees who give the right answer
to a quiz you’ve devised. The sort of
questions you might ask are the fol-
lowing: How many honeybees are in
a hive? Why is the hive made of wax?
Make a honey factory out of blocks
and vats. Use this prop to describe
how the bees make honey. Point out
that on the vertical combs each cell
is tilted upward, so honey won’t run
out. These cells become vats. Explain
the many steps in making honey:
gatherer bees bring nectar from flow-
ers into the hive. At the entrance,
American Bee Journal
in-hive bees take the honey and share
it between many workers. Drop by
drop, the bees deposit the nectar in
a vat. While the vat is filling, worker
bees fan their wings to reduce the
liquid content. Certain bees engaged
in nectar storage check the density to
determine when it has the right thick-
ness, typically when the water con-
tent falls below 18%. At that point,
the nectar is now honey. When a cell
is filled, construction bees cap the cell
to prevent the honey dripping out
and to insure it remains unadulter-
ated. Wouldn’t it be easier to explain
the process using this prop?
If you are not handy or creative,
be on the lookout for props at thrift
stores, yard sales, and ‘take it or
leave it’ shops at the town dump. I
have discovered innumerable boxes,
unusual shaped objects and just plain
funny items that I have found useful.
Props make your bee stories more
entertaining and alive. Make it a pri-
ority to get some soon.

Scott is a 35-year beekeeper. The

Pembroke, Mass. practitioner is
the author of the best-selling BEE
LESSONS. He has published over
185 articles for ABJ. Contact him
at dancinghill@gmail.com.

February 2018 165

166 American Bee Journal
February 2018 167
168 American Bee Journal
 We beekeepers are nearly blind as to varroa. Yes, we see the occasional mite on a bee,
or in torn drone brood. And the more diligent beekeeper may even perform occasional
alcohol washes or stickyboard counts. But few beekeepers have anything but a remote
grasp of how varroa is actually living and dying in the hive.

A
ll that changed for me when I
started mathematically model-
ing varroa population dynam-
ics. This required me to account for
every aspect of varroa life and death.
In this article, I’m going to focus upon
the death part of the equation—that
which the beekeeper causes when he/
she applies a mite control measure or
miticide treatment.
My modeling of mite population
dynamics suggests that if you keep
bees in an area in which your colo-
nies rear brood for at least 6 months
of the year, that you’ll need to reduce
mite levels by 90% at least once each
season; if there’s 8 months of brood
rearing, this will require two reduc-
tions per season, and if more than
10 months with brood, likely at least
three reductions over the course of the
season. In this article, I’ll quickly hit a
few points on early- and mid-season
management, and then focus upon
late-season treatments, especially ox-
alic acid vaporization.
In my previous article, I presented a
graphic of a varroa management strat-
egy that my sons and I successfully
use in the California foothills. But as
Maine beekeeper Bill Truesdell is fond
of pointing out, “All beekeeping is
local.” Thus, I studiously avoid mak-
ing any specific recommendations re-
garding hive management. That said,
I can share some of the pros and cons
of the various choices of treatments
used for mite management.
EARLY-SEASON
MITE MANAGEMENT
In order to help your colonies avoid
being forced to deal with a varroa/
virus epidemic during midsummer,
it’s important to reduce their mite lev-
els early in the season. This is also the
time of year that the greatest propor-
tion of the mites are in the brood—
which creates both problems and
opportunities for management.
BIOTECHNICAL METHODS
Use Resistant Stock
For beekeepers who run truly mite-
resistant stock, varroa may not be a
serious problem, so long as the bees
themselves are able to keep the mite
from multiplying to levels that allow
viruses to run rampant.
Practical application for those
using mite-resistant bee stock: it’s
sooo easy to delude oneself—just
because you “believe” that your
stock is mite resistant, you can’t re-
ally be sure unless you confirm it by
checking. In order of reliability, I’d
suggest alcohol wash, sugar shake,
accelerated mite drop1, or sticky-
board natural drop, in that order. If
you don’t deal with mite-infested
colonies early, when they inevitably
collapse later in the season they may
overwhelm any truly varroa-resistant
hives with an influx of mites. A quote
from the Cookeville Beekeepers per-
haps says it best: Treatment Free bee-
keeping and just hoping for the best
while doing nothing are NOT the
same thing.
Brood Removal
As colonies approach swarming sea-
son, my modeling suggests that some
80% of the mites may be hidden—and
actively reproducing—in the worker
and drone brood. Although this makes
miticide applications less efficacious,
it does allow for the physical removal
of mites from the hive. Removal of a
single drone brood trap frame can po-
tentially remove 15-20% of the mites.
Practical application: removing
15% of the mites certainly helps, but
a more realistic target would be to re-
duce the mite population at this criti-
cal time by 90%.

February 2018 169


Figure 1. By placing all the sealed brood into one (or more) queenless splits, you can
obtain high-efficiency mite reduction with carefully-timed oxalic acid treatments even
in springtime. The timing is critical in order to hit the mites when they aren’t hidden
under the cappings. If the splits are forced to rear their own queens, then you’d get
even better mite control by waiting 24 days ‘til you treat.
Splitting
When a swarm issues from a colony,
it may reduce the subsequent buildup
of the parent hive’s mite population
by up to 50% over the rest of the sea-
son.2 On the other hand, a natural or
shook swarm will start with a much
lower mite infestation rate than the
remaining parent hive, since the pho-
retic mites that it carries would con-
stitute only about 15% of the parent
hive’s total mite population. The re-
moval of shook bees or brood for nucs
can also set mite buildup in the parent
hive back substantially.3
Practical application: The low
starting varroa burden gives a
swarm a leg up on the mites, com-
pared with the parent hive, which
got stuck holding most of the bag.
But keep in mind that if that swarm
is successful at establishing itself, it
will still likely eventually succumb
to varroa. The last thing you want
is for your escaped swarms to later
be sending their mites back to your
hives as those swarm colonies inevi-
tably collapse.
Dividing a hive equally into
two,results in each split starting with
only half of the original mite popula-
tion (I’ll let you figure out the math
by yourself). Even better, if you start
the splits with queen cells (or make
walkaway splits), you would be able
170
to take advantage of the brief window
of opportunity when there would be
no sealed brood in the split in which
varroa could hide. This occurs around
18-24 days after the split is made.4 By
applying an oxalic dribble or vapor-
ization during this window, one can
achieve a 95% reduction in a hive’s
mite population.
Practical application: my sons and
I have now used the above method
for six years, on thousands of nucs
each spring, with great success.
Unfortunately, such an oxalic treat-
ment would be of little help to the
queenright split, since that hive never
gets a brood break.
A Clever Option for Small-Scale Bee-
keepers
For those willing to locate the queen
and swap around the brood frames,
there is an option that not only reduces
the varroa population in both the parent
and split by 95%, but also suppresses
swarming, requeens at least one of
the pair, and allows you to make an
increase only if desired (Fig. 1).
Sugar Dusting, Heat Treatment, Etc.
I couldn’t in good conscience recom-
mend sugar dusting in the spring, due
to its low efficacy at that time. And I
have no experience with heat treat-
ment or the new sonic mite killers.
Miticides
Again, due to the majority of the
mites being in the brood in the spring,
for good efficacy you need to apply ei-
ther a time-release miticide, or formic
acid—the only miticide that kills mites
under the cappings
Time release treatments: Apivar®
(amitraz) strips, or perhaps back-to-
back treatments with Hopguard® can
work. Extended-release oxalic acid
treatments show considerable promise,
and we’re working hard to get the ox-
alic/glycerin formulation registered for
use. Thymol treatments (Apiguard® or
ApiLife Var®) could be used, but have
the disadvantage of suppressing brood
rearing during the course of the treat-
ment. Note that of all the registered
treatments above, only Hopguard can
be used during a honey flow.
Formic acid: Due to the typically
lower temperatures at this time of
year, formic acid (MAQS or other
application methods) can be very ef-
fective, and MAQS has no restriction
against its application during a honey
flow.
Practical application: due to its
lack of residues, proven efficacy, and
relatively brief brood rearing inter-
ruption, formic acid has a lot going
for it as a spring treatment. Small-
scale beekeepers can protect the
queen by setting her aside during
treatment, either in a tiny nuc, or in
a queen cage in the house. Tip: use
a pair of 7.25” stainless steel medi-
cal bandage scissors5 to open MAQS
wrappers—the angle of the handles
and the blunt ends makes opening
the packs a breeze.
MID-SEASON
MITE MANAGEMENT
While you’ve got honey supers on
the hive, you’re really limited as to
mite treatments. Formic acid is likely
the best choice, although repeated
sugar dusting is an option. During hot
weather, in order to avoid queen loss,
some apply only a single MAQS strip
for a mite “knock back” until they can
pull the honey. What I’ve observed is
that even with a strong formic treat-
ment in hot weather, it is usually only
already-failing queens that get lost,
and the colonies typically successfully
replace them.
LATE-SUMMER
MITE MANAGEMENT
This is the most critical time for
mite management—you want to get
the mite count down close to zero at
American Bee Journal
least six weeks before the colony rears
the last rounds of brood destined to
become its winter bees. As a general
rule, figure mid-August treatment at
the latest. If you need to wait, buy
time with MAQS or a formic flash.
If your mite levels are high, slow-
release formulations such as Apivar
or Hopguard may not do the trick
quickly enough. Although I’m aware
that some beekeepers are still getting
good results with off-label amitraz,
I’m not going to discuss illegal treat-
ments here.
Practical application: a glar-
ing problem faced by many is the
amount of mite immigration com-
ing into managed hives in late sum-
mer and fall. I’ll be writing at length
about this in an upcoming article,
but suffice to say, that even if you
completely control mites in your
own operation, some of your hives
may still be invaded by hundreds to
thousands of mites from neighbors
and collapsing feral colonies. This
makes late-season mite management
very difficult in some areas with
large numbers of beekeepers. This
mite influx may call for an additional
“clean up” treatment.
THE “FORMIC BLAST”
It’s difficult to turn a “varroa bomb”
around this late in the season. The
virus epidemic is entrenched, and
without immediate kill of all the mites
in the hive, the colony is more of a
threat to the rest of your hives than
it’s worth. So in our operation, we
simply break our mite bombs down
into singles, and apply 300 mL of 65%
formic in a time-release plastic bag (or
3 MAQS) in a rim on top.
Practical application: this harsh
treatment kills all the mites in the
brood, but not the sealed brood itself,
nor the adult bees (but does kill some
queens, whose genetics we don’t re-
ally want anyway). After treatment,
we then place the now mite-free box
of bees and brood on top of a strong
nuc with a fresh queen with very
good success. We love the hard for-
mic blast—quick, cheap, no residues,
no mite drift; a fresh start.
A DAY-BY-DAY MODEL
I created Randy’s Varroa Model6
to be user friendly by limiting it to
calculate changes in the mite popula-
tion only twice a month. This works
fine when one can input the overall
mite reduction from an occasional
February 2018
Figure 2. The flow chart for the simplified basic model. The outputs can then be
checked against stickyboard counts and alcohol washes for validation of accuracy.
treatment. But when I started get-
ting questions about how to input two
oxalic acid vaporizations within one
15-day time period, I needed a model
that calculated on a daily basis. Such
a model is unwieldly, since one must
input daily values for the bee and
brood areas. Anyway, I’m developing
a simplified model that takes into ac-
count daily immigration and emigra-
tion of mites, as well as the number of
foundresses entering a cell each day,
and the number of daughters emerg-
ing (Fig. 2).
With a model such as this, I may be
able to answer questions about the
optimum spacing of short-term oxalic
acid treatments.
The safest and simplest way to
apply oxalic acid is as a dribble, but it
is truly effective only when applied dur-
ing a natural or induced brood break. And
as evidenced by Buddy May’s recent
field trial7, repeated dribbles may be
tough on the colony. Oxalic vaporiza-
tion (sublimation) may get around
this problem, as it appears to be a bit
gentler on the bees. It’s also attrac-
tive to beekeepers who want to avoid
opening their hives to apply a treat-
ment. Anyway, oxalic vaporization is
a hot topic among beekeepers, many
of whom may not quite understand
the details.
THE BASICS OF OXALIC
VAPORIZATION
In the first place, you can’t see oxalic
vapor—it’s invisible, and being pro-
duced at around 350°F, it would cook
any bee that it came into contact with.
It’s only the cooled fog of condens-
ing oxalic micro crystals that you see.
Those crystals float in the air, eventu-
ally settling on, or sticking to, surfaces
with which they come into contact—
such as comb surfaces or the bodies of
the bees (Fig. 3).
Keep in mind that unless that fog of
crystals actually penetrates the cluster
to make contact with the bees inside,
it likely won’t have much effect upon
varroa. When using a slow vaporizer
such as the Varrox®, the cluster may
open up enough to allow the warm fog
to be carried inside by the convection
current, resulting in better penetra-
tion of the acid into the cluster. In cold
weather, however, when the bees are
in a “hard,” relatively airtight cluster,
it may require a forced air stream to get
the fog into the cluster.9 I question how
well the 20-second blasts from some of
the “fast” vaporizers touted on the in-
ternet actually penetrate the cluster—if
you have checked bees from inside the
cluster under a ‘scope after such a va-
porization, please let me know.
Practical application: later in the
season, as the colony is reducing its
broodnest, 40-50% of the mites may
be phoretic at any time, making ox-
alic vaporization a reasonable can-
didate for mite reduction. That said,
confirm that your application method
is actually getting to all the phoretic
mites—perform an alcohol wash a
few days after your vaporization.
The second thing to keep in mind is
that oxalic acid, whether applied by ei-
ther sugar dribble or vaporization, ap-
pears to be quickly groomed from their
bodies by the bees, and thus exhibits a
relatively short-term effect upon the
mites—typically for only a few days.10
There is surprisingly little data avail-
171
 Practical application: note also
how any sticky board count (solid
black line) taken a few days after
treatment could be misleading, since
it can drop to near zero despite there
still being plenty of mites left in the
brood. The same would apply to an
alcohol wash count.

It appeared that each of Donald’s

treatments typically resulted in around
70% overall kills of the phoretic mites pres-
ent at the time.15 This is close to the kill
rate found by Radetski16 for colonies
with “some” brood, but less than that
determined by Enzo or Al Toufailia17—
both in hives free of brood.

Practical application: a single

carefully-applied OA vaporization
may be all that’s needed for a brood-
less colony. On the other hand, if a
colony’s got a fair amount of brood,
you can’t realistically expect an ef-
ficacy (as far as reduction of the ex-
pected mite buildup) of greater than
25-50% from a single vaporization
Figure 3. A bee covered with microcrystals of oxalic acid. Surprisingly, bees toler- (as indicated by the steps in the solid
ate such exposure with minimal adverse effects—perhaps because there is no sugar red line)—you need to keep hitting
involved to encourage them to ingest it. On the other hand, the mites are apparently the hive until you’ve purged all the
killed by the absorption of oxalic acid from crystals with which their sticky tarsal pads mites in the brood and killed them
come in contact.8 before they could reenter. This is ex-
Photo courtesy of Chamblis, Wikimedia Commons. actly the reason that I’m enthusiastic
about the extended-release OA/glyc-
able on daily mite drops following ei- tions of mites on the bees or in the erin treatment.18
ther of these treatments—if you have brood. Note how the treatments re-
some, please send it to me! Below (Fig. duced the number of phoretic mites The question then is what is the best
4) is one data set shared with me by stepwise with each treatment (blue interval for repeated vaporizations?
beekeeper Donald Aitken of Edmon- dashed line)—after which they’d
ton, Alberta11, who took the time to slowly rebound as more mites exited THE OPTIMAL INTERVAL FOR OA
count his dropped mites when he did a the brood. Compare that to the red VAPORIZATION TREATMENTS
series of vaporization treatments start- dashed line indicating the number Beekeepers have been asking me
ing at the end of August, following the of mites in the brood, which was in- how to use my mite model in order
end of his main honey flow. stead reduced slowly and steadily. to determine how frequently to apply
I used the daily mite model de-
scribed above to attempt to duplicate
Donald’s mite drop counts, hoping
to back-calculate the daily kill rates
resulting from his OA vaporization
treatments. I started by inputting
values for his colony.12 And then by
trial and error I estimated a starting
mite count that would result (from
treatment effect plus natural varroa
mortality) in a total stickyboard mite
count that matched Donald’s actual
total count of ~17,000 fallen mites
(yes, there can be a lot of mites in a
hive)—the model also suggests that
Donald’s hive’s starting alcohol wash
count would have been in the ball- Figure 4. Donald treated this hive by oxalic vaporization six times (red triangles). Each
park of 60 mites in a half cup of bees. treatment consisted of roughly 2 g of oxalic acid vaporized under a screened bottom
The output of my best13 simulation is board. The hive was fairly well sealed for 15 minutes after each application. Note that
shown in Fig. 5. mite drops were only elevated for about three days after each treatment. I asked
In the following graphs I included Donald why the first peak was lower than expected; his notes suggest that he may
dotted plots to indicate the propor- not have allowed enough time for a full vaporization of the OA on that initial treatment.

172 American Bee Journal

oxalic vaporization to best effect. So
I ran quite a bunch of simulations in
order to see.
For these calculations I ran all the
simulations for a mid-latitude colony,
starting mid-August, and running
through the end of September. The
modeled hive starts with 15 frames
of bees, dropping to 12, and 4 frames
of brood, dropping to one half frame.
I started with an arbitrary 3,000 mites
(a 13-count alcohol wash), with a 300-
mite overall immigration, peaking on 5
September. The expected ending mite
population (absent any treatments)
would be 6,523 mites (a 46-count al-
cohol wash). I set the total kill rate for Figure 5. A simulation to match Donald’s mite-drop data (the black line). His mite drop
each oxalic vaporization to result in an counts suggest that with his six oxalic vaporization treatments, he obtained 98% ef-
overall 90% mortality of the phoretic ficacy overall.14 I then hand inserted daily varroa kill rates to match the model’s mite
mites present during the time of each drop curves to those of his recorded counts (those daily kill rates are in boldface
treatment.19 Here’s a simulation for a above the mite drop curve). At only one time point did the daily kill rate of phoretic
single oxalic vapor treatment (Fig. 6). mites reach as high as 50%, but of interest is that there appeared to be an extended
Each simulation also calculates the slightly elevated kill rate for some time after each treatment.
overall efficacy of the treatment(s),
comparing the ending varroa popula-
tion (in red) to the 6,523 mites which
would have been expected without
any treatments. In the above case,
despite the mite population increas-
ing slightly, it was less than half what
would have been expected—thus the
calculation of 52% efficacy.
I’ve also included the expected al-
cohol wash counts (mites per ½ cup
of bees) in the blue squares. Note how
this count, after the treatment, went
up even more rapidly than did the
total mite population. This was be-
cause of the reduction in the amount
of brood present—forcing more of the
mites out onto the adult workers. As I
type these words, I just checked back
Figure 6. The effect of a single oxalic vaporization was not impressive—over the
to find that this iteration of the model course of the 47-day period, the colony’s mite population went from 3,000 up to 3,131
is suggesting that nearly half the mites (compare this ending mite population to that in the following simulations). And re-
would still be in the brood on the last member that I’m using (in this and subsequent simulations) an optimistic kill rate
date. I suspect that that is an overes- better than that achieved by Donald Aitken.
timate, so I will continue to fine-tune
this daily model. Until then, please
take the results of any of these simula-
tions with a grain of salt.
In any case, it appears that a single
vaporization isn’t likely to do the
trick. So let’s try five treatments, each
a week apart (Fig. 7).
But do you really need to do five
treatments? How about only four?
(Fig. 8).
Not bad, you say—so how about
only three treatments, one every other
week? (Fig. 9)
I’d heard some experienced Euro-
pean beekeepers recommend repeating
the vaporizations at shorter intervals--
every 4 days—in order to prevent any
mites from exiting and reentering the Figure 7. Five weekly vaporizations, on the other hand, resulted in an overall efficacy
brood between treatments. This sounds of 97%, dropping the mite population (solid red line) pretty quickly to only 213 mites.

February 2018 173

 compellingly sensible, but lacking hard
data, I wondered whether this would
be worthwhile. So let’s run the num-
bers (Fig. 10).

Practical application: I’ve run the

numbers—you decide what to do.
Let me be clear that the above simu-
lations were run on a simplified and
preliminary daily model, which still
needs to be validated and fine tuned
by comparison to hard mite count
data from the field. If you’re willing
to take such daily mite drop counts,
please let me know.

Thymol
Figure 8. Skipping one of those treatments, and spacing them further apart, still Now I was curious about running a
resulted in 96% overall efficacy, partly due to killing late-immigrating mites. Ending simulation for the mid-August treat-
mite population of 268 mites. ment with Apiguard thymol gel that
we’ve been using in our own opera-
tion. When I’ve opened brood cells
during strong thymol treatments, I
don’t observe any mite kill beneath
the cappings, so I assumed for the
simulation that the treatment would
kill only a percentage of the phoretic
mites, and not affect the reproductive
success of the remaining mites (al-
though I strongly suspect that it actu-
ally does). From this I hoped to be able
to again back calculate the daily addi-
tional mortality of the phoretic mites
due to treatment.
At this time of season, due to lack
of forage, my colonies are already de-
creasing in strength, and the thymol
treatment only accelerates that pro-
cess as the bees reduce brood rearing
Figure 9. We’ve saved quite a bit of field time here, yet still obtained a decent efficacy and move the broodnest away from
of 91%. However, mite levels remained a bit high for the first two weeks, allowing for the fumes. So I ran a simulation to
a degree of deleterious virus transmission to continue. The ending mite pop of 562 match (we feed pollen sub immedi-
mites is higher than that of the two previous simulations. ately after treatment, so that the now
low-mite colonies can build up for
winter).
In order to validate the output of
my model, it needed to match field
data for both overall efficacy of the
treatment, as well as for mite counts
from stickyboards. I knew from ex-
perience that we obtain roughly 90%
efficacy with the Apiguard treatment,
which matches that of other pub-
lished trials. I then reviewed pub-
lished studies in which researchers
had recorded mite drop data during
late-summer treatment. I converted
the mite drop data from summer and
autumn trials by Floris and Leza 20
in Italy and Spain, respectively, to
proportionally match the modeled
results of a starting mite population
Figure 10. Four back-to-back treatments certainly dropped the mite level quickly, of 4,000 mites—an expected number
but there was then enough mite increase after treatment from reproduction and im- for a hive that had not been treated
migration to drop the overall efficacy to only 91%, with an ending mite population of in the springtime (if you’re surprised,
576 mites. compare to Donald Aitken’s 17,000

174 American Bee Journal

counted mites). I then again back
calculated the daily kill rates of the
phoretic mites required to match the
field data (Fig. 11).
In order to match the field data, the
model suggests that treatment with
Apiguard kills roughly 25% of the
phoretic mites every day for about a
week (the small percentages above
the triangles).21 This rate of slow at-
trition resulted in an overall modeled
efficacy of 90%. But note that the mite
population reduction is not as steep as
with repeated oxalic vaporizations.
Practical application: note that in
the above simulation an efficacy of
90% was obtained. That would be
fine if you started with an alcohol
wash count of say 8, which would
have ended with a count of less than
2. But if you started with a count of
20, you’d still be going into the win-
ter with an unacceptable number of
mites in the hive (likely over 1,000).
Take home message: your required
treatment efficacy must be figured
relative to your starting mite infes-
tation rate—high-mite hives need
stronger treatment.
FALL-WINTER
MITE MANAGEMENT
Once a colony’s gone broodless,
mites are much easier to kill (even
sugar dusting may produce adequate
results). But you want to make sure
that any treatment given at this time is
not too stressful on the bees. Although
there’s no temperature restriction on
Apivar, I’ve seen no reports on winter
treatment, nor for Hopguard. A gentle
formic treatment can be effective. Thy-
mol may be both stressful and ineffec-
tive due to temperature.
Beekeepers worldwide have good
success with a single oxalic acid drib-
ble or vaporization. In some countries,
beekeepers are substituting glycerin
for the sugar in the dribble. This is for
two reasons: (1) the bees have an aver-
sion to glycerin, so aren’t tempted to
lick up the acid, as they do when sugar
is used, and (2) the glycerin maintains
acid residues on the bees’ bodies for
much longer than with either sugar
dribble or vaporization.22 My sons and
I are currently testing this method; I’ll
let you know the results.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks as always to Peter Borst
for research assistance, and to all the
dedicated and hard-working bee re-
searchers from whose publications I
draw useful information.
February 2018
Figure 11. A simulation for two applications of Apiguard thymol gel, applied 14 days
apart (red arrows). Note how the model’s output (purple bars) is close to that of Floris’
and Leza’s proportional hard data. This simulation is based upon a colony starting at
15 frames of bees--dropping to 13, with 4 frames of brood--dropping to 2 due to the
suppression of brood rearing due to the thymol fumes; it also assumes a daily immigra-
tion of 10 mites.
ENDNOTES
1. Accelerated by the application of a quick-
acting miticide or a sugar dusting.
2. Since only 20%-25% of the mites would
be phoretic at this time of season, assum-
ing that 70% of the adult bees left with
the swarm, the swarm would carry only
about 15% of the total mite population.
The rest of the reduction (from the poten-
tial buildup) would be due to the lack of
mite reproduction during the period be-
fore the new queen begins laying.
3. Maucourt, S, et al (2017). Comparison
of three methods to multiply honey bee
(Apis mellifera) colonies. Apidologie DOI:
10.1007/s13592-017-0556-9 See their Fig. 4a.
4. At 20 days, all the original worker brood
will have emerged; by 24 days, any drone
brood. The earliest that brood from the
new queen coming from an inserted cell
will be receptive to mites is typically
around Day 20. See http://scientificbee-
keeping.com/simple-early-treatment-
of-nucs-against-varroa/
5. Amazon: “Prestige Medical Bandage
Scissor with One Large Ring”
6. Updated regularly at http://scientificbee-
keeping.com/randys-varroa-model/
7. May, RC (2017). The effects of repeated
summer application of oxalic dribble.
ABJ 157(10): 1123-1125.
8. Papežíková, I, et al (2017). Effect of
oxalic acid on the mite Varroa destruc-
tor and its host the honey bee Apis mel-
lifera, Journal of Apicultural Research DOI:
10.1080/00218839.2017.1327937
9. Dr. Medhat Nasr has investigated this pret-
ty thoroughly for Canadian application.
10. Al Toufailia, H, et al (2015). Towards
integrated control of varroa: 2) compar-
ing application methods and doses of
oxalic acid on the mortality of phoretic
Varroa destructor mites and their honey
bee hosts, Journal of Apicultural Research
54(2):108-120.
Schneider, S (2015). Subletale Wirkun-
gen von Oxalsäure in Kombination mit
Zuckerwasser oder Glycerin auf Apis
mellifera: Untersuchung der Toxizität, der
Pharmakodynamik, des Verhaltens und
der Lebensdauer, sowie der Rückstände
auf Bienen und Beutenmaterial. Doctoral
Dissertation, Freien Universität Berlin.
11. Shared here by permission.
12. I guessed that it started at the end of Au-
gust with 15 frames of bees, dropping
linearly to only 10 frames by 11 October
(remember, that it was highly infested
with mites). I also assumed that it started
with 4 frames of brood, an amount that
dropped steadily until the hive went
completely broodless by 26 September.
Because his bees enjoyed good flight
weather through 11 September, I includ-
ed a mite immigration count from other
hives of 20 per day during that period.
13. I ran dozens of simulations figuring out
how to do this. During this process I’d
recognize some error or another in the
model, and then start all over again. But
I’m finally getting more comfortable with
the utility of the daily model. However,
at this time, it is not a done thing!
14. Calculating efficacy as 1-(final mite pop/
expected final mite pop of 13,186).
15. For example, a kill of 45% the first day,
30% the second, then 15%, 5%, and then
2% daily over the next week results in
an overall kill of 72%. The 17 September
treatment suggested an 80% kill.
16. Radetski, T (2001). Vaporisation of oxalic
acid in a field trial with 1,509 colonies.
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/di-
ary/files/__www.mellifera.de_engl2.pdf
Back calculating from Radetski’s tables,
and adusting for natural mite mortality
in the control group, his mite reduction
appeared to be roughly 77%.
17. Enzo, N, et al (2004). Oxalic acid by Var-
rox® to varroa control control in central
Italy. Apiacta 39: 39-43.
Al Toufailia (2015) op. cit. Enzo’s kill rate
was around 80%; Al Toufailia’s about 95%.
18. Refer to my “Extended-release oxalic
acid progress reports” in this journal, and
at my website.
175
19. A series of daily kill rates of 75%, 45%, 20%,
5%, 2%, 2%, 2%, 2%, 2%, 2%. This 90% total
phoretic figure may be overly optimistic.
20. Floris, I, et al (2004). Comparison be-
tween two thymol formulations in the
control of Varroa destructor: effectiveness,
persistence, and residues. J. Econ. Ento-
mol. 97(2):187-191.
Leza,M, et al (2015). Comparison of the
efficacy of Apiguard (thymol) and Api-
var (amitraz) in the control of Varroa de-
structor (Acari: Varroidae. Spanish Jour-
nal of Agricultural Research 13(3): 1-5
21. Assuming that it does not affect mite re-
productive success. If it indeed does so,
then the daily kill rate would be lower.
22. Schneider, S (2015). op cit..

Randy sees beekeep-

ing through the eyes
of a biologist. He’s kept
bees for over 50 years,
and with his sons runs
around 1500 hives in
the California foothills.
He closely follows bee
research, engages in
some himself, and en-
joys sharing what he’s
learned with others.

rN C alif o
rt he
N PaCkage BeesrNia
o
aCkage ees
QuAlity itAliAn And
CArniolAn Queens
All bees fed Fumagilin Fall & Spring
Powell APiAries
4140 Co. Rd. KK
Orland, CA 95963
Phone: 530-865-3346
Fax: 530-865-3043
Package Delivery Available
Member:
California Bee Breeders Assoc.
American Honey Producers Assoc.

176 American Bee Journal

O
n a sunny spring day in April were completely empty — robbed realized they could never survive
of 2005, I set up my first bee- clean. I found 45 more hives a mile the competition of 144 hives. Time
hives in the lovely little part down the road and there was my an- to move. But where? How could I be
of the world I call my home in south- swer. There had been plenty of forage sure that the new location was free
west Michigan. They found them- for five to seven hives, maybe even and clear of the competition?
selves living in a bee paradise with ten to fifteen, but definitely not for I used two tools – one old and one
lots of forage, abundant water, wild 80. Well, ever the optimist, I figured a new. First, I traveled the roads all
areas, hay fields and a lawn filled new year would be better and cheer- around and looked very carefully for
with white clover. They rewarded me fully fed enormous amounts of sugar signs of beehives. The previous year I
year after year with honey harvests to the remaining hives to help them hadn’t noticed the 45 hives because of
ranging from 60 to over 100 pounds through the winter. tree cover. I learned to look very close-
per hive. Even in a poor year they av- Spring arrived, so did the com- ly at any potential location. I knew
eraged around 50 pounds per hive. mercial beekeeper. This time with that for a location to be attractive to
I kept around five to seven hives in 144 hives. I only had one hive left the commercial beekeeper, it had to
groups of three or four per location by spring. It went queenless just as have good access for his large trucks
scattered throughout my property my four new queens arrived. I des- and had to be a vacant piece of land
and my neighbor’s. perately split it into four and placed that was not under active agricultural
Suddenly that all changed. My new queens with each split. I quickly cultivation. The other method was to
hives struggled. For the first time
ever I saw a hive decrease its honey
stores from one inspection to the next.
A swarm collected in May never in-
creased in size at all, even though the
queen was always present at every
inspection. By fall, two hives were
so light I almost knocked them over
when I went to staple winter wrap on
them. What could have happened?
It wasn’t as mysterious as it sounds,
although it took me a lot longer than
it should have to recognize the prob-
lem. A large commercial beekeeper
placed 30 hives right near my proper-
ty line. I contacted him and requested
he move them, but he was unwill-
ing. He cryptically stated that he had
more hives near me than I knew. I
didn’t really think about that at the
time, but these extra hives added a lot
of competition for the same forage.
By the time I finally did notice my Getting Started: The author and her daughter install their very first packages in April
light hives, I discovered that they 2005

February 2018 177

 study Google Satellite Maps of our
area. There is a feature on those maps
that allows me to measure distance to
determine how far one point is from
another. This is very useful when de-
termining apiary locations, as you can
calculate foraging range.
I first had to determine what was
desirable to the commercial beekeep-
er. He needed a location that would be
undisturbed throughout the growing
season. That rules out any cultivated
fields. From a satellite view I can see
what is farm land and what is vacant
land. I knew one of his locations was
a gravel pit. Those are very easy to see
on a satellite map.
I could pinpoint where his hives
were located and measure a three mile
radius around them. His hives were
located in two locations that were one
quarter to one mile from my hives.
Home Apiary: The yellow x’s indicate the three locations on my property where I had
I then used the Google Maps tool to
my hives. The red circle indicates where the commercial beekeeper placed 30 hives
measure distances from the commer-
that first year, then 72 the following year.
cial beekeeper’s hives to three other
nearby beekeepers, all of which were
new beekeepers with only one or two
hives.
I knew a friend of mine had an
appropriate piece of property for
colonies, in fact bees had been kept
there in the past very successfully. I
asked my friend if he had seen any
evidence of commercial beekeeper ac-
tivity nearby. He had not. He owns a
large area of land – another plus, as it
would provide a buffer of protection –
I knew that was a safe area.
Home Apiary: This shows the apiary location of the author’s hives that are closest
The Google Map revealed what I
to her home the year the commercial beekeeper moved into the area with his bees.
could see from the road – a lot of culti-
vated farm land, also a gravel pit, but
it was far enough away that it would
not be an issue even if a commercial
beekeeper did keep bees there. We
moved the bees to my friend’s farm,
which was located around 2 ½ miles
from the commercial beekeeper’s api-
ary.
Due to the stress of a hard start,
only one hive really built up nicely,
although under the circumstances, I
should be happy with that! Two oth-
ers survived, but stayed small and
didn’t really build up. There was no
evidence of any disease or parasites in
any of these hives. I combined the two
weak colonies in the fall and will see
what spring brings this year.
I know now to act fast and move my
hives without hesitation when I notice
signs of stress. It is never normal for
me to have to feed my hives. I have
Nearby Apiary: This map shows where the commercial beekeeper set up a second api- installed new packages with no sugar
ary just 1.3 miles down the road. The yellow x’s again indicate my hives, while the red water and they built up fine as long
circle shows where the other 72 hives (45 the first year) were located.  On both of those as the dandelions were blooming. If
pictures the number inside the circle indicates the distance between the two points. my hives can’t feed themselves, either

178 American Bee Journal

they have lost their queen, or there lots of wild areas for forage and it is managed areas so there are plenty of
isn’t enough forage for them. I have best to preserve what we can of wild “weeds” for our bees and other pol-
found in my operation that a well fed spaces and limit use of herbicides on linators to use for forage.
bee is a happy and healthy bee. A hive
full of these bees is productive and
pest-free.
I used old and new information
and technology to find appropriate
locations for good forage and to avoid
large concentrations of beehives in
one area. If you are using this method,
remember that honey bee hives them-
selves will rarely appear on satellite
maps, because commercial colonies
are moved seasonally and most satel-
lite images are taken when there are
no leaves on the trees, which is usu-
ally early spring in our area. At that
time commercial hives are either not
even in the state, or they are busy pol- New Location: The author’s hives were relocated to the area indicated by a yellow
linating commercial crops. Satellite x, which are 2.6 miles away from the commercial beekeeper’s second location. Note
images are static images that are only that the overall landscape around the new location shows much more wooded, non-
updated once a year or even less fre- agricultural land, which is prime for bee forage.  A small year-round creek is also near
quently, so you can use them to deter- the new apiary.
mine appropriate locations, but not to
locate actual hives.
It has been my observation that
commercial beekeepers in our area
have been drastically increasing the
number of hives they are keeping.
This means they need more places
to place their bees during the sum-
mer months, which in turn leads to
increased competition with small bee-
keepers. At the same time, backyard
beekeepers are increasing in number
and many are increasing the number
of hives they are keeping.
This trend appears to be based on
the idea that more hives make more New Apiary: The hives relocated to their new apiary location surrounded by much
honey. Another reason both commer- more forest land.
cial and backyard beekeepers are in-
creasing hive numbers is to make up
for potential losses, both in the sum-
mer and over the winter. The problem
is that the forage in any given area has
a limit and once that limit has been
exceeded, the bees will experience
stress, malnutrition and eventually
disease and death.
I have been cautioning backyard
beekeepers to only keep as many hives
as they really need for their personal
use or small sideline business. For-
age is decreasing rapidly due to de-
velopment and modern agricultural
practices. When that is coupled with
an increasing number of colonies, the
bees will inevitably suffer. No crea-
ture can be healthy without adequate Ready for Winter: The two vertical Langstroth hives are wrapped for winter. The one
nutrition. So watch your bees, make on the left is the one remaining strong hive that built up nicely and stored plenty of
sure they are well fed, and if they honey for winter. The one on the right is a combination of the original vertical hive
have to move, use the tools you have in that location and the bees that were in the horizontal hive adjacent to it. The blue
to place them where they can have horizontal hive lost its queen just after the move, so it had previously been combined
plenty to eat! Spread the word among with the white horizontal hive. Thus, going into winter, both horizontal hives were
beekeepers and others that bees need empty and both vertical hives were wrapped and prepared for winter.

February 2018 179

180 American Bee Journal
February 2018 181
182 American Bee Journal
H
ygienic worker bees have a
demanding job. They are key
players in the hive’s social im-
mune system, detecting and remov-
ing sick and dying brood before the
pathogens and parasites they har-
bor can spread. Evolutionarily, this
makes sense; hygienic behavior prob-
ably evolved because in the face of
brood diseases, the hygienic colonies
were more likely to fight off the dis-
ease and survive. But from the indi-
vidual bee’s perspective, what exactly
is going on? How are they able to tell
who’s sick and who’s healthy? We
are closer than ever to zeroing in on
the link between the genes hygienic
honey bees express and their ability
to detect dead brood. But it turns out,
we might be untangling just one of
many potential ways that bees can be
hygienic.
Scientists have been studying hy-
gienic behavior since at least the
1960’s, when WC Rothenbuhler, at
Iowa State University, started work-
ing out the genetic basis of this trait.1
By observing how different inbred
lines of honey bees responded to
dead brood (back then, they killed
the brood with cyanide gas – now,
we use liquid nitrogen, which is
much safer), Rothenbuhler deduced
that there were probably two genes
controlling the trait – one gene for
uncapping, and one for removing.
About 40 years later, Marla Spivak
showed that this model was too sim-
plistic.2 In reality, there are at least
seven locations on the genome that
control the trait – probably many
more – suggesting that hygienic be-
havior is more complex than Rothen-
* Address: 436-2125 East Mall, Vancouver,
BC, CAN, V6T 1Z4
February 2018
buhler ever imagined. Spivak’s
foundational work also showed that
bees’ sense of smell is indispensable
for completing hygienic tasks.
In the March issue of American Bee
Journal,3 I described two odorants
emitted from dead brood which we
think are involved in hygienic behav-
ior – β-ocimene and oleic acid. At the
time, I had not actually done any be-
havioral experiments – we just knew
that these were strong signals com-
ing from dead pupae, and the roles
these chemicals play in other contexts
lends them probable cause. Hungry
larvae emit β-ocimene like a volatile
flag, waving to attract the attention of
workers and alert them that the larva
is starving. Oleic acid, on the other
hand, induces necrophoretic behavior
(i.e., transport of corpses away from
the colony) in ants and termites, and
avoidance behavior in cockroaches
and crickets. Together, this led me to
hypothesize that β-ocimene probably
attracts hygienic workers, while oleic
acid is the determinant death cue.
Now, I have behavioral data to back
that up.4
To be clear, these odorants are not
likely responsible for all hygienic be-
havior – just that which is induced by
freeze-killed brood. Other diseases
and parasites (chalkbrood, Ameri-
can foulbrood, and Varroa destructor)
could easily stimulate hygienic be-
havior with different odorants, and
some work by Spivak and Olav Ruep-
pell suggests that is the case. Study-
ing freeze-killed brood, though, is a
useful model to begin with, because
it’s a simpler system than one that in-
volves real pathogens. It’s also much
safer than cyanide.
We started with a quick and dirty
behavioral test. We simply uncapped
brood cells and added small amounts
of the different odorants with a pi-
pette (including a control treatment of
hexane), replaced the frame and came
back 3 hours later to see how many
were removed. The hexane treatment
acted as a reference point to compare
β-ocimene and oleic acid to, since
we know that it’s bad at inducing
hygienic behavior. It’s important to
include treatments like this because
even the simple act of uncapping a
cell and adding something – anything
– can induce low levels of hygienic
behavior, even if it’s not a death or
disease odor. In total, we uncapped
about 3,000 brood cells spread over
10 different colonies, with each cell
cap individually picked away with
tweezers (I’m very grateful to have
had the diligent help of another stu-
dent that summer!).
The results? Hygienic colonies in-
deed removed β-ocimene- and oleic
acid-treated brood more often than
hexane-treated brood, and they were
better at removing brood than non-
hygienic colonies. These results told
us we were on the right track, but it’s
arguably not a very realistic experi-
ment. In reality, workers need to sense
the odor through the wax cap, without
being in direct contact with the brood.
What’s more, since oleic acid is so oily,
I doubted that it could become suffi-
ciently airborne for its odor to pen-
etrate the cap in the first place.
I wanted a better behavioral test.
One that allowed me to add odorants
to a brood cell without breaking its
integrity. Without uncapping, with-
out puncturing the wax, and with-
out harming the pupa inside. I was
183

A worker honey bee caught in the act of engaging in hygienic behavior. She is chew-
ing away the wax cap to expose the brood underneath, which is destined for removal.
stumped. And when I’m stumped, I
talk to Heather.
Heather Higo has been in the busi-
ness of bee science since before my
own supervisor – now a full professor
at the University of British Columbia
– had even finished his undergrad.
She’s also one of the leaders for the
selective breeding project I wrote
about in the article “Breeding a bet-
ter bee: Three social immunity traits,
one massive experiment.”5 In 2016,
she received the Fred Rathje Memo-
rial Award – a prestigious recognition
for her contributions to improving the
Canadian beekeeping industry. Not
surprisingly, Heather instantly came
up with a solution to my odor-intro-
duction problem. “Can’t you just use a
Jenter set?” she asked, as if wondering
why I hadn’t thought of that before.
In case you’re not familiar, a Jenter
set is a contraption normally meant
for queen rearing. It includes square
queen cages, complete with artificial
comb cells. What’s special about them
is that they have removable plugs that
make up the comb cell bottoms. This
set-up is meant to allow bee breeders
to do graftless queen rearing – that
is, the queen is caged in the artificial
comb, she populates it with eggs, then
the hatched larvae are popped out
(still stuck to the plugs) and inserted
184
into a queen cup. No grafting tools
necessary. However, if the larvae are
allowed to develop into pupae, then
odorants can be added through the re-
movable plugs and sealed again like a
trap door, maintaining perfect integ-
rity of the wax cell cap on the other
side. It was a simple, brilliant idea.
After testing five colonies by this
method, I concluded that oleic acid
was indeed detectable even through
the brood cell cap. This was a surpris-
ing result, because at the same time,
we also know that oleic acid is bad at
stimulating the nerves in bees’ anten-
nae – hygienic or otherwise – when
applied as a puff of air over an odor-
soaked paper strip. Even at warmer,
hive-realistic temperatures, the anten-
nae are stimulated just barely above
baseline. To me, this suggests that the
workers must be extremely close to
oleic acid in order to sense it. Intrigu-
ingly, the treatment that induced hy-
gienic behavior most consistently was
not oleic acid, but the odorant blend,
supporting the notion that the two
chemicals are working together as an
attractor and death cue team.
Kaira Wagoner (at Olav Rueppell’s
lab in North Carolina) recently found
that a different, highly viscous com-
pound (even more so than oleic acid)
emitted from varroa-infested brood
also induces hygienic behavior. As
far as I know, they haven’t tested it in
combination with other, more volatile
odors, so whether my attractor and
death cue hypothesis holds true for
detecting varroa remains unknown.
I haven’t come across any volatile
odors that are emitted by varroa-in-
fested brood in the first place, actually
– the only other candidates I know
of are Z-6-pentadecane, brood ester
pheromone (a blend of many differ-
ent compounds that normally acts as
a contact pheromone), and possibly
oleic acid itself – all of which are non-
volatile chemicals. Perhaps varroa
detection involves a different mecha-
nism altogether, which would in part
explain why the varroa-sensitive
hygiene trait only partially overlaps
with hygienic behavior.
Interestingly, Wagoner and Ruep-
pell are currently developing a
modified-hygienic test that involves
spritzing their varroa compound on
brood comb with an airbrush device
(although this information is still not
published, to my knowledge). Until
now, we’ve always thought that the
hygienic behavior-stimulating com-
pounds must be volatile in order to
permeate through the brood cap. The
fact that at least two oily compounds
are definitively involved in hygienic
behavior at all is changing the way
we think about this trait. The most ex-
citing part of our research, though, is
seeing how the odorants interact with
the bees’ odorant binding proteins.
Odorant binding proteins are pro-
duced in the bees’ antennae, and one
of their jobs is to grab odorant mol-
ecules out of the air at the antennal
pores and transport them to recep-
tors on the olfactory nerves. This
initiates the cascade of events that
leads to the perception of smell. You
might remember that odorant bind-
ing proteins (OBP16 and OBP18) are
two of the nine biomarkers that we
have determined can accurately pre-
dict a colony’s hygienic score6 – the
more of the OBPs in the antennae,
the more hygienic the workers tend
to be. For years, I’ve been trying to
manipulate how much of these OBPs
are produced in the antennae, with
my pinnacle goal being to see if this
changes the bees’ sensitivity to certain
odorants. Thus far, I have been unsuc-
cessful; however, with the help of re-
searchers in Florence, Italy, we did the
next best thing.
Immacolata Iovinella and Paolo
Pelosi specialize in producing, puri-
fying, and characterizing OBPs. They
American Bee Journal
trick bacteria into producing large
amounts of these proteins, then they
isolate the OBPs using specialized
analytical techniques. After that, Iovi-
nella and Pelosi can test, for example,
how strongly a particular OBP binds
a particular odorant. The rationale for
these experiments is that the better an
OBP binds an odorant, the better it
probably is at getting small amounts
of the odorant to stimulate the olfac-
tory nerve and elicit a perceivable
smell. When we tested how well
OBP16 and OBP18 bound β- ocimene,
oleic acid, and hexane, we found that
their affinities closely match what we
observe behaviorally. That is, OBP16
binds β-ocimene, OBP18 binds oleic
acid, and neither OBP binds hexane.
So, the odorants that strongly interact
with at least one of the OBPs induce
hygienic behavior, but the one that
doesn’t bind to either OBP doesn’t in-
duce hygienic behavior. Coincidence?
Maybe, but the results of one more
odorant are convincing me otherwise.
The last odorant we tested was
phenethyl acetate. This molecule
comes from chalkbrood mummies,
and it’s important because years ago,
Spivak found that it was a very good
hygienic behavior inducer for their
bees.7 I included it in my behavioral
experiments, thinking it would be a
good positive control (that is, a refer-
ence point for what a ‘good’ hygienic
inducer looks like).
What I found, though, was the
exact opposite: it wasn’t a good in-
ducer at all. In fact, it induced similar
levels of hygienic behavior as hexane
(the negative control), which was
much lower than the other two odor-
ants. Based on my enthusiasm, you
might predict what the outcomes of
the binding assays were: phenethyl
acetate was a bad binder to the two
OBPs we tested – again, very similar
to hexane, and consistent with the
idea that OBP16 and OBP18 help bees
sense odorants that induce hygienic
behavior.
So why does our behavioral data
not agree with previous studies?
Our contradictory results don’t mean
that either study was wrong; rather,
it suggests that hygienic bees in dif-
ferent places, with different genetic
lineages, are sensitive to different
odors – adding to the complexity of
an already complicated trait.
I am not the first one to postulate
that there are probably many routes
for bees to become hygienic. Reflect-
ing on this, for such a multi-faceted
trait it would be surprising (although
February 2018
possible) for there to be a single uni-
versal mechanism. Martin Beye – a
researcher at the Heinrich-Heine Uni-
versity of Duesseldorf, and discoverer
of the honey bee sex-determination
locus – was among the first to bring
to my attention how peculiar it is
that there is so little agreement be-
tween the many differential expres-
sion studies that have been done on
hygienic and non-hygienic bees. That
is, many research groups have looked
for differences in genetics and gene
expression between hygienic and
non-hygienic colonies, but very few
of the differences they identified over-
lapped from study to study. This lack
of overlap suggests that each selected
population may have arrived at the
same solution – hygienic behavior –
through modifying different genes.
Considering OBPs alone, while we
found that OBP16 and OBP18 were
abundantly produced in hygienic
workers, Mondet found OBP3 and
OBP14,8 and Dell’Orco found OBP49 . .
. and that’s just the first page of Google
results. Of all these studies, ours has
the biggest sample size by an order
of magnitude (or two) and we were
careful to include a wide variety of
genetic lineages, so I still think OBP16
and OBP18 are (on average) the most
robust hygienic behavior predictors.
But this disagreement between stud-
ies suggests that OBP16 and OBP18
alone are probably not going to be ap-
plicable markers in honey bee popu-
lations around the world, and there
could even be local populations that
have taken a different evolutionary
trajectory to become hygienic.
It could simply be that all those
OBPs have some affinity to different
death or disease odors and all are ap-
propriate avenues to enable hygienic
behavior, given a specific set of condi-
tions. Answering this question, how-
ever, would likely require another
PhD (or two). For now, I accept that
while we may be one step closer to
identifying the mechanism behind
this hygienic behavior, there may be
many other hygienic pathways to in-
vestigate in the future.
References:
1. Rothenbuhler, W. C. (1964). Behavior ge-
netics of nest cleaning in honey bees. IV.
Responses of F1 and backcross generations
to disease-killed brood. American Zoologist.
4, 111-123
2. Lapidge, K. L., Oldroyd, B. P., and Spi-
vak, M. (2002). Seven suggestive quantita-
tive trait loci influence hygienic behavior
of honey bees. Naturwissenschaften. 89(12),
565-568.
3. McAfee, A. (2017). Mechanisms of hy-
gienic behavior: It’s all about the necro-
mones. American Bee Journal. 157(4).
4. McAfee, A. et al. (2017). Death phero-
mones triggering hygienic behavior in
honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). BioRxiv.
Submitted to: eLife. DOI: https://doi.
org/10.1101/231902.
5. McAfee, A. (2017). Three social immunity
traits: One massive experiment. American
Bee Journal. 154(11).
6. Guarna M. M. et al. (2017). Peptide bio-
markers used for the selective breeding of
a complex polygenic trait in honeybees.
Scientific Reports. 7, 8381. DOI:10.1038/
s41598-017-08464-2
7. Swanson J. A. et al. (2009). Odorants that
induce hygienic behavior in honeybees:
Identification of volatile compounds in
chalkbrood-infected honeybee larvae.
Journal of Chemical Ecology. 35(9):1108-16.
DOI:10.1007/s10886-009-9683-8
8. Mondet, F. et al. (2015). Antennae hold a
key to Varroa-sensitive hygiene behavior
in honey bees. Scientific Reports. 5, 10454.
DOI:10.1038/srep10454
9. Dell’Orco, F., Facchini, E., Cilia, G., Rizzi,
R., and Mortarino, M. (2016). Candidate
molecular markers of hygienic behav-
ior in honeybees: An expression study.
International Journal of Health and Ani-
mal Food Safety. 111(1) DOI: https://doi.
org/10.13130/2283-3927/7096.
Alison McAfee
began researching
honey bees in 2013 as
a biochemistry under-
graduate student at
the University of Brit-
ish Columbia, where
she is currently pur-
suing a PhD. She be-
came enchanted with the little ladies and is
pursuing a degree in genome sciences and
technology, specializing in hygienic behavior
and its underlying mechanisms. In 2017, she
received the Canadian Association of Profes-
sional Apiculturists Student Merit Award – a
recognition that honors outstanding achieve-
ments in honey bee research and extension.
Email her: alison.mcafee@alumni.ubc.ca and
check out her blog: www.alisonmcafeeblogs.
wordpress.com
185
186 American Bee Journal
T
hroughout history honey bees have been revered
and used to symbolize industriousness, dedication,
eloquence and power. Found in Stone Age cave
paintings and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, today bees
continue to be subjects of art across the world. Prominent
figures, religious leaders, and authors used bees to
emphasize their programs, ideas and as protagonists.
During the early Christian ages, the beehive was
interpreted as the community of believers, a devoted
clergy, while honey served as a metaphor for the sweetness
of the divine word.
Rome is a city of ancient bees. It holds an impressive
heritage of honey bees in its paintings, sculptures, and
Fig. 1 Barberini family coat of arms, three golden bees. This
marble base supports the altar of the Basilica of St. Peter in
the Vatican.
February 2018
artworks. A visit to the museums, the monuments, street
plazas, and the empire ruins of Rome is an exploratory
adventure of ancient times and a rich culture. Among
these masterpieces the symbolic ancient bees are found
everywhere.
Our goal was to explore the city of Rome in search of
ancient bees. The occasion was the annual convention
of Professional Italian Bee Keepers Association held in
Vasto, Italy Feb. 2017, when Susan Cobey was invited as
a guest speaker. After the meetings, Fausto Ridolfi, queen
breeder and beekeeping history buff, well recognized
for his extensive knowledge and collection of historical
beekeeping in Italy, took Sue to Rome. Passes to the city
sites were provided by the Associazione Laziale Produttori
Apistici, who hosted Sue as their guest in Rome.
Palazzo Barberini
Exploring the magnificent Palazzo Barberini, which
houses the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, National
Gallery of Ancient Art, the symbolic bee motif is found
throughout. The palace served as the urban house of the
Barberini family in the 17th Century. The Barberini family
coat of arms was three golden bees with a blue background
(Fig.1). The Barberini family rose to prominence when
Cardinal Maffeo Barberini was elected to the papal throne
in 1623, and reigned as Pope Urbano VIII until his death
in 1644. Pope Urbano VIII loved the classical arts and
literature which he lavishly supported.
Pope Urbano VIII commissioned the artist Gian
Lorenzo Bernini to create his magnificent works with the
symbolic three bees. Bernini was the official artist of the
Pontifical Court and specifically for the Barberini House.
The Bernini name and family is linked to many artistic
accomplishments that we continue to admire today
among the churches, fountains, palaces and statues.
Supported by Papal Rome, Bernini was an advocate of the
Baroque artistic revival and contributed to the amazing
creativity, grandeur and testimony of Christianity at
the time.
The Palace, designed by Carlo Maderno and Francesco
Borromini and Gian Lorenzo Bernini in baroque
architectural style, features honey bees everywhere.
187

Fig. 2a. Statues of Plazzo Barberini featuring symbolic bees.
Fig. 2b. Columns of Plazzo Barberini featuring symbolic bees.
Fig. 3 The fresco “The Triumph of Divine Providence” in Palazzo
Barberini
188
The symbolic bees are found in the windows, the pillar
headstones, sculptures and among the decorative
architectural structural support blocks (Fig. 2 a and b.).
Walk into the aristocratic grand salon of the palace, and
the painting - The Triumph of Divine Providence, stuns
visitors. This fresco covers the ceiling with incomparable
magnificence and features the family symbol of three
bees in the centre (Fig 3). Painted by Pietro of Cortona in
1632 to 1639, the fresco is complex and full of activity, the
decorative backdrop for formal meetings and banquets
held by the Barberini family. Exiting into the courtyard,
on top of the impressive fountain are honey bees (Fig. 4).
To our excitement this was a new find of the ancient bee
motif for Fausto.
Fig. 4. Courtyard fountain of Plazzo Barberini with bees.
The illustrious Pope Urbano VIII was also noted for his
prosecution of Galileo Galilei, who he ordered to deny
his discoveries. Galileo, “Watcher of the Skies” improved
the telescope to explore astronomy and proposed the
controversial theory that the earth and planets revolved
around the sun. His telescope is pictured (Fig. 5). Galileo
also made a microscope which was used to view, for the
first time, the anatomical structures of bees. Bees were
chosen as a subject by these early microscopists to gain
favor of the cardinal, the future Pope Urbano VIII, and to
avoid early microscopy being declared heretic.
American Bee Journal

Fig. 5. Galileo’s telescope.
Fig 6. The Canopy of St. Peter in the Vatican
February 2018
The Vatican, Canopy of St. Peter
The Vatican’s magnificent artworks celebrated the
center of Christianity with the well represented Barberini
signature of three bees. The first important public work
Pope Urbano VIII commissioned of the artist Bernini,
then 26 years old, was to create the canopy for the altar
of the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican. The Baldacchino
of St. Peter, a canopy of sculptured solid-bronze columns,
towers over the main altar. It stands 96 feet tall and took
10 years to complete (Fig 6).
In Bernini’s exquisite masterpiece, the symbol of three
bees appears in the top canopy and in various places,
scattered in the columns, twisted in the middle of the
fronds. At the base of the columns, the thee bees are carved
in the white marble support pedestals (Fig. 1). Towering
above the Baldacchino, the ceiling dome is an impressive
452 feet in height. The intricate frescos and murals on the
ceiling and walls are mosaics, made in meticulous detail
of tiny glass pieces.
Among the many historical museums of the Vatican,
the Geographic Gallery houses a seemingly limitless
number of bees in the maps, on the ceiling paintings,
above the exit doors, elaborating the Barberini signature
of three bees. Painted on the maps of Italy, bees are
represented in a unique style (Fig 7). Past the Gallery
and into the Sistine Chapel, the astounding and complex
frescoes cover the walls and ceiling displaying their
stories and mythology.
Fig 7. Stylized bees in historical maps.
Along the pathway of the Vatican museums, stands
the statue of the ancient goddess Artemide of Ephesus,
Mother Earth. A symbol of fertility, she is represented with
18 breasts, a diversity of animal heads and bees carved
along the sides of her statue (Fig 8).
Fountains of Rome
Rome is a city of many fountains, the water flows
directly from the springs of ancient Roman aqueducts.
The aqueducts have been restructured and most of the
water is potable. Walking to the central plaza, Piazza
Barberini and via Veneto, the street shared with the
American Embassy, is the Fountain of Triton (Fig. 9).
Another Bernini masterpiece, the fountain is intricately
carved with the motifs of the dolphin, the shell, and the
three bees papal symbol with a skep shaped tiara.
Crossing to a street corner, is the Fountana delle Api,
The Fountain of Bees. In 1644 Pope Urbano VIII requested
Bernini create this fountain as a watering station for
horses (Fig 10, a and b). The lore of this fountain purports
that people against the Pope’s policies asked Bernini why
the bees came to the water. They were hoping for some
ammunition against the Pope. Bernini avoided conflict,
189
responding simply that the water was sweet and very the boat shaped Barcaccia Fountain (Fig. 11). Designed and
welcoming to bees and horses. built by father and son, Pietro and Gian Lorenzo Bernini
On to the Spanish Square. Climb the famous cascading in 1628, the elaborate fountain is decorated, bow and stern,
stairway of the Spanish Steps. At the foot of the stairs is with suns and the thee bee Barberini symbol.

Fig. 8. Goddess Artemide of Ephesus, Mother Earth.

Fig. 10 a. Sue drinking from Fountana delle Api, The Fountains

of Bees

Fig. 9. Fountain of Tritone Fig. 10 b. Fountana delle Api , The Fountains of Bees

190 American Bee Journal

 Fig. 11. Sue at Barcaccia Fountain.
The Egyptian Obelisks
Among many of the street plazas of Rome, Egyptian
obelisks with their bee hieroglyphs are found (Fig. 12 a
and b.) The Egyptian obelisks were brought to Rome to
decorate the plazas during the Imperial age, a time of great
expansion of the Roman Empire’s political and cultural
influence.
Fig. 12a. The Egyptian Obelisk
February 2018
Fig. 12 b. The Egyptian Obelisk, closeup showing details of bees
The honey bee represents an Egyptian royal symbol of
the Pharaoh and is commonly engraved in the hieroglyphs
of the obelisks. The bee hieroglyphs can also be admired in
the paintings and sculptures of the Egyptian section of the
Vatican Museums.
Symbolic Bees among the Paintings and Sculptures
Exploring the various sites with a close eye, you will see
and admire many paintings and sculptures with symbolic
honey bees. Bees are also found among the artwork and
buildings in the Castel S. Angelo, the Pantheon, and the
museum of Villa Borghese. Prominently displayed as well
as obscured by the artworks, it is an adventure to discover
the many ancient bees of Rome.
Castel S. Angelo, the Castle of the Holy Angel, was built
in 123 AD and towers over the Tiber River, as a symbol of
Imperial power. The castle served as a mausoleum, later
a prison and papal fortress, and now a museum. Fausto
is pictured in the Castle with a headstone featuring bees
(Fig 13).
Built about the same time, The Pantheon, is a splendour
of early Roman architecture. The ancient pagan temple for
“all the Gods”, later served as a Church of Christianity.
Also, a must see, is the Galleria de Borghese with 20 rooms
of Roman sculptures and paintings. Collected by the
Borghese family, the leading painters and sculptors of the
time are well represented.
A Long Lasting Symbol
Presented here is just a taste of the ancient bees of Rome.
Found among the monuments, paintings, fountains and
masterpieces in this City of Eternity, we gain appreciation
for how prominent and important the symbolic honey bee
was in these ancient times. Throughout history right up
191
 Fig 13. Fausto in the Castel S. Angelo

Fig. 14. Fausto & Sue at the Colosseum

to our present day, the contributions of honey bees and

our fascination with them is ageless. Worldwide, the need
to conserve and protect the health and diversity of bees
and their habitats is critical to our future. Multifaceted
stressors increasingly threaten the complex and fragile
natural world. The habitat and forage of our bees must be
protected, as well as the precious artefacts of our culture
and history.

Acknowledgments
Many special thanks with sincere appreciation to
the Associazione Laziale Produttori Apistici and the
Professional Italian Bee Keepers Association.

192 American Bee Journal

 A balanced menu makes for healthy, productive bees — but the loss of
wildflowers means that many fail to find the kind of nutrition they need.

A
s I walked into Jeri Wright’s bee would feed a study of how honey bees allow room for the rise and fall of a
lab on a mid-October morning, balance their diet. bee’s breathing body. Each tube also
two things were bothering me. Across the lab, orderly rows of flew a thin pennant of duct tape: part
The lab, where Wright and her team slim plastic tubes stood waiting. Each of a bee harness.
investigate bee nutrition, is in the far would soon be occupied by a single I’d never harnessed a bee, so I was
north of England, part of Newcastle bee, held firm, snug and ready for keen to learn how it’s done. You take
University’s Institute of Neurosci- tests on the ability to learn which a sleepy bee and maneuver it gently
ence. The bees live on the roof and flowers offer nutrients that the bee until its head and first pair of legs
the tail end of Hurricane Ophelia most needs. The tubes were lovingly emerge at the top of the tube. Flip the
was about to blow through. So would hand-sculpted for comfort, with a sticky strip over its “shoulders” and
there be any bees to see, or would bee-sized neck rest on one side and secure it, then wrap a second strip
they be tucked up warm and safe for a plunging neckline on the other to over the back to prevent escape. It
winter? And if there were bees still ac-
tively helping Wright’s team unravel
the complexities of a bee’s diet — how
to avoid being stung?
It didn’t look promising. There
were no bees yet — so while we
waited, the team happily shared their
expert knowledge of bee stings. The
trick, they said, is to choose a friendly
sort of honey bee, such as the carnio-
lan subspecies (Apis mellifera carnica)
— and catch them young, before their
stingers are rigid. If you must handle
older bees, put them on ice until they
are chilled and drowsy.
And then, bang on cue, the bees ar-
rived. A new brood had just chewed
their way out of their pupal cells in-
side one of the laboratory’s hives.
Wright’s team leapt into action,
marshalling batches of bees into see-
through boxes and spooning gloopy
mixtures of pollen, fats and sugars These adult worker honeybees are in an experimental rearing cage being fed with a
into feeders. What these mini-colonies chemically defined diet to study how they regulate their intake of protein, carbohy-
chose to eat over the coming weeks drate and minerals. Photo Credit: Raquel Teixeira de Sousa

February 2018 193


sounded tricky, but these experts can
get 60 done in no time
Wright’s team spends its days prob-
ing the honey bee’s gastronomic hab-
its for good reason. Bees, both wild
and domesticated, are in serious trou-
ble and there’s an urgent need to un-
derstand what’s gone so badly wrong
for them. The past few decades have
seen bee populations plummet alarm-
ingly. Some of the thousands of spe-
cies of wild bees have gone extinct,
while in North America and Europe,
stocks of managed honey bees have
fallen dramatically.
Three-quarters of all food crops
— together providing a third of the
world’s food supply — depend on
pollination by insects, mostly bees.
Their services are also crucial for
maintaining the diversity of the
world’s wild plants and the stability
of ecosystems. The scale of bee loss
has led to fears of a global pollination
crisis in which crop yields begin to
fall as demand for food rises, prompt-
ing international and national initia-
194
tives and a raft of research programs
to tackle the issue.
What’s to blame? There is no single
suspect: All the evidence points to a
combination of interacting stresses
— exposure to insecticides, the mys-
terious colony collapse disorder
and infection by novel pathogens
and parasites, including the aptly
named destructor mite (Varroa de-
structor). And piling on the pressure
is malnutrition — not just failure to
get enough food, but also lack of the
right mix of food, which bees need
just as we do. Too much of one thing
and not enough of another makes for
unhealthy bees, more vulnerable to
pests, pathogens and poisons. “It’s
more and more accepted that poor
nutrition is an important player in
the decline of bees,” says Wright. “So
it’s important to know more about
what bees need.”
Providing for the family
Most research into bee nutrition
focuses on the bee species we know
best, the domesticated honey bee (Apis
mellifera). The basics go like this:
Bees feed on nectar and pollen col-
lected by foragers — older worker
bees with beefy flight muscles. Some
foragers gather nectar, which they
store in an elastic pouch in the gut
known as a “honey stomach”; others
collect pollen grains, packing them in
“baskets” on their rear legs. Loaded to
capacity, foragers return to the colony
where nectar-carriers pass their load
to “receiver bees” to store as honey,
while pollen-bearers offload their
hauls into cells to form what’s known
as bee bread. “Nurse bees” draw on
both to keep the colony fed, and have
the job of transforming pollen into
royal jelly, which they feed to larvae
and to the queen, drones and older
worker bees.
Today, a much fuller picture of the
bee’s needs is emerging, thanks to a
global network of researchers investi-
gating what constitutes a healthy diet,
how bees achieve it — and what hap-
pens when they don’t.
Basic energy requirements are met
by nectar (essentially sugar water),
which provides the carbohydrate bees
need for activities such as flight and
keeping the colony warm. Pollen pro-
vides everything else a colony needs
to thrive: proteins, fats and lipids plus
an assortment of micronutrients in-
cluding essential sterols, vitamins and
minerals. “All these nutrients are im-
portant for different reasons at differ-
ent times in the growth of the colony,”
says Harmen Hendriksma, a Dutch
entomologist currently working in the
Toth Laboratory of Integrative Insect
Sociobiology at Iowa State University.
To complicate matters, bees need
carbs, proteins and fats in specific
but shifting proportions according to
season and what’s happening in the
hive. As larvae, they require more
protein and fat; as adults, their wants
shift towards carbohydrates. Feed-
ing experiments show that they try to
achieve the right balance by control-
ling what foods they collect and eat. If
caged nurse bees are offered a choice
of two foods (one carb-heavy, say, and
another overly rich in protein), they
sample both in a proportion that helps
them reach an optimal ratio.
Last year Hendriksma published
work showing that when a colony is
suffering a dietary deficiency, forager
bees try to remedy it. He and Sharoni
Shafir of the Benjamin Triwaks Bee
Research Center in Rehovot, Israel,
allowed free-flying honey bees to for-
age for a week on artificial diets that
American Bee Journal
lacked one of the ten essential amino
acids bees need. When the week was
up, the researchers offered the bees a
trio of foods: one exactly the same as
before, one new but still missing the
vital amino acid, and one containing
the missing ingredient. They assumed
bees would eat from all three, picking
up at least some of the amino acid in
the process. Instead, foragers more
often made a beeline for the food with
the missing ingredient, and collected
measurably more of it. “Somehow,
bees know when their food isn’t up
to par and show a preference for food
that counters the deficiency,” Hen-
driksma says.
Just how they know it and how
they pick the best food is the subject
of considerable head-scratching. For-
ager bees don’t eat the food they col-
lect, so they may be getting feedback
from those that do. New evidence
suggests that when a colony is suffer-
ing a nutrient deficiency, nurse bees the hive, they either failed to perform and in pollen, very different amounts
signal their approval when foragers the waggle dance that points other of protein and a mixed bag of amino
return with more-suitable pollen — bees to a good source of food, or gave acids, lipids, minerals and other nu-
by doing the characteristic bee wag- hopeless directions. trients. But this once-extensive menu
gle-dance more enthusiastically. “We has shrunk. Land that once offered
don’t know much about this yet, but Scratched from the menu bees a smorgasbord of nectar and
it’s a hot topic among bee research- For many millions of years, bees pollen, with a succession of new of-
ers,” says Wright. satisfied their dietary needs by feed- ferings from spring through fall, has
One thing they do know is what ing from a variety of flowering plants, been replaced by brick and concrete
happens when bees can’t manage each offering nectar and pollen made or crops grown in monocultures, kept
their diet. Malnourished bees are to its own recipe: different types and free of weeds and pests with liberal
smaller and weaker, less fertile and concentrations of sugars in nectar, applications of herbicide and insecti-
shorter-lived. “If they don’t get the
right nutrients, they stop produc-
ing brood and eventually the colony
dies,” says Wright. Experiments sug-
gest that malnourished bees succumb
more readily to viral infections, carry
more parasites and are less able to de-
toxify insecticides. Without the right
sterols, bees can’t make the hormones
responsible for molting, and if they
don’t molt, they can’t grow. Deprived
of omega-3 fatty acids, they can’t
learn properly, a disaster for forager
bees that must learn the scent or color
of food flowers and provide fellow
workers with precise coordinates of
their location.
The impact of poor diet stretches
down the generations, as honey bee
ecologist Heather Mattila of Welles-
ley College in Massachusetts recently
showed. Mattila looked at the fate of
worker larvae that had been raised
by pollen-starved nurse bees. The
larvae grew into underweight bees By offering bees a choice of “dishes”, researchers can find out more about their dietary
that went on to become poor foragers. preferences. Here, honey bees in an enclosure are free to pick from five artificial diets
Some were never seen foraging at all; consisting of pollen with different amounts of added protein. By counting the number
some managed one day’s work before of times bees visit each dish and weighing what’s left of the food at the end of the test,
dying. Those that did forage made a researchers can tell what proportion of protein bees prefer.
poor job of it: When they returned to Photo Credit: Harmen Hendriksma

February 2018 195


A honey bee sips artificial nectar (sugar solution) from an artificial flower (a fine glass
tube) in an artificial “meadow” of tubes. In nature, plants produce nectar with an array
of minor ingredients including amino acids. Tests like these show whether bees are
attracted to nectar containing particular amino acids.
Photo Credit: Harmen Hendriksma
cide. “Once, a farm would have pas-
ture, orchards and a vegetable patch,
and there would be weeds among the
crops,” says Hendriksma. “All that’s
disappeared.”
In the United States, around 99 per-
cent of flower-rich prairie has van-
ished since European settlement, and
Two honey bees in the hive feeding from a droplet of honey. Photo Credit: Ludwig
Eksteen
196
in the last century, the United King-
dom has lost 97 percent of its flower-
filled meadows. “The nutritional
diversity is just not there for the bees,”
says Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, re-
search leader at the US Department
of Agriculture’s Carl Hayden Bee
Research Center in Tucson, Arizona.
“For us, the more foods you have on
your plate, the better balanced your
diet. It’s the same for bees.”
Some crops do produce plenty of
bee food, but the quality varies, the
diet is monotonous and stocks usu-
ally run out after a few weeks, leav-
ing bees at risk of starving. In the US,
where provision of pollination ser-
vices for agriculture is big business,
beekeepers transport their colonies
all over the continent to pollinate one
major crop after another. “In early
spring they’ll go to California for the
almonds. There are almonds as far as
the eye can see — and nothing else,
not even weeds,” says Wright. Job
done, maybe it’s off to Maine for the
blueberries and then on to Florida to
pollinate citrus flowers.
At each stop, there’s just one dish on
the menu and often not a healthy one.
“Apple orchards, for instance, pro-
duce lots of nectar and pollen,” says
ecologist Bill Kunin of the University
of Leeds in England. “But the pollen
is nutritionally very one-sided. Of the
ten essential amino acids insects need,
two are present in huge amounts, one
in an OK amount and seven are ter-
rible. A bee couldn’t raise a brood just
on apple pollen.”
“A bee couldn’t raise a
brood just on apple pollen.”
Bill Kunin
It doesn’t take an Einstein to work
out that a landscape minus its flowers
equals fewer flower-feeding insects,
including bees. “You pretty much
don’t have to do the experiments,”
says Wright. But scientists did. Last
year, Kunin and colleagues in the UK
showed how the long-term decline
in pollinators mirrored the shrinking
supply of nectar, a task that required
crunching 80 years’ worth of data. As
part of the UK Insect Pollinators Ini-
tiative, they measured the amount of
nectar produced in a year by the vast
majority of the UK’s flowering plants.
Then they scrutinized national veg-
etation surveys carried out since the
1930s to see how the abundance and
diversity of wildflowers had changed.
They found that from the 1930s to
1978 — a period of rapid agricultural
change — national nectar production
fell by 32 percent, then stabilized and
rose again slightly. Diversity of nectar-
producing flowers declined through
the entire period. Today, half of all
nectar in the UK is produced by just
four species.
American Bee Journal

And if the shortage of wildflowers
doesn’t make a foraging bee’s life dif-
ficult enough, modern agriculture ex-
poses it to another hazard that makes
it still harder to find good food. Pes-
ticides are strongly implicated in the
decline of pollinators, particularly ne-
onicotinoids, the world’s most widely
used type of insecticide. These nerve
toxins find their way into nectar and
pollen, and even low-level exposure
interferes with bee learning and mem-
ory, disrupting their ability to forage.
There’s still much to learn about the
nutritional challenges facing bees, but
with each shock announcement about
the disappearance of insect pollinators
— October’s headline-grabber was
news of a 75 percent fall in Germany’s
flying insects in the past 27 years —
the clamor to do something grows
louder. And one way to ease the pres-
sure on bees is to improve their diet.
Commercial beekeepers already
feed their bees protein supplements
when nectar and pollen are scarce. But
supplements are no substitute: They
lack essential compounds peculiar to
pollen, and bees have trouble digest-
February 2018
ing the protein. “There’s nothing in a
protein supplement diet that a bee eats
naturally,” says DeGrandi-Hoffman.
“And it’s difficult to build strong,
healthy colonies on such diets.”
New, improved recipes that include
pollen could help. “But we don’t
know the minimum amount of pollen
needed to make it work,” DeGrandi-
Hoffman says. “The type of pollen in
an artificial diet also needs to be tai-
lored to the season. The needs of the
colony are very dynamic. They are
different in spring when the colony is
growing than when they are prepar-
ing for winter.”
Bigger buffet, better bees
A better strategy is to add more
healthy options to the bees’ menu by
providing greater diversity of natural
forage. There are already many initia-
tives to do just that: sowing wildflow-
ers in unused patches of farmland,
around field boundaries, along
hedgerows, in urban backyards and
other green spaces; and cutting back
on mowing in parks and along road-
sides to give wildflowers the chance
Ashley St. Clair (Grad Student, left) and
Zoe Pritchard (honors student, right)
from Iowa State University checks the
health and performance of bees that have
been foraging on prairie flowers, to com-
pare them with ones that have foraged
at soy fields. To evaluate colony perfor-
mance, researchers weigh the hives,
count the bees and brood, and check
for the presence of the queen. They also
assess bees on the presence of viruses
and parasites. This project is run by Ran-
dall Cass (Contact info: 515.294.5976,
randall@iastate.edu for questions)
and supported by a USDA-NIFA grant.
Photo Credit: AMY TOTH
to bloom. Thanks to so much research
into the nutritional value of different
sorts of pollen, such schemes may
soon be able to tailor seed mixes to
best meet bees’ needs. “At Newcastle,
we’ve analyzed the nectar and pollen
of most of the UK’s wildflowers and
will soon be able to recommend what
to plant to provide the best forage,”
says insect physiologist Dan Stabler,
a member of the Newcastle bee team.
Providing more wildflowers makes
instinctive sense. But how much of an
impact can such measures have? Re-
searchers in Iowa are beginning to get
a good idea. The state was once cov-
ered by flower-filled prairie. Today
90 percent of it is farmland, mostly
planted with corn and soybeans. Over
the last decade, each winter has seen
the death of around 60 percent of Io-
wa’s honey bee colonies.
Since 2007, a team from Iowa State
University has been measuring the
benefits of planting strips of prairie
vegetation amid corn and soy crops.
The recently published findings are
hugely encouraging. By replacing 10
percent of the cropland with prairie
197
strips, they bumped up the number of
pollinators 350 percent, and the diver-
sity of insects 260 percent.
Now the team is testing whether
honey bees living in Iowa’s soyfields
can be restored to good health with
a “holiday” among prairie flowers.
“Once soy stops providing nectar,
honey bee colonies start to lose a lot
of weight, and have a slim chance of
surviving winter,” says Hendriksma.
“Already, we’ve seen that bees that are
moved from soyfields to prairie habi-
tat start growing into healthier bees.
It was as if they had a second youth
— and they have a better prospect of
surviving winter.”
From a windswept lab in the north
of England to Iowa’s rolling farmland,
bees are sending out the same mes-
sage: They need a varied and balanced
diet, and that means being able to for-
age among the profusion of flowers
that existed before humans so radi-
cally altered the landscape they live
in. “We need to grow pollinator plants
in the landscape, and we need to do
it urgently,” DeGrandi-Hoffman says.
“If we want to preserve our pollina-
tors and keep commercial beekeeping
alive, we have to act now.”
The article is reproduced with permis-
sion from Knowable Magazine
https://www.knowablemagazine.org/
article/sustainability/2017/whole-
food-diet-bees

High Quality Beekeeping

Equipment & Bottling
Machines at swienty.com

... for better honey

198 American Bee Journal

February 2018 199
200 American Bee Journal
 Miller’s Beekeeping
For Sale
5 Frame Nuc’s
With a Northern
Laying Queen $150.00 each
Marked Queen $5.00 each
Want the orders by: Feb 28th
paid in full before pickup
pickup only
100% Natural and Chemical Free
15 Tuck Road
Ogdensburg NY 13669

February 2018 201

 Sanders Honey
Queens
For Sale
Josh Sanders
7288 Perdie Lee Rd
Nicholls GA 31554
912-399-8480

1230 - 40th St. NW

Fargo, ND 58102
1-800-246-1749
701-373-0603 Fax
www.TRSIndustries.com
Custom Bee Nets For Any Size Truck
Or Semi-Trailer
Lumber Tarps, Top Tarps, Steel
Tarps & Roll Tarps
Call today for a quote.
Will ship anywhere in U.S. or Canada
ALL ORDERS
SHIPPED ASAP

GOT WAX? GET PAID!

It’s that simple!
Light and dark.
Rendering services available.

BEE EXCELLENT
Phone (218) 776-3593
Fax (218) 776-3502
E-mail bexcel@gvtel.com
Global inquiries welcome.

202 American Bee Journal

Notes from the Lab:
The Latest Bee Science Distilled
by Scott McArt

W
hile there may be some fluffy So the bees from feral colonies are population in your neighborhood,
white stuff on the ground different than the bees I manage in which in turn will be spread back into
outside your house right my hives? your hives when you make splits, etc.
now, astute beekeepers know that Sort of. While the authors found So choose your bees well if you care
spring is just around the corner. And they were slightly different, the mag- about having good genes in your
each spring, I often hear two things nitude of difference was small. In neighborhood!
from beekeepers regarding the new other words, drones and queens from
bees they hope to acquire: 1) they the feral colonies are mating with Promiscuous queens and genetic
hope to catch a swarm from a feral each other, but they’re also mating a diversity… why should I care?
colony, and 2) they hope their new bit with the drones and queens from Some excellent work has been done
queen was mated by many drones. managed hives that are in your apiar- on this topic over the past couple
So what is it about feral colonies ies, and vice versa. decades and it mostly boils down to
that’s so special? And why do we This interbreeding may be inter- this: When virgin queens go on their
want promiscuous queens? These are esting to consider when choosing mating flight(s), they mate with any-
the topics of our third “Notes from the where to obtain your bees, whether where between a few and a few dozen
Lab”, where we highlight “Higher im- it’s a package from Florida, your local drones. If it’s only a few drones, her
munocompetence is associated with nuc producer, or the swarm you find colony is likely to be more suscep-
higher genetic diversity in feral honey in your neighbor’s yard. It turns out tible to disease, have a smaller worker
bee colonies (Apis mellifera)”, written some of the genes from your new bees population, forage over a smaller area,
by Margarita Lopez-Uribe and col- are likely to spread into the feral bee build less comb, store less food (in-
leagues and published in the journal
Conservation Genetics [18: 659-666
(2017)].
The authors collected foragers
from 35 honey bee colonies (14 feral
and 21 managed) in North Carolina
and looked at their genetics and im-
munocompetence (essentially, how
good they are at combatting disease).
What they found was really interest-
ing. The bees from feral colonies – the
ones inhabiting tree cavities – were
genetically different from the bees in
managed hives, but the managed bees
were genetically more diverse (i.e. the
queens had mated with more drones).
Yet despite being more genetically di-
verse, the bees from managed hives
were less capable of mounting a good
immune response when challenged
with disease compared to the bees
from feral colonies. Entrance to a feral honey bee hive. Photo by Margarita Lopez-Uribe.

February 2018 203

cluding honey), be less able to main-
tain nest temperature, and less likely
to survive winter compared to if she
mated with a dozen or more drones.
In other words, you should care a
great deal about the promiscuity of
your queen and genetic diversity of
your colony!
Wait, the bees from feral colonies
are less genetically diverse but better
able to ward off disease than the bees
I manage in my hives? What gives?
One major difference between feral
and managed colonies is of course
management. This means that weak
feral colonies will die in nature when
there’s lots of disease, but weak man-
aged hives can be hobbled along with
good disease management in your api-
ary. Thus, natural selection will settle
on strong disease-resistant feral colony
genetics, whereas our interference can
allow weak managed colony genetics
to persist in our apiaries. So managed
colonies might have greater genetic
diversity (as the authors found in this
study), but if the genes are crummy to
begin with, it won’t matter.
BUT WAIT… before you set off
and decide to mismanage your hives
so “only the strong survive,” please
know that as those weak colonies
become sick and fail, your bees are
spreading disease to the whole neigh-
borhood of honey bees and wild na-
tive bees. A lot of work is being done
on this topic currently and the results
are pretty scary… But that’s a topic for
another Notes from the Lab.
Until next time, bee well and do
good work,
Scott McArt

Reference:
Lopez-Uribe, M. M., R. H. Appler,
E. Youngsteadt, R. R. Dunn, S.
D. Frank and D. R. Tarpy. 2017.
Higher immunocompetence is as-
sociated with higher genetic diver-
sity in feral honey bee colonies (Apis
mellifera). Conservation Genetics
18:659-666.
Scott McArt, an
Assistant Professor of
Pollinator Health, helps
run the Dyce Lab for
Honey Bee Studies at
Cornell University in
Ithaca, New York. He is
particularly interested
in scientific research that can inform manage-
ment decisions by beekeepers, growers and
the public.

Email: shm33@cornell.edu
Lab website: blogs.cornell.edu/mcartlab
Pollinator Network: pollinator.cals.cornell.edu
Facebook: facebook.com/dycelab

204 American Bee Journal

I
n Virginia, the summer of 2017 was To check for beetles in the groove, multi-comb glass observation top-bar
a difficult time for dealing with I had an open clear plastic bag ready hives. See the crack in the exterior
small hive beetles (hereafter just by the hive entrance. After gently boards where they do not quite meet.
called beetles). I had heard others had removing the device (see Figure 2), I After seeing beetles crowded in a
trouble with beetles in newly made quickly put it in the plastic bag and saw crack from Figure 2, notice the
colonies (splits), something I had seen closed it, even with some adhering crack in the boards by the entrance
when I had bees in North Carolina bees. Shaking the bag and the device pipe. It is full of beetles. The beetles
years ago. While some of my apiaries will help liberate the beetles from were mostly motionless, not soliciting
had no extra problems with beetles, the groove. Cover a corner of the food from bees. Even after I killed the
in a couple others I witnessed new bag to give the beetles a dark spot to beetles and cleaned out the crack, it
behaviors, which I report here with hide. This causes the beetles to settle refilled with beetles by the next night.
photographs. down, and I can remove the trapping I repeated the process for a few nights.
By late July 2017, beetle invasion device and release the bees, who seek Apparently, these were immigrating
pressure was intense in two apiaries. light, while the beetles hide in a dark beetles taking refuge before trying to
To demonstrate that invasion pressure corner. If needed, cooling the bag in immigrate into the observation hive.
on my strong frame-hive colonies an ice chest or refrigerator makes the This entrance pipe evidence and my
with bee coverage at the entrance, I beetles easier to count after spreading simple device demonstrated beetle
made a simple beetle-catching device. them out in the bag. invasion pressure could be intense
It was a short length of top bar cut A similar situation, beetles hiding this past summer in two of my
from my top-bar hives with a saw near a hive entrance, occurred at apiaries.
groove cut in its side. A large nail my bee house that holds numerous Now let’s look inside the hives,
in the top of the bar functioned as a observation hives. Figure 3 shows beginning with the single-comb
convenient handle. I barely pushed the pipe entrance to one of my large observation hives in the bee house.
the grooved side into the end of the
hive entrance leaving just a little gap
at the end of the entrance, a crack for
the beetles to enter (see Figure 1).
In summer heat and given local sun
exposure of the hives, be careful about
over-restricting air ventilation. (My
research apiaries are in the shade.)
The bees could easily corral beetles
in the side groove of the device.
Those beetles could be entering the
hive. Or they could have been in the
hive, moving about, and the bees
forced them to remain in the groove.
I checked the groove in 24 hours or
48 hours, but I do not recommend
leaving the device in the hive longer
than that. This device is for short-
term use only. Even then, it gives
only a rough number of beetles that
might be trying to enter the hive. If
no beetles are in the groove, they still
may have entered the hive without Figure 1. The beetle-catching device on the alighting board, its grooved side into the
being stopped by the bees. hive.

February 2018 205


Figure 2. The groove turned up to expose numerous beetles. The bees restricted the
movement of the beetles. I could easily catch 20-30 beetles at a time in some hives
while from other hives (in the same apiary) I caught few or none.
In some summers leading up to the
summer of 2017, adult beetles could be
a problem with my single-comb hives.
As reported earlier, adult beetles
contaminated the pollen band, which
apparently halted brood rearing. The
rims of the cells seemed coated with
a material, presumably accumulating
there as the beetles repeatedly
crawled in and out of the pollen cells
(going over the cell rims). The colony,
including the laying (physogastric)
queen would cluster on the outside
of the hive. After a few days, during
which time the physogastric queen
would become light enough to fly,
the colony absconded. Remarkably
only adult beetles caused the
eviction and absconding of the
Figure 3. Beetles on hold. The beetles are in the vertical crack at the right. The
entrance pipe is at the left. The bees are no fortress against the beetles. At night, I
watched the beetles, one by one, a few at a time, enter the pipe.
206
bees–no beetle larvae were in these
hives. (They appeared later after the
bees absconded, leaving the hive
undefended.)
At the end of July, I introduced
two queens in a couple of single-
comb observation hives. Dearth
conditions existed at the time in my
location. Both queens were accepted
without difficulty. On their first brood
cycles, both colonies experienced
severe difficulties with adult beetles.
The first colony (Colony #14) had
sealed brood. At about 2:30 a.m. on
August 12, I checked this colony and
observed some strange behaviors.
The brood nest bees were moving
erratically, which prompted a closer
examination. To my surprise, the
bees were dragging older worker
larvae (late instar larvae or propupae,
which I’ll just call larvae) around in
the brood nest. There were about a
couple of dozen of these larvae (at
least the ones I observed). Plenty of
capped honey was in the hive so this
was absolutely not brood eviction due
to starvation, which is really where
the brood is partly consumed as a
resource. I wondered if these dragged
larvae were because of the agitated
bee behavior, and the bees failing to
cap the brood cells at the proper time.
Without a capping, the larvae (ready
to spin their cocoons) would partly
come out of their cells, and the bees
might remove them.
Figure 4 shows Colony #14 late that
night. First notice the bees covered
the comb. Therefore, adult beetles
gaining access to exposed comb
because the colony was weak does
not apply here. The area enclosed by
the orange boundary was where the
bees were particularly agitated. Late
at night, the bees in the brood nest
should be calm, mainly just tending
brood. I denoted some of the larvae
dragged by the bees on the glass.
Figure 5 shows a closer view of the
larvae. I have not seen numerous
larvae treated in this manner. Figure 6
shows larvae clumped together found
later on the floor of the hive, a new
condition for me too.
Returning to Figure 4, the wire
mesh brackets hold small pieces of
pollen substitute. The bees consumed
the right patty normally. The edges of
the patty appeared as it did originally,
indicating no beetle damage. The
beetles have compromised the left
patty in Figure 4. Notice the edge has
a shiny appearance. Figure 7 shows a
closer view. The bees have rejected the
slimy edge as a food source. The adult
beetles have most likely contaminated
the pollen substitute edge with a yeast
they carry (for a recent review on the
yeast see Cuthbertson et al., 2013).
While surprising, this colony as
seen in Figure 4 absconded in the
morning without clustering at the
entrance as other observation colonies
had done in past years. I froze the
comb in a large plastic bag and later
counted 42 beetles that I shook from
the comb, although the empty hive
could have gained or lost beetles
during some of the morning while the
hive entrance was open. In addition,
the frozen comb showed some
brood caps had been opened and
the contents removed, more brood
removal (possibly propupae).
American Bee Journal
 The other single-comb observation
colony (Colony #10) absconded in
the same manner, except right before
sealing its first round of brood and
with no apparent larval dragging/
eviction. While working in the bee
house, I heard this colony launch.
The bees bolted out of the entrance
pipe and were airborne, including
the queen, before I could stop them.
I could see the bees, as a small swarm
hovering over the tree canopy. I
immediately froze their comb and
later counted 49 beetles I shook from
the comb, as the number of beetles
at the time of absconding, at least
one count of this rarely-measured
variable. This colony did not have
a pollen patty and only a very thin
pollen band numbering some dozen
cells.
The above absconding by small Figure 4. Colony #14 at 2:30 a.m. on August 12, 2017. This colony absconded that
colonies caused by adult beetles morning.
seems a natural analogue of the
experimental work done by Ellis et website, TBHSbyWAM.com, and In late September 2017, I saw bees
al. (2003). Briefly, they had six queen- choose the link “Small Hive Beetles” clustered outside (see Figure 8).
right colonies, each on three deep- and scroll down.) After seeing strong colony evictions
frames, called nucleus colonies. The The most photogenic case of a by adult beetles from the summer,
small colonies were dosed with 100 strong colony eviction by just adult I knew the cause of the clustering,
beetles per day (at dusk) for two beetles was a colony in a large top-bar particularly since local weather
weeks. Two colonies absconded on observation hive. This colony covered conditions did not warrant that
day eight. The other four colonies did about the same comb area as a frame many bees at the entrance. The glass
not abscond. After freezing the four hive with a 10-frame brood chamber side of the hive showed the partial
colonies (on day 17), they had from and about half of a shallow super. destruction as seen in Figure 9. The
253-905 beetles in them. Interestingly This colony had the entrance shown entrance end of the hive is to the
these colonies had no pollen reserves earlier in Figure 3 with the intense right, towards the wall. The left side
(bands). With their larger size, these beetle invasion. is the back end of the hive. Notice
colonies seem to have had a higher
threshold for absconding than my
smaller observation colonies, and
their four colonies without pollen
bands did not abscond. That is
intriguing, especially because I look
to the pollen bands for the initial
overt signs of a colony’s demise
due to adult beetle invasion. In
addition, Ellis et al. (2003) observed
the four colonies had begun aborting
brood as evidenced by cannibalized
larvae and pupae found at the hive
entrance. Perhaps I was observing
the beginning of that behavior in my
observation hives, or maybe brood
eviction due to severe stress.
Now for the big question–can the
presence of only adult beetles evict a
strong colony of bees? My answer is
yes from this past summer. Again, for
early signs of trouble, the locations
in the hive to watch are the pollen
bands. Just by luck, I managed to
save one strong colony by removing
its two beetle-infected pollen bands,
which were just beginning to appear
unhealthy. (For photographs of Figure 5. A closer view of the dragged larvae. The bees do not appear to be consuming
unhealthy pollen bands, see my the larvae as in a starvation condition.

February 2018 207

Figure 6. Discarded unconsumed larvae.
the entrance end, which is where the
brood nest is located, appears dark and
with fewer bees. That is because the
combs have been lightly slimed, and
the bees tend not to walk on them. The
rear of the hive, which is the region
of honeycombs, remained largely
intact with plenty of bee coverage.
I observed many older larvae and
white pupae on the floor of the hive,
presumably removed from the comb.
I could not obtain an accurate beetle
count in the hive, but the number was
Figure 8. Clustering out of normal
context. A strong colony being evicted
by numerous invading adult beetles. The
other strong colonies were not clustering
in this manner, making this one look odd,
and suspicious.
208
Figure 7. The slimy edge of the pollen substitute patty, now taken over by the beetles.
easily several hundred. The colony
could not recover at this point. The
bees must abscond provided the
queen can exit the hive.
Now I have revised my diagnostics
about bees clustered on the front of
the hive. Bees clustered on the outside
of the hive could mean the colony was
hot. The clustering could be a cooling
mechanism, something even seen on
a hot spring day, like its more typical
appearance in the summer. Or the
bees could be crowded in the hive
and the colony could be preparing
to swarm in the spring. Ignoring the
complications concerning usurpation
Figure 9. Internal destruction. This hive was packed full of bees, but they provided little
protection against the beetles.
in the summer, now when I see
bees clustered on the outside of the
hive from a strong colony, I need to
consider eviction by beetles, and give
a closer check. The observation hives
suggest a brood nest inspection would
be the most revealing, especially if
other symptoms such as leakage of
slime indicated more severe internal
comb damage. However considerable
comb damage in the brood nest can
occur by just adult beetles without
much liquid slime.
Colony diagnostics are becoming
more complicated with beetles. I am
working on a set of thermal images
American Bee Journal
with beetles damaging colonies as
shown above. Hopefully those images
will be helpful. Stay tuned.

Acknowledgments
The author thanks Suzanne Sumner
for her comments on the manuscript.
Visit TBHSbyWAM.com.

References
Cuthbertson AGS , Wakefield ME, Powell
ME, Marris G, Anderson H, Budge GE,
Mathers JJ, Blackburn LF, Brown MA
(2013). The small hive beetle Aethina
tumida: A review of its biology and control
measures. Current Zoology 59 (5): 644–653.
Ellis, JD Jr, Hepburn R, Delaplane KS, Elzen
PJ, (2003). A scientific note on small hive
beetle (Aethina tumida) oviposition and
behaviour during European (Apis mellifera)
honeybee clustering and absconding
events. Journal of Apicultural Research 42(1–
2): 47–48.

Author bio:
Dr. Wyatt Mangum,
author of Top-Bar
Hive Beekeeping:
Wisdom and Pleasure
Combined, is an
internationally known
top-bar hive beekeeper,
who started keeping
bees at age 10. He switched all his colonies
to top-bar hives back in 1986, long before it
became popular. He is also an apicultural
historian, who blends his knowledge of
beekeeping history with his study of honey
bee behavior. email: wmangum@umw.edu.
www.TBHSbyWAM.com

February 2018 209

210 American Bee Journal
 Enterprises
Suhre Quality Queens
All Major Credit & Package Bees
Cards Accepted

We have gentle, hygienic

Italian Queens with over
25 years experience breeding queens
Reliable and Dependable Service
Now taking orders for the months of
May, June, July, Aug, Sept & Oct
Delivery options available for Package Bees!
All queens shipped by UPS, Next Day Air
Please Call Adam Anytime
Cell 8051 Rd 30 1/2
530-321-0949 Glenn, CA 95943
Email: adamsuhre@live.com

February 2018 211

212 American Bee Journal
A
s often happens, when re-
searching one thing we run
across something totally
unexpected. So it was while read-
ing Doyle’s description of Sherlock
Holmes’ retirement years spent as
a beekeeper, I noted this 1829 book
listed in the bibliography. Curiosity
led me to the internet and—Voila!—
there it was in its entirety: The Practi-
cal Treatise on the Management of Bees
by Dr. James Thacher. It has the rather
long subtitle And the Establishment of
Apiaries, with the best method of Destroy-
ing and Preventing the Depredations of
The Bee Moth.
Before reading, I tried to predict
what was known in 1828 about Apis
mellifera, questions such as:
• What beekeeping practices were
popular almost 200 years ago?
• What types of hives were used?
Straw skeps, tree trunks?
• Was the Bee Moth the only nem-
esis? What methods were used to
mitigate its effects?
Readers are advised to keep in
mind the rudimentary research tools
available then compared to today’s
sophisticated equipment, such as
high-powered electron microscopes
and slow-motion video cameras.
The author, James Thacher, M.D.,
began his career as a surgeon during
February 2018
the Revolutionary War and later set
up his medical practice in Plymouth,
Massachusetts. Unfortunately, deaf-
ness caused by the War forced him to
give up his practice and take up bee-
keeping. (Presumably one does not
need to hear the bees in order to study
them!) This book is his account of bee-
keeping practices in the U.S. in 1829.
The book is organized into IX Chap-
ters, preceded by an introduction
to the physiology of Apis mellifera,
including details of the functions of
eyes, mandibles, probiscus, abdo-
men and claws (referred to then as
“fangs”). After seven pages of formal
writing, Thacher entertains the reader
by using a metaphor in his descrip-
tion of the bee’s antennae, deprived
of which “they are lost, can no longer
recognize objects; and like Sampson,
after his locks were shorn, they are
feeble, helpless, and soon perish.”
Such creative literary elements are a
welcome surprise to an otherwise for-
mal treatise.
Chapter I describes what was then
common knowledge about the three
types of honey bees: the queen laid the
eggs, the workers cared for the young,
the drones were basically useless.
This was based on the observation
by Swiss naturalist Francois Huber
that the queen did not mate inside the
hive. Until then, no one had actually
seen a queen take her nuptial flight.
Finally, on June 29, 1792, humans
were invited to the wedding—and the
honey moon, as Thacher reports “one
copulation is sufficient for (the) queen
to lay eggs for two years!”
The author continues listing the var-
ious uses for the honeycomb, the life
stages of the bee, and duties within
the hive. Interesting is the early re-
port of the differences among drone,
worker and queen larvae cocoons.
It was observed that when a queen
eliminated rival queens still enclosed
in their cells, the worker bees assisted
by chewing off the tops of the cells—
presumably in order to prevent the
queen from getting her stinger caught
in the silken cocoon threads: interest-
ing conclusion considering the crude
research tools available to scientists at
this time.
It is not difficult to imagine Thacher
as a caring and sensitive medical doc-
tor when he condemns the beekeep-
ing practice of suffocating bees (by
burning sulphur) in order to take
their honey. Most bee hives were
simple straw skeps or wooden boxes
without removable frames. Apiarists
caught swarms, kept them until they
produced honey, then killed the bees
to easily extract the honey and wax.
Thacher also credits the bees’ “unri-
valled industry” as their most impor-
tant trait. To illustrate their industry,
he cites an example of a single swarm
213
 out of reach of mice and other intrud-
ers. Interestingly, the floor is inclined,
to help the bees clean their home and
rid it of debris. Advantages of this
hive include that it is easier for bees to
defend themselves from robbers, and
the moisture or “perspiration of bees
is conveyed off at once, without being
absorbed by the boards”.
Two thirds into the book, Thacher
explains the rest of his title, The Bee
Moth, or Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella,
the biggest threat to the survival of
honey bees in 1828. After explaining
the life cycle of the moth, he lists its
habits:
a) nocturnal
b) arrives mid-end of April until
September
c) spins web inside hive and feeds
on bees until hive completely de-
stroyed or bees vacate
ows and forests, all major contribu-
tors to increasing habitat loss and
malnutrition. Only by eliminating or
reducing these practices, will our 21st
century honey bees have the same
chance to fight the varroa mite as the
19th century bees had against their
nemesis, the wax moth.
Resources:
Practical Treatise on the Management
of Bees; And the Establishment of
Apiaries, with the best method of
Destroying and Preventing the Dep-
redations of The Bee Moth
James Thacher, M.D., copyright 1829,
the University of Wisconsin Library,
Madison, Wisconsin
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id
=wu.89098880107;view=1up;seq=7

or hive that collected 80-100 lbs. of
honey in one season! When explaining
that bees actually reduce the entrance
to their hive themselves when moths
attack, he asks the reader, “Who can
withhold his admiration of the inge-
nuity and judgment of the bees?” He
believed that honey bees are capable
of reasoning, which entices them to
care so diligently for their young.
Fortunately, one prediction I was al-
most certain was true when the book
was written, turned out to be false:
that beekeeping was strictly a man’s
world. Thacher introduces Mrs. Mary
Griffith, experienced apiarist, horti-
culturist and writer. She was one of
the first beekeepers to count the num-
ber of bees in an average swarm (or
hive): 19,499 are neuters or worker
bees, 500 drones, and one queen or
mother. I can imagine her peering
down into the hive and studying the
entrance, abacus in hand, as the bees
fly in and out.
Although I’m no fan of eBooks and
prefer printed books in order to write
in the margins, one advantage to read-
ing online (besides the book being
gratis) is that it’s easy to look things
up as you go along. For example, one
click on Mary Griffith sends you to
the North American Review dated June
1828. In their description of bee hives,
Griffith is credited with her new in-
vention she called “Charlie’s Hope
Hive” predicted to “supersede every
other [hive] now in use”. Thirteen
inches at the top, the hive decreases
in width toward the bottom, so that
the base is actually narrower than the
top. Hives are suspended on joists,
The author goes on to explain vari-
ous methods for eliminating the pest.
Because moths do not lay eggs in the
ground, one suggestion was to either
set the hive directly on the ground or
cover the floor board with a layer of
soil. (Another example of non-poison-
ous, simple solutions available 200
years ago.)
Besides the bee moth, diseases such
as dysentery afflicted the honey bees.
As treatment, Thacher emphasizes
the importance of nutrition, includ-
ing flowers such as crocus and white
clover (lucky for bees, hybrid flowers
were not yet popular), crops: buck-
wheat and mustard, and trees: maple,
walnut, chestnut and elm, which are
today still some of the best sources of
nectar and pollen. This important in-
formation, while not new to most bee-
keepers, is always worth remembering.
Apiarists (experienced and nov-
ice), biologists, horticulturists, and
historians in general should find this
book interesting. For most beekeepers,
chapters addressing information such
as bee physiology or types of bees can
be easily skimmed, while focusing
one’s attention on historical chapters
dealing with types of hives, apiaries
and pests that existed in the early 19th
century.
James Thacher and his colleagues
have inspired me to continue asking
my two hives what’s best for them—
in the short and long run. If given a
choice, I think bees of 2018 would
gladly trade places with the bees of
1828, before the use of pesticides and
herbicides, monoculture agricultural
practices, mass destruction of mead-

214 American Bee Journal

F
irst off, let me start by apolo-
gizing in advance. I normally
try to write interesting stories
with a timeline that have a beginning,
middle and end. This article is hard
for me as it’s a collection of facts and
random thoughts, all headed towards
a goal. Please forgive the apparent
randomness, and read carefully, as I
attempt to present a lot of information
in no particular order. If it seems dis-
jointed, I warned you.
I have to thank Randy Oliver, a
friend who has been working and
writing on this regularly, for prompt-
ing me to write this. His work at
finding some controls for varroa has
encouraged me to share this publicly.
While I offered it up as proprietary
info, he is insistent that it’s shared
with everyone, in the hopes someone
else can use it and build on it.
As many of you know there has
been a fairly new treatment concept
floating around for a year or two
now. The basis of the treatment is ox-
alic acid (OA) mixed with glycerin
(Gly) and placed in the hive. I believe
the original work came from South
America, where they used a solution
of 10 g of OA mixed with 20 mL of
glycerin soaked into cardboard and
placed in the brood nest. Randy has
been working on it, and many others
have been trialing variations of it for
a while now.
Note: use of experimental methods
on a hive requires a special permit
and a lot of caution. My tests have
been done as bench tests on mites
alone, not in colonies.
February 2018
So far the results have been mixed at
best. The method holds promise, but
we are missing some key elements.
The current system is outlined well in
Randy’s articles, but is basically OA/
Gly soaked on blue shop towels and
placed in the hive in the middle of the
broodnest. While I will go into more
detail, the main point of this article is
not that method, but things I learned
to help further it.
After several apparent failures and
a whole lot of discussion on what was
going on, I decided it was time to start
applying some engineering principles
to the problem. I think it’s important
to understand a bit of the differences
in science vs. engineering. Most sci-
ence is about a hypothesis and testing
it to see if it is valid. Engineering is
different in that it takes what we know
and tries to build on it, as opposed to
understating what we don’t know bet-
ter. My background is engineering, so
for this one I decided to apply basic
problem-solving principles.
In engineering, we would look at
the towel issue a bit differently. Suc-
cessful problem solving is about
identifying the problem. In this case
I broke the towel issues down to two
things—the pesticide (poison) or
the delivery. The towel is both these
things, and sometimes it worked
and sometimes it doesn’t. So, for my
thinking the goal is twofold: 1) to de-
termine if the poison is the issue or 2)
whether the problem was the deliv-
ery system. This question was based
on having run several different trials
that varied elements: some used more
OA, or increased the water in the so-
lution; others tried cardboard for the
shop towels. Basically, whatever op-
tions may spring to mind; I would
call it firefighting. Throwing things at
it hoping one works. My goal was to
refine that a bit.
Towards that I have to add, I have
been using vaporized OA for several
years quite successfully. While it has
its limitations, in my area the bees are
broodless in November, so it is perfect
for a super knockback of mites. Be-
cause of my faith in this treatment, I
had done quite a bit of research into
how oxalic actually works. Unfortu-
nately, there is not much information
out there. The basic concept is that
2 grams of OA vaporized in a hive
leaves micro crystals spread through-
out the hive, and covering the bees.
These tiny crystals are the key to mite
death. Many discussions have been
had about the mode of action, and to
date there are two theories that I have
heard that actually make sense. Both
were posted in discussions with some
German researchers over the last cou-
ple of years.
1. The crystals somehow burn the
feet of the mites and then they are
unable to hold on to the bees
2. The mites absorb some of this
acid through the feet and die from
that exposure.
Some other theories about OA ac-
cumulating in bee hemolymph or fat
bodies have been explored and may
also have some merit, but are unlikely
215
as so far vaporization shows no OA
level change in the hemolymph/fat
body of brood. This is in contrast to
the dribble method, which has been
shown to elevate OA levels in bees.
I would like to add a comment here:
we have assumed that varroa is a tick
type creature feeding on hemolymph
like a tick would, but it turns out mites
are more like a spider, feeding on the
fat bodies of the bee. One thing I did
observe in the microscope that has
been hard to catch in a photo is that
some varroa are in fact quite engorged.
A quick look in the microscope shows
they are thicker and look a lot like
an overinflated water balloon, all the
seams stretched, this dissipates with
time and after a day or so you don’t
notice it. This engorgement does not
appear to affect the mite’s ability to
move or cling to bees at all, but may
be a method of survival until a host
is found. The engorgement may come
from feeding on the host, to enable it
to survive until it enters a capped cell.
I am unsure when this engorgement
takes place, but I speculate by color
and hardness of the carapace of the
mite that it is newly emerged mites
with this feature.
So back to the problem at hand:
There have been spotty results with
OA on towels and I disagreed a bit
with some of the experimental direc-
tions as they seemed completely ran-
dom. In talking to Randy the one thing
that kept sticking out was the fact we
didn’t know how OA/Gly worked:
ingestion, contact or anything else.
I got this bright idea to test some
mites. The concept seemed simple.
Catch some mites and expose them to
OA for different amounts of time, and
see the effects.
While this sounds easy, trying to
capture enough mites for experi-
ments proved trickier than I thought.
Early season hives had been treated
and mite counts were low. Running
around trying to “capture phoretic
mites” took several hours. I painstak-
ingly searched bees looking for mites
to capture.
The first round ended up being
tricky. I had no real plan, just a goal
to see how long the mites needed to
be in contact and what happened to
them. So after playing around a bit,
I settled on a method. For those who
have never captured a mite, they are
very active. Trying to pin one down
for any length of time is about im-
possible. Right after capture, they are
super active and cling to anything
touched. After much trial and effort,
216
I settled on Elmer’s non-toxic glue.
A tiny dab placed on the mite’s cara-
pace and then allowed to semi dry; I
could then touch them with the head
of a pin, pick them up and flip them
over. Once the glue has dried be very
careful with the mite, since if the mite
is allowed to touch anything, it will
cleanly break loose from the glue.
Once flipped over, I handed the
mites OA crystals. Pure OA like I
use in my vaporizer. The crystals are
larger, and finer than a salt crystal, but
relative to a mite’s legs, the crystals
are huge. The visual equivalent would
be one crystal held in mite legs is like
a basketball in human hands. What’s
interesting is when you hand one to a
mite; she rolls it around like a basket-
ball pro getting ready to make a slam
dunk. The mite will roll the crystal
around while she tries to “walk”.
Mite Feet
I need to add some observations
here: first off, mite feet. You may be
aware bees have both tarsal claws
as well as a sticky padlike arolium.
This part of the foot can be selected
on honey bees, they have a choice of
which part they use, and they switch
back and forth, which is why some-
times bees can walk on glass and
other times not. The arolium is like a
wet pad that adheres to a surface. It
seems mites have not much of a claw,
but a proportionally large foot called
the empodium.
Figure 1. Close-up of varroa empodium
I would say it’s as big as a bee’s,
which when you realize a mite is
much smaller, it’s out of proportion.
It’s much like a big, wet floppy glove
that sticks to things. The second inter-
esting observation to me is that mites
have eight legs and two pedipalps
(mouth parts), but even though the
front two legs are visually the same as
the other six, they don’t seem to use
them at all for mobility. Only the rear
six were used to manipulate the OA
crystals. I watched closely to be sure
the mites did not touch the OA with
their mouthparts.
The first trials with OA were set at 5
minute and 15 minute exposure times,
5 mites in each group and a control.
So each mite was held on its back and
allowed to handle a crystal OA for the
allotted time period and then I would
wait. It turns out that after handling
OA the mites are all dead within about
6 hours, while the mites in the control
group survived about 30 hours or
more.
I also tested the theory that the
mites burned their feet by placing
them back on bees. It seems the mites
have no trouble holding on right up
until death. So the theory of burned
feet causing problems adhering to a
bee is incorrect. There is a method of
lethality, but it appears to be through
absorption through the feet. It should
be noted that the amount absorbed
is not noticeable via a dissection mi-
croscope. I half expected to be able
to see “footprints” or small crystals
disappear, like a child with a sucker,
but there is no visual indication of
any change to the crystal visible, even
with as long as 30 min exposure.
Figure 2. Varroa mite rolling an OA
crystal with its feet. Notice the pin it’s
glued to in the backdrop. The crystal is
blurry as the mite never stops moving it.
This first trial was pretty interesting
to me, as it turned out that there was no
noticeable difference in the death rate
and survival time between the 5 min
group and the 15 min group. This leads
me to the need for more experiments
for shorter periods to see what the bot-
tom line of exposure may actually be.
But the real question is: How does that
relate to in-hive exposure? As of yet,
this remains a huge unknown and I
will address it again a bit later. Bottom
line is, how long do the mites actually
contact the OA via feet? There is no
apparent grooming behavior or avoid-
ance indicating the mites are not “ad-
verse” to the acid contact and visually
the mite doesn’t seem harmed by it.
While I am not sure if they are even ca-
pable of any grooming, they also don’t
seem to attempt to discard the crystals.
In discussion of these results, Randy
American Bee Journal

Figure 3. Shell of glue after mite is
dislodged
asked about OA contact with the cara-
pace. I assumed that would be a non-
issue, but tried it anyway, and as sus-
pected it was a complete non-issue.
No change in expected life span when
dry OA was applied to the carapace.
Dry crystals anywhere but the feet
seem to be no problem for varroa.
Randy informed me afterwards that
this is also what Papežíková observed.
Additional Experiments
The next step really was to dial down
the time, but curiosity being what it is, I
decided to switch to the OA/GLY solu-
tion and see how that worked out. My
plan was to keep the exposure to the 5
min level and see how it compared in
lethality. In due course mites and time
were procured, and I ran into problem
one. It’s practically impossible to create
a droplet small enough for the mite to
handle, or to limit their contact. If you
try to touch a foot, in a millisecond they
are completely engulfed in the droplet
due to leg movement and surface ten-
sions of the solution. So this presented
a huge problem—the test to compare
dry crystals to wet OA was not going
to work.
Sometime while pondering how to
overcome this problem, I decided to
soak a towel and let the mite walk on
it for 5 minutes. Turns out, it doesn’t
work. No early deaths, so I upped
the time to 15 min, and no noticeable
change either. In thinking about it and
looking close at the towel through the
microscope, it actually makes sense.
The towels absorb the OA into the fi-
bers, and the mites are actually walk-
ing on top of the fibers, much like a
spider on a web. The capillary attrac-
tion of the towel keeps the solution off
the feet much like a doormat does in
our homes, helping keep the mite and
those feet up and away from the active
ingredient.
The Winning Lottery Ticket
This problem led to more thought
February 2018
and conversation, and the plan to test
the solution on the carapace. I have to
admit, I was not real keen on this test
as I assumed it was a complete waste
of time. The mite’s carapace looks
much like that of crabs, and seems to
be an impenetrable protective shell,
but at this point I didn’t have much of
a new plan.
A new batch of mites, which is no
easy task, but getting easier with prac-
tice, and I was on my way. As it turns
out, it’s actually pretty simple to place Figure 4. Droplet of OA/Gly on mite
a microdot of the OA/Gly on the cara-
pace. No need to restrain the mites at the proper words for. In this experi-
all just set the timer and wait. Turns ment I always had controls of non-ex-
out they are also pretty easy to clean posure, but with the last trial I added
off, just touch with a piece of paper glycerin only as an additional control.
towel and tada! Pretty darn dry. Within There is some lethality in mites treated
30 minutes a batch of 5 mites were with GLY only, but without the paral-
done, but here was the winning lottery ysis. Mortality with 5 min exposure
ticket. As I finished up the last one, I was around 40% in the same 6 hour
took a look back at the first mite I had window, so significantly less than
treated. Within 30 minutes the mites with the OA/Gly combo. The sample
are pretty well paralyzed. They sit up size on the control lots was 10 mites,
on their back legs and tremble. This so this test needs to be rerun with a
is quite different than anything I ob- larger group.
served with foot contact (I did go back In this I observed that the glycerin
and rerun that test to see if I missed alone cleaned off the carapace com-
it) and within the same 6 hour time pletely, BUT the OA/Gly solution
frame, the mites treated with OA/Gly seems to have some surfactant value
were all dead. While the end result was associated with it. While it does clean
the same, the partial apparent paraly- off, it leaves a small residue, much like
sis was astounding to say the least. drying a wet dog. The majority is good
Within about 30 minutes mites and dry, but you can observe that
treated with OA/Gly on the carapace slightly wet clump here and there. It
for as little as 5 minutes were effec- may be from the acid etching the cara-
tively dead. The significance of this pace and hairs on the mite’s back or
is astounding. While with feet I ques- some other detail I can’t yet explain,
tioned how long it would be on them, but removal is not 100%. I would say
I am reasonably confident that the so- 95% as an estimate, but I lack the skills
lution anywhere on the body would and tools to define or refine it. I do re-
be there for a while. alize glycerin is not known as a sur-
A note from Randy: A German re- factant, but the OA/Gly mix seems to
searcher, Saskia Schneider, also found have less surface tension and the abil-
that OA in glycerin adheres to bees’ bod- ity to make smaller droplets.
ies for many days, thus exposing varroa
to extended exposure. The glycerin acts as
a humectant, which apparently increases
the penetration of OA through the mite’s
cuticle. Charlie’s findings suggest that the
simple act of a treated bee drawing its con-
taminated leg across the carapace of a mite
might be enough to expose it to a lethal
dose. This explains a plausible mechanism
of delivery from the towels to the mites
Mite grooming skills are fairly
nonexistent; they are completely un-
able to reach their carapace to clean
it, meaning it’s going to be there a Figure 5. Mite with OA/Gly residue
while. Now I am comfortable with
that 5-min exposure. Back to the Drawing Board
At this point I was too astounded,
Experimental Controls and had to regroup my thinking a bit.
I need to divert here a bit and de- So I headed back to the thought pro-
scribe something I know I don’t have cesses so far. Everything I had seen
217
about OA/Gly trials seemed to be at-
tempting to jam in more OA and so
raise the level of OA in the towels. At
this point it seemed, based on what I
just learned, it was intuitively obvious
to me, and this was the wrong direc-
tion. Dry OA is harder to move around
the hive, and increasing the ratio made
the towels harder to work with.
A note from Randy: I found that in-
creasing the ratio made them easier to
work with. But the main reason is that
in my preliminary experiments, bees ap-
peared to be repelled by high-glycerin tow-
els. I reduced the amount of glycerin in
order to get the bees to touch the towels.
The total amount of oxalic applied to the
hive also appeared to make a difference—
which is why we went from a single towel
to 1.5 towels per dose.
It seemed to me it was critical to
determine if it was the dose or the
application method that’s giving us
inconsistent results. So while it’s not
chemically correct, I decided to play
a bit with what I had. I wondered at
what level the acidity of the solution
started to change. OA in itself is a very
strong acid, so I took the 80% solu-
tion I had been using and tested the
pH level. I reduced the OA levels and
tried some new tests. It turns out that
you can drop to a 5% OA solution be-
fore you start to see much of a change
in the pH level. It is a crude indica-
tion that the 5% solution was as acidic
as the 80% solution. As it turns out, it
seems the 5% solution works just fine.
I know from a chemistry point this is
not related to the saturation level, a bit
more work in this area is warranted.
Even at the 5% OA level the mites
are paralyzed in about 30 minutes, and
dead in the same 6-hour time frame!
The implications of this are actually
pretty cool. It means we can refocus
a bit. It’s seemingly not about how
many grams of OA are in the towels,
but how we get the solution onto the
mites. While increasing the volume
may have an effect, it seems to me,
fussing about the ratio seems to have
very little real effect. I believe this will
allow us to focus on delivery methods
and not worry so much about the OA
levels.
Mode of Delivery
The next question in my head is
delivery, so I set out to track how this
solution moves around the hive. I or-
dered some UV fingerprint dye, and
mixed up a 20% solution (no science,
just a stab) and soaked a towel in it.
The towel was placed on a hive with
the goal of tracking the dye through
218
the hive. I must caution you; this is not
as easy as it sounds. It turns out honey
and pollen glow under UV light, and
quite a wide spectrum. Not as easy as
picking out one color that’s different.
As of right now I don’t have anything
to share, it turned cold and I didn’t
learn anything valuable. Randy men-
tioned that other researchers are using
different tracers and CAT scans to ex-
plore this same avenue.
I did in this experiment collect some
mites that seem to have died from
their exposure to the towel. I have
to say the image is quite startling.
There are some startling differences in
the appearance of dead mites from a
treated vs. an untreated hive. This is
very preliminary and turns out to be
really hard to photograph. It seems
that digital images process UV dif-
ferently than human eyes, so images
that were super cool and surreal in the
microscope and in the hive, did not
turn out and photograph well enough
to share. I will keep working on that.
If you have any tricks on UV digital
photos I would love to learn them.
At this point the need to treat for
mites and winter weather has set in.
I have had to suspend testing for the
time being due to cold and trouble
procuring mites. I am very eager to
start up again come spring!
Mite collection
For these experiments I played
around with many methods of mite
collection. It’s harder than one would
think to collect 30 live healthy mites at
one time. First off, I had to wait until
later in the season when counts were
climbing. With a mite level of only 1 or
2 mites per 300 bees it takes forever to
collect enough mites. I ended up wait-
ing until mid September to find a few
with really high counts that had not
been treated.
My first attempts were visual. Tak-
ing frames of bees and watching for
quite a while to observe that phoretic
mite on a bee, then placing that bee in
a collection jar. As it turns out, spot-
ting mites is akin to seeing deer in the
woods. Even with cheater glasses for
grafting they are hard to spot. They
are there, but seldom do we actually
see them. Even hives with super high
numbers do not produce a lot of vi-
sually obvious mites. The second at-
tempt was through a friend. He had
purchased a new Swienty unit that
uses CO2 to knock out the bees and
the mites, and a perforated disk below
the bees for mites to fall through and
capture. The system itself was fairly
slick. It did a fair job of knocking out
the bees and mites. Although the mites
seemed drunk from the CO2, they
were not out long. The big problem
with the CO2 gun was that it didn’t
seal well and uses a special screw neck
cartridge. Unfortunately, the cartridge
ended up being a one and done deal
as it was leaked empty by the next
day. Cartridges were unavailable lo-
cally, so this plan was abandoned.
The last method was to use the
Swienty shaker with powdered sugar.
This method seemed to work much
better. A few spoonfuls of powdered
sugar and allow the bees to frolic in
it, over and over, and a fair mite drop
was achieved. Mites in powdered
sugar are seemingly stuck in quick-
sand. They are unable to move around
much but try like crazy. It was fairly
simple to find them and place them on
a towel for cleaning.
It sounds simple to clean sugar off
a mite, but it’s not as easy as it looks.
Figure 6. New batch of mites pulled from
the sugar awaiting cleaning
My first trial was with a wet paper
towel. I figured the water would ab-
sorb the sugar quickly. Turns out mites
can and do drown very fast on a wet
paper towel. One batch of mites was
completely wasted. I need to add here
that I met with a representative from a
Finnish company in CA this fall, and
he showed images of them rinsing
mites under a sprinkler head in a re-
ally fine honey sieve of the metal type.
I have not tried it yet, but he swore it
worked fine. Randy mentioned that
this method has a high premature
mortality rate via other researchers.
In the end I found just letting them
walk on a towel and then flipping
them over a few times cleaned them
off well enough to work for my test.
What’s next?
The $64,000 question is where do
we go from here? As an engineer, my
thought process is to be able to quan-
tify how much OA the mites are actu-
ally getting in them via contact meth-
ods. It seems to me with our capabili-
ties we should be able to determine
American Bee Journal
 Figure 7. A mite fresh from the sugar

PPM or some measurement. If we can

do that, then it seems to me we can
start to seriously evaluate the different
delivery methods without long drawn
out trials. If we can measure PPM of
exposure in a given time frame, and
compare one method against the other
in a quicker time frame, that should
allow us to dial into the best deliv-
ery method. Basic problem solving
requires a measurement system. This
is something that’s been lacking as far
as I see it. If we can master this, we
can evaluate several delivery changes
with just small samples instead of
waiting until the season’s end to de-
termine success.
So far I have not found a lab that
is able to help me determine PPM.
Any suggestions would be appreci-
ated; please feel free to email me at
Gm_Charlie@frontier.com.
As far as experiments, I have con-
tacted some friends who are also
doing towel trials; this next season
will see us testing lower OA levels
percentage-wise compared head to
head with the standard 80% levels to
see if there is a difference. The goal is
field confirmation to determine if it’s
the delivery or the dosage that’s in
need of fine tuning.
While I suspect that lower OA lev-
els will make it easier to focus, there is
also a possible downside. Right now,
we suspect chewing and removal by
the bees is at least a small portion of
the delivery. Lower levels may reduce
the taste enough that bees actually
ingest more OA directly, which could
be bad. I have been advised that bees
do not like the taste of glycerin, and
they cannot be forced to eat it even
when directly applied, but it is a big
unknown to me if the level of acid to
glycerin ratio may affect the process.
I will also be doing a lot more work
with the UV dyes. Hopefully I or oth-
ers will be able to get a better handle
on how and why the OA/Gly solution
makes its way around the hive and
onto varroa, which after all is the key
to future success.

February 2018 219

220 American Bee Journal
February 2018 221
 LOHMAN APIARIES
since 1946
Quality Queens and Packages
Old World Carniolan
for Over-wintering and Honey Production
Dennis Lohman Apiaries
6437 Wagner Road
ARBUCKLE, CALIFORNIA 95912
530-476-2322
Member of California Bee Breeders Association

WINTERSUN
1250 E Belmont St., Ontario, CA 91761 USA
E. Suhre Bees
Tel: 1-800-930-1688 Fax: 909-947-1788
Email: Sales@wintersunchem.com Package Bees available April and May
v Acetic Acid v Methyl Salicylate
Queens available April through October
v Benzaldehyde v Thymol
v Formic Acid v Oxalic Acid
v Menthol Crystal v Sulfuric Acid
For information, pricing or ordering
See more available items on our website call Eric (530) 228-3197
Website: http://www.wintersunchemical.com

222 American Bee Journal

 South Florida
Bees-N-Honey
Queens and Nucs
available for sale
For information and pricing
please call, text or fax.
Credit cards accepted.
Phone: (561) 715-5715
Fax: (561) 423-0304

February 2018 223

Beekeepers
the Generation
next
Almonds: One of America’s Favorite Snacks

F
ebruary for commercial
beekeepers often means
almond pollination. Eat
an almond almost anywhere in
the world and good chances are
it was grown in California. This
one state produces over 80% of
all the almonds grown world-
wide.

How many acres do you think

are used for growing almonds?
1) 150,00 acres
2) 550,000 acres
3) 1,110,000 acres
4) 5,550,000 acres
5) 15,150,000 acres

T
o produce 80% of the
world almond supply
requires lots and lots of
trees. These almond trees help
clean the air and capture green-
house gas. Can you guess how
many almond trees are currently
producing in California?

1) 20 million trees
2) 53 million trees
3) 85 million trees
4) 130 million trees
5) 245 million trees

224 American Bee Journal

A A
Above: California almond orchard in bloom

mericans eat most of the almonds
grown in California. According
to the California Almond Board,
we chow down and use 593,000,000 lbs.
of almonds in the United States ever year.
Another 1,352,000,000 lbs. are exported to
countries around the world. Here are the
five biggest buyers of California almonds.
Can you guess which one buys the most?
Try matching the country to the number of
lbs. it buys.
lmond trees (Prunus dulcis) are related to
other fruit trees like peaches and plums. The
almonds we eat are technically not a nut at
all, but actually the seed inside a drupe. According
to the website seriouseats.com “A drupe is a type of
fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell
(what we sometimes call a pit) with a seed inside.
Some examples of drupes are peaches, plums, and
cherries—but walnuts, almonds, and pecans are also
drupes. They're just drupes in which we eat the seed
inside the pit instead of the fruit!”

E
1) China 1) 201 million lbs. very year beekeepers transport about 1.7
2) Germany 2) 142 million lbs. million hives to California for almond pol-
3) India 3) 126 million lbs. lination. So the next time you grab a handful
4) Japan 4) 103 million lbs. of almonds, thank a honey bee for her pollination
5) Spain 5) 61 million lbs. efforts and realize you’re actually snacking on seeds!

Answers
Japan = 61
India = 126 , Germany = 103
Spain = 201, China = 142
Question 3:

130 million trees

Question 2:

1,110,000 acres
Question 1:

February 2018 225

 Browning Cut Stock
Boxes are Ponderosa Pine
9-5/8 Com. Boxes $10.50 / Budget Boxes $9.00
7-5/8 Com. Boxes $8.20 / Budget Boxes $7.95
6-5/8 & 5-11/16 Com. Supers $7.50 / Budget $6.85
All #1 frames $.70
1-3/4 Cleats $.22
1571 Hwy. 3 • Juliaetta, ID 83535
Phone 208.276.3494 FAX 3491

226 American Bee Journal

 LLC
PACKAGE BEES AND QUEENS
510 Patterson Road • Baxley, GA 31513
Ph: (912) 367-9352 Fax: (912) 367-7047
Over 100 Years of Experience • All Bees are State Inspected
*Italian Queens *#2 PKGS *#3 PKGS
100+ . . . . . . . . . . . $22.00 100 + . . . . . . . . . . . $70.00 100 + . . . . . . . . . . . $80.00
25-99 . . . . . . . . . . . $23.00 25-99 . . . . . . . . . . . $74.00 25-99 . . . . . . . . . . . $84.00
10-24 . . . . . . . . . . . $25.00 10-24 . . . . . . . . . . . $77.00 10-24 . . . . . . . . . . . $87.00
1-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . $27.00 1-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . $80.00 1-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . $90.00
*Above prices do not include shipping charges.
Pick-up Queens . $22.00 Pick-up Packages
Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . $4.00 #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $70.00
Clipping . . . . . . . . $4.00 #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $80.00
Marking . . . . . . . . . $4.00
May God Bless your endeavors This year

February 2018 227

228 American Bee Journal
 Honeybee Biogeography: The Traditional Southeast Asia Model
B
iogeography is the study of the
distribution of species through
place and time. It is closely
allied with another science – phy-
logeny, the study of lines of descent
and relationships among species or
groups. At the beginning of this series
I made a point of saying that evolu-
tion is, as a matter of course, a process
rooted to place. If I may broach the
comparison, evolution is like politics,
it’s always local.
A breeding population is physi-
cally located somewhere, and it’s
the natural conditions existing there
– average temperature minima and
maxima, average rainfall, elevation,
soil type, food availability, nesting
resources, admixture of other species,
and so forth infinitely – that provide
the selective forces to which that pop-
ulation responds. If there is enough
genetic variation in the population,
then over time the genes favoring
survival in that habitat are preserved,
while those genes “unfit” for the
habitat drop out of the population as
their possessors fail to reproduce.
At any time, random mutations
may arise, and these too will be
preserved or dropped to the extent
that they help their possessors sur-
vive and reproduce. In this manner,
a habitat literally shapes a species,
morphologically and behaviorally, so
that the species becomes “adapted” to
that habitat and ones like it. If the spe-
cies possesses the genetic resources to
survive a wide range of natural con-
ditions, then it has a good chance of
expanding its range accordingly.
In this manner, some species, such as
honey bees, white tailed deer, coyotes,
great white sharks, and humans, have
sprawled over vast natural ranges and
possess large and numerous popula-
February 2018
tions of breeding individuals. But
even in a modern species with a vast
range and populations, its beginning
was more modest – a few closely-con-
nected breeding populations located
in a specific place and time.
Speciation: The Making of
A New Species
Which brings us to another point
about the preeminence of place in
evolution – and that’s the role of ge-
ography in the birthing of new spe-
cies, a process called “speciation.” In
animals especially – less so in plants –
geography plays a direct and crucial
role in spawning a new species off a
parent species.
Here’s one way it works: imagine
a breeding population of species X,
one of whose populations at the edge
of its range encounters natural condi-
tions significantly different from the
home range. Natural selection never
stops working, so the local popula-
tion becomes better and better at
surviving in its new habitat, even to
the extent that it succeeds in pushing
deeper into the new habitat and fur-
ther away from the home range of the
species. To the extent that these popu-
lations become physically separated,
there is no longer any intermixing of
genes: the populations are essentially
cut off and subject to different selec-
tion pressures. Lacking any selection
for maintaining inter-fertility, these
increasingly separated populations
may lose defining characters that cru-
cially tied them to the parent species:
for example, their copulatory organs
may no longer fit, or their courtship
behaviors may diverge.
At the very cusp of this process
there may still be an occasional mat-
ing between members of diverging
populations – early humans and
Neanderthals participated in such
Romeo and Juliet trysts! But these
matings often result in non-fertile
offspring so that there is selection
against individuals who engage in
such matings, a phenomenon called
the “Wallace effect” in honor of Al-
fred Russel Wallace, the undersung
contemporary of Charles Darwin.
Wallace independently worked out
the theory of natural selection in its
essentials, yet lost the all-important
prize of publication priority and has
thus languished in relative obscurity
ever since.
Cataclysmic Isolation & Speciation
Another way geography propels
speciation is the more dramatic in-
stance of a cataclysm that abruptly
separates populations. Imagine a
large freshwater lake in glacial times
that suddenly loses a huge fraction
of its water – an ice dam bursts, let’s
say – and the end result is a series of
smaller disconnected lakes, each de-
fined by varying depths compared
to the original. Populations of a for-
merly widespread species, a fish for
example, suddenly find themselves
isolated in a particular lake and
thereafter subject to the natural se-
lection idiosyncrasies of that smaller
natural range. Absent the possibility
for cross-mating with populations
similarly restricted to their own lakes,
each population now pursues its own
evolutionary course and over time di-
verges to the point that it is no longer
inter-fertile with its former range-
mates: each population has speciated
– become a new species. Biology is
rich with examples of this.
This tight coherence of evolution
with place is the reason why species
229
distribution is not geographically ran-
dom or capricious – zebras don’t show
up with equal likelihood in Zimba-
bwe, Germany, or Nebraska. Popula-
tions must be physically connected in
order to interbreed and to genetically
respond to local conditions, and new
species that radiate off older lineages
must do so contiguously from geo-
graphic points of origin or else be re-
stricted in their ranges by geographic
constraints that make historic sense
relative to the parent group.
For instance, a species may be wide-
spread across an archipelago, but
local variants show up on particular
islands. Our understanding of specia-
tion would lead us to presume that
the widespread species is the parental
stock and the variants local popula-
tions each responding to conditions
unique to its island. As long as these
local populations remain inter-fertile,
we can still consider them members
of the parent species. We may call
them “subspecies” or “races” if their
differences are sufficiently distinc-
tive and consistent, but it’s also true
that such populations are beginning
the earliest stages of speciation. What
these points highlight is that geog-
raphy plays a crucial role in piecing
together the evolutionary history of
any lineage.
Armed with an understanding of
how speciation happens, we can next
reflect on the fact that any new spe-
cies becomes raw material for the
process to repeat itself. Some species
may fail to give rise to another, and
when they go extinct they constitute
genetic dead-ends. Others may be
rich in divergent potential and even-
tually take their place as a member of
Figure 1A. Family tree of species in the honey bee genus Apis derived from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analyses from nine
recognized species.10 It is highly congruent with a slightly earlier and independent analysis of ten species*, similarly using mito-
chondrial and nuclear DNA11 and even earlier studies employing morphology.12, 13 1B. Owing to poorly resolved relationships to the
right of the tree, for general understanding it is possible to condense the table to this simpler form.
230
a complex branching family tree – for
tree is in fact the metaphor of choice.
Medieval cosmology was inclined
to think of natural hierarchies in
terms of ladders, with “lower” mat-
ter at the bottom and “higher” enti-
ties at the top. We thus had minerals
and metals at the bottom of creation;
nobles, princes, kings, the moon, the
stars, and God at the top; and plants,
trees, animals, and “commoners”
somewhere in the middle. Such linear
imagery fails to capture the concept
of shared descent, or genetic legacies,
that are a structural feature of life on
this planet.
Adaptation in Evolution
The imagery of a branching tree,
coupled with the concept of specia-
tion, also leads us to the means by
which modern day phylogenists re-
construct evolutionary relationships.
First, let’s reflect on the fact that
speciation constitutes the innova-
tive cutting edge of evolution. When
a breeding population confronts a
novel challenge, in whatever form,
and if the population possesses
enough genetic variation to winnow
out maladapted genes, or if it has fa-
vorable mutations that help it with-
stand the novelty, then it has a good
chance of emerging from the chal-
lenge intact – yet genetically altered.
It will have become “adapted” to the
new situation. Innovation has oc-
curred. Something is new. It may be
a shift in the timing of ovulation, or
the frequencies of genes encoding for
detoxification, or a change in behav-
ioral tolerance toward an invading
parasite. It may be morphological – a
lengthening stinger barb that permits
better penetration of an enemy, or an
alteration to a cuticular protuberance
that helps one clean her antennae bet-
ter. Whatever it is, the change will be
small at the population level, but suc-
ceeding lineages may build upon the
innovation until it is quite large and
distinctive.
It is these innovations that phy-
logenists look for when they are try-
ing to reconstruct lineages. It works
like this: an investigator surveys the
known members of a group – we
might as well stick with honey bees
– and tries to distinguish characters
shared universally across the group
from characters that occur only in a
subset of the group.
In our case, the possession of
branched body hair, a pollen-carrying
apparatus, and beeswax comb nests
are shared across the group, and there-
fore none of these characters is useful
for discriminating one subset of bees
from another. Universal shared charac-
ters like these are considered ancestral.
They are products of earlier specia-
tions and divergence events, at earlier
branches of the tree, if you will, closer
to the main trunk, and they are inher-
ited by all descendants of that diver-
gence point (unless some lines lose the
innovation for their own local reasons).
The literature refers to shared char-
acters across a group as “ancestral” or
“basal.” But let’s say our investigator
also notes that some members of the
honey bee group possess the habit
of nesting in cavities with multiple
combs while the rest nest in single
combs in the open. Now the investi-
gator has something to work with: he
or she has identified a more recent in-
novation that marks its possessors as
American Bee Journal
part of a newer branch “downstream”
of the more ancient divergence points
that established “bee-ness.”
Phylogenists call such newer inno-
vations derived. These derived charac-
ters, assuming they are in fact under
genetic control and passed on by de-
scent, mark new points of divergence
from the parental form. They are new
lineages – the “cavity nesting honey
bees,” in our case.
But, once again, these new lineages
are themselves subject to future pop-
ulations diverging into new forms,
populations for whom the character
“cavity nesting” would now be con-
sidered the ancestral form! Thus, we
see that characters of interest in recon-
structing a taxonomic tree are always
“ancestral” or “derived” relative to
the group being discussed and its po-
sition on the overall tree.
The Messy Data-Driven
Jumble of Phylogeny
My examples to this point have been
deceptively simple in the interest of de-
scribing the principles and practices of
phylogeny. But the fact is, phylogeny is
a tedious, difficult, and data-dense sci-
ence, and its literature is rife with com-
peting hypotheses. It can be difficult
to distinguish derived characters from
ancient, and the number of characters
used in tree reconstructions can be
huge – especially since molecular ge-
netics has opened up whole genomes
for consideration by phylogenists in
their never-ending search for ancient
and derived characters. The computer
demands alone are staggering for cal-
culating probabilities of association
among millions of genes and sorting
them into probable lines of descent.
Molecular science has also provided
new tools, such as “molecular clocks”
which are attempts to establish geo-
logic dates of divergence events using
known rates of gene mutation.
The results of phylogenetic analysis
may vary according to the characters
used for comparative analysis – mi-
tochondrial genes, nuclear genes, al-
lozymes, comparative behavior, or
good old-fashioned whole-animal
morphology. The best reconstruc-
tions attempt to accommodate many
characters, including molecular, be-
havioral, and morphological. And it’s
worth noting here that modern phy-
logenists owe much to the traditional
taxonomists of the pre-molecular era:
individuals who sorted out phylog-
enies with the only means they had
– examining morphological features
under a microscope.
February 2018
Figure 2. The natural ranges of the eastern honey bee Apis cerana (shaded in blue)
and western honey bee Apis mellifera (shaded red). Apis nigrocincta diverged from
A. cerana and today is restricted to the islands of Sulawesi, Mindanao, and Sangihe;
a similar event occurred for A. nuluensis which today is restricted to the mountain
regions of Borneo. An unresolved mystery is the distant range and lack of overlap
between the natural ranges of A. mellifera and the rest of the genus.
These old data sets are not always ranges spray across Africa, the Middle
congruent with trees built with molec- East, central Asia, and Europe, there
ular markers, but many hit close to the have been protracted and conflict-
mark – including ones initially used in ing studies struggling to make sense
the 1970s to establish the many races out of what is admittedly a confusing
of modern Apis mellifera. But my over- natural history. That story must wait
arching point here is that phylogeny until a later month.
examines many inherited characters The preponderance of professional
in a group, establishes which are an- opinion places the origin of the genus
cient or derived relative to a subset Apis squarely in southeast Asia. This
of interest, and uses many streams region is home to the natural ranges
of evidence – geography, statistical of all members of the genus but one –
analysis of shared derived characters, the western honey bee Apis mellifera,
fossils, known ranges of modern or the world’s most prolific honey pro-
extinct species, comparative behavior, ducer and chief interest of readers of
and molecular clocks – to come up American Bee Journal. For most of us, it
with the best reconstructions of natu- is our bee. Evidence for an Asian ori-
ral lineages. gin of the genus is rooted to principles
I mentioned earlier – the relevance of
Origins of Ancestral Honey Bees geography to the birthing of new spe-
Biogeography of the honey bees, cies; it is typical to assume that regions
members of the genus Apis, is in of richest species diversity in a genus
relatively good shape, yet not free of constitute the ancestral home range of
controversy. By this I mean that most the genus.
workers in the field have converged
on a family tree that seems to opti- A Close Look at the Apis Tree
mally assign shared derived charac- Members of the genus Apis have tra-
ters and accommodate modern social ditionally been partitioned into three
behaviors to arrive at a plausible fam- groups: the dwarf open nesters, the
ily tree for the nine (or ten) recognized giant open nesters, and the medium
species. sized cavity nesters. Recent DNA re-
However, the biogeography of the constructions of the family tree have
western honey bee Apis mellifera in supported this traditional grouping
particular is another matter; for its and put them in relational context to
numerous subspecies, whose natural one another (Fig. 1).
231
 Examining Figure 1A gives us an
opportunity to point out some of the
principles we discussed above. The
tree is read from left to right, with
more recent events to the right. The
first stem is the most recent common
ancestor of the genus. This ances-
tral genus was of course comprised
of very Apis-like species, but not yet
possessed of the derived characters
that came to define true Apis. This
divergence is estimated at 30-40 mil-
lion years ago4 (abbreviated hereaf-
ter mya). The next divergence event
separated the dwarf honey bees, sub-
genus Micrapis, from all the rest, and
then we see the cavity nesting bees
(sub-genus Apis) and giant open-
nesters (Megapis) diverging from one
another. At about 6-9 mya, the mel-
lifera lineage split off from the rest of
the cavity nesters.,9 At the terminating
branches of this tree we find our mod-
ern extant species.
In the full form of the tree (1A) the
authors have tried to resolve relation-
ships at the level of these existing spe-
cies. We see, for example, the mellifera
lineage branching away from the rest
of the cavity nesters, who then engage
in their own downstream history of
divergence events. At this level the
statistical analyses were complicated
by a relative lack of genetic variation
in the samples – which is another way
of saying the species were too closely
related (ie., too few unique deriva-
tions) for computations to reliably dis-
criminate ancestor from descendant.
Specifically, in spite of the DNA tree
(Fig. 1A), it is highly unlikely that cer-
ana diverged from a “nuluensis like”
common ancestor, but rather the exact
opposite: nuluensis from a cerana-
like common ancestor. The authors
themselves point this out – based on
knowledge from biogeography. It is
common knowledge that Apis cerana is
dispersed across southeast Asia (Fig.
2), whereas A. nigrocincta and A. nu-
luensis appear to be originally popula-
tions of A. cerana isolated on islands,
who subsequently underwent specia-
tion, and to this day retain relatively
small ranges. This is a good example
of how multiple streams of evidence
are necessary to piece together reliable
ancestries. Because of the poor resolu-
tions at the right side of the tree, for
practical purposes it’s sufficient to use
its condensed form at Fig. 1B.
All this is presumed to be happen-
ing in southeast Asia, but there is a
shockingly alternative, and recent,
hypothesis which places the origin
of the genus Apis about 5,000 miles
232
away in central Europe. This story has 8 ARIAS, M., TINGEK, S., KELITU, A.
its own compelling arguments – and & SHEPPARD, W. 1996. Apis nulensis
challenges – and it deserves its own Tingek, Koeniger and Koeniger, 1996 and
its genetic relationship with sympatric
coverage next month.
species inferred from DNA sequences.
Ibid.27, 415-422.
9 DAMUS, M. & OTIS, G. 1997. A mor-
Endnotes
1 TATTERSALL, I. & SCHWARTZ, J. H. phometric analysis of Apis cerana F and
1999. Hominids and hybrids: The place Apis nigrocincta Smith populations from
of Neanderthals in human evolution. Pro- Southeast Asia. Ibid.28, 309-323.
ceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 10 RAFFIUDIN, R. & CROZIER, R. H. 2007.
96, 7117-7119. Phylogenetic analysis of honey bee be-
2 ARTHUR, W. 2014. Evolving Animals, havioral evolution. Molecular phylogenet-
ics and evolution, 43, 543-552.
Cambridge University Press.
3 LOVEJOY, A. O. 2011. The great chain 11 ARIAS, M. C. & SHEPPARD, W. S. 2005.
of being: A study of the history of an idea, Phylogenetic relationships of honey bees
Transaction Publishers. (Hymenoptera: Apinae: Apini) inferred
4 RUTTNER, F. 2013. Biogeography and tax- from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA se-
onomy of honeybees, Springer Science & quence data. Ibid.37, 25-35.
Business Media. 12 ALEXANDER, B. A. 1991. Phylogenetic
5 CULLINEY, T. W. 1983. Origin and evolu- analysis of the genus Apis (Hymenoptera:
Apidae). Annals of the Entomological Soci-
tionary history of the honeybees Apis. Bee
World, 64, 29-38. ety of America, 84, 137-149.
6 ENGEL, M. S. 1998. Fossil honey bees 13 ENGEL, M. S. & SCHULTZ, T. R. 1997.
and evolution in the genus Apis (Hyme- Phylogeny and behavior in honey bees
noptera: Apidae). Apidologie, 29, 265-281. (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Ibid.90, 43-53.
7 CORNUET, J. & GARNERY, L. 1991. * Arias and Sheppard (2005) recognize A.
Mitochondrial DNA variability in hon- binghami, while Raffiudin and Crozer
eybees and its phylogeographic implica- (2007) retain it as a subspecies of A. dor-
tions. Ibid.22, 627-642. sata.
HERE WE GO WITH, TWO MORE BUCKETS!
P.O. BOx 280
MOreauville, la 71355
(318) 201-5379 (318) 964-2592 — e.J. BOrdelOn Owner
Prices fOr 2017 Queens — MinnesOta Hygienic italian
1-9 10-24 25-99 100 Up
Queens $22.00 $21.00 $20.00 $19.00
QUEENS SHIPPED PRIORITY OR EXPRESS MAIL ARE INSURED,
UPS OVERNIGHT IS NOT INSURED.
ALL POSTAL CLAIMS ARE TO BE MADE BY CUSTOMERS.
25% DOWN PAYMENT TO BOOK ALL ORDERS.
American Bee Journal

MarketPlace
FOR SALE
1000 hives 10-frame two-story on 4-way pallets,
new outfit & queens, excellent condition, available
in May in California. (530) 671-6188.
FOR SALE: Singles and 1 1/2 story hives for sale.
1000 available. Call for Pricing, Jon@(208) 412-
1092 or Golden @ (208) 250-8420. www.golden
beeinc.com
Five frame NUCS for sale mid-April through Fall.
Price dependent on season and quantity of order.
Minimum order of 24 NUCS. No frame trade,
only return of our boxes. Call early to secure your
order. FOB Lewistown PA or Dade City, FL.
Please call W. Fisher Bee Farm for more infor-
mation. 1-800-736-6205. Ask for Aaron.
Cowen Heated top and bottom bar cleaner with
extra SS tub and hot water supply unit purchased
in 2009 less than 40 hours, asking $6000.00. Item
available for pickup in Lewistown, PA or Dade
City, Florida. For more information call 800-736-
6205.
Singles for sale, delivery possible on orders over
200. For pricing and availability call: 800-736-6205.
FIVE FRAME NUCS AND TEN
FRAME HIVES FOR SALE. CALL
JEROME @ (352) 406-4938 OR EMAIL:
TRAILHEADRANCH@GMAIL.COM
2000 10-frame hives, new queens, on 4-way pal-
lets, very good equipment in FL. Now or after al-
monds in CA. Limited numbers of 4 and 5-frame
deep nucs. Also available in FL starting in March.
Call NOW!! (262) 689-1000.
140,000 pounds sugar and syrup in like new 55
gallon drums $150 each or $140 ea. for 10 or
more. 200 like new barrels - $10 each. Honey
5 gallon buckets, new and used bee equipment.
55 gallon honey barrels $5 each. Can deliver to
KC, Joplin MO, Tulsa, Wichita, Springfield. Call
(620) 365-5956. Trade Honey.
Make your own Honey Sticks. Complete sys-
tem to start putting your honey in your own
sticks for pennies per stick. Keep the profits
for yourself. www.honeystickmachine.com
Strong, healthy 5 frame Nucs (deep or medium)
available in South Florida starting in April of
2018. Limited quantities of mated queens are also
available. Call Joseph at (561) 715-5715 to place
your order.
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING-Net price $1.00 per word per insertion. Initials, letters as in street address, counted as individual words. No advertisement accepted for less than 10
words. Payable cash in advance. Blind Classified 10% additional. (A blind ad is one in which responses are addressed to the ABJ and then forwarded to the advertiser.) Extreme care
always is exercised in establishing the reliability of all advertisers, but the publishers do not guarantee advertisements. Orders close the 20th of the second month preceding cover
date. Send typed copy to : Advertising Dept., American Bee Journal, 51 S. 2nd St., Hamilton, IL 62341 or FAX to 217-847-3660 or e-mail to: abjads@dadant.com.
February 2018
American Bee Journal
PARSONS’ GOLD SOLUTION - The
Only Solution For Keeping Your Honey
Bees Healthy! Herbal Treatment Oil &
Jelly - Bee Grooming Stimulant - Train
The Bees To Do The Work - Healthy
Bees Year Round. No Negative Effects
On Bees, Queen, Wax or Honey. Busi-
ness (419) 273-3066; Cell (419) 235-
7037. www.parsonsgold-honeybees.
com #33 Treatment Loaded Syringe -
$20.00 plus $8.00 S/H. Checks, Money
Orders, Credit Cards. Parsons’ Gold
Apiaries, c/o Robert B. Parsons, 2092
Twp. Rd., 195, Forest, OH 45843.
HONEY PRICE UPDATES. Call Honey Hot
Line. (763) 658-4193.
PACKAGED BEES AND 5-FRAME NUCS.
TAKING ORDERS NOW FOR 2018. CALL
(231) 735-1203.
For Sale – 3000 10-frame singles. 2015
queens, new equipment. Also, 5-frame
nucs available. Call Chris (941) 720-
6025.
For Sale: 200 5-frame nucs and 400 single hives
in Florida. (772) 633-1134.
Bobcat, Hummerbee and Superbee Trailers cus-
tom built. New S450 Bobcat’s, set up with masts
and fifth wheels complete. Fifth Wheels sold
separately. Used Bobcat’s bought, sold and trade-
ins welcome. Custom truck bodies and Custom
smoker boxes, all built by a beekeeper FOR bee-
keepers. www.tropictrailer.com - Eli Mendes
239-340-0484, eli@tropictrailer.com
5-frame nucs for sale in NW Wisconsin. 2017
queens, nice equipment, no frame exchange. Will
be ready for pick-up end of April or first of May.
$125.00 each, quantity discounts on 50 or more.
Queen cells available March till May in Central
Florida (772) 215-2734. Sunnydellbees.com
Singles: Fresh queens, treated. Available Fall, Win-
ter, Spring - Hughson, CA. Call: 209-988-2823.
5 frame Nucs, 10 frame single hives on four-day
pallets, doubles, and story and a half hives, avail-
able year round in large and small quantities. Lo-
cated in the Florida Panhandle. Call for pricing,
Ryan Faircloth 850-510-4627.
THE VICTOR THERMAL TREATMENT
DESTROYS VARROA WITH WARM AIR.
WWW.GREENBEEHIVES.COM FACE-
BOOK: GREENBEEHIVES.COM
5-frame nucs for sale, April 1st, 2018 in NC.
Singles for sale in Florida before the almonds.
Call for prices – depending on quantity. Delivery
can be arranged for larger orders. Call Tim Holt
(336) 710-4904.
BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT supplies, South-
east Texas, winter locations. WANTED: gadgets,
antiques, museum. (832) 276-6885.
New Beekeepers Forklift Trailers: 8000 lb. tork-
flex axle, 17.5/16 ply tires, electric brakes, tool-
box with lid, tilt bed, expanded metal treads. For
photos and price E-mail: gcamfab@yahoo.com
We have purchased Tom Industries
and we have these items for sale:
Handcrank Foundation Mills, 4.9 or 5.1
with preroller – Special this month (No-
vember) for pair - $2000.00. Flat style
(Waffle style) foundation embosser –
single sheet at a time - $650.00. New
honey pumps, several sizes – call or
e-mail for quote. New refractometers
- $65.00. (620) 365-5956 or email:
madelinecooper@sbcglobal.net
NEW 12 frame motorized stainless
steel extractor - $850.00. 24 frame
motorized, SS extractor -1200.00.
6 Frame motorized SS extractor
- 550.00. 3 frame manual extractor
- 225.00. 4 frame manual extractor
- 275.00. Table saw resaw mandrel
15” long -$1250, power feed, cuts
several top bars blank at a time. 4”
Viking gear pump -1000.00, used very
little. Stainless steel tank, 8’ 5” diam-
eter 13’ 10” tall - 5000.00. 3300 gal,
insulated. Stainless steel tank inside
and out, 16’ long 5’ 1” wide - 4000.00
- access hole top. Waffle type founda-
tion press - 650.00. Will trade honey
or beeswax. Phone 1-620-365-5956.
madelinecooper@sbcglobal.net
For Sale: Doubles or singles on bottom boards,
10-300 hives (200 hives with or without loca-
tions). Call Kim (925) 913-0531. Near Sacra-
mento.
Singles on nice 4 way treated pallets available in
Late May in Texas. Plywood lids, mite treated.
8 frames with feeder. 2018 queens. Minimum
order 200. 20% to hold non refundable. Good
equipment. $150.00. Call 214-356-6791.
FOR SALE: 8-frame doubles, heavy, 2017
Queens, on 4-way pallets. Newer equipment.
$170.00 after almonds. $140.00 second week of
May. Cottonwood, CA. Sam & Joyce Van Vleet,
(530) 347-1987.
Custom made supers and hive bodies. All sizes.
Cut from Minnesota pine, squarely assembled
with shipping available for truckloads lots. Call
for more information. Bjorndahl Apiaries, Go-
odridge, Minnesota. Phone (218) 378-4188.
5-frame nucs for sale - $125.00. 20 or more -
$99.00. Available May 2018. 20 percent down
payment with order. Henry Yoder, N5304 Wold
Rd., Black River Falls, WI 54615.
Doubles for sale after almonds. Call for details
and pricing Tim 507 217-9510.
Semi load of Double Deeps for sale after the al-
monds. Good bees in Good equipment. Call Joey
McCoy 561-723-3170.
5-frame nucs for sale - $125.00. Available in May
2018. Bees are state inspected. Also 4-way pal-
lets $25.00 Migratory lids made with marine ply-
wood $5.50. Nice equipment. Breezy Hill Apiary,
W12235 Spring Creek Rd., Black River Falls, WI
54615.
233
400+ double deep hives for sale immediately after
almonds in March. Call Joel Smith @ (208) 312-
7061 or email bellistonbros@gmail.com.
100+ boxes of brood comb for sale. Call
Joel Smith @ (208) 312-7061 or email
bellistonbros@gmail.com.
2000 new, unassembled hive bodies. $8.00/ea.
1000 shallows. $6.00/ea. All or part. Call Ron 209
769 0442. Midpines, Calif
NUC’S FOR SALE, CAN RAISE UP
TO 2000 QUEENS. (916) 662-2006
For Sale: 1000 – 10-frame deeps with frames
and foundation - $25.00 each. 500 10-frame
6 5/8 – with frames and foundation - $25.00
each. Contact Todd at 402-992-4444 or email
at popydam@yahoo.com
For Sale: 8 frame doubles and 10 frame 1 ½
beehives for sale in California after almonds.
Call Mark McCoy (561) 723-2921.
For Sale 400+ D.D. excellent hives after almonds.
In N. CA. Or later in S.D. all equipment and bees
in superior condition. Cap and ladder feeders top
and bottom. No bad hives. 605 809 6291.
2,000, 2 story, 10 frame hives on 4 way pallets.
Ready to split after the almonds. Call Ray at 909-
709-9192.
1,500 2 story, 10 frame hives on 4 way pallets. For
sale after the almonds. Call Chad, 951-265-7594.
Strong, 2 story, 10 frame hives on 4 way pallets
in southern California. Call Steve, 951-551-7150.
For Sale: 1000 hives, 10-frame doubles or
singles on 4-way clipped pallets available after
Almond Pollination 2018, very good condition.
5-frame nuc’s available May 14th. Call 559-974-
4042 Madera, CA.
400 10-frame doubles. Available in Bakersfield
CA after almonds. Call Paul @605-228-5236.
Total of three (3) Dadant 60 frame extractors with
controllers. Fager S/S wax compactor and S/S
uncapping frame bench/trough. Sold as package;
$4,950.00. (303) 717-0899.
FOR SALE: Used Cook and Beals wax spinner.
$4000.00 plus shipping or can be picked up in
North Dakota. Contact Dakota Gunness at 888-
553-8393 or 701-553-8393.
Beehives for Sale – after almonds in N. California
mid-March. 500 eight frame, 300 ten-frame. Fall
2017 Carniolan queens. 805-616-0187.
MITE MEDICATION FOR SALE! ALL
TYPES, BEST PRICES, AMITRAZ, TACTIC,
AND MORE! CALL OR TEXT 909-800-2695
TODAY.
For Sale: 300 strong 8 frame doubles on 4 way
pallets. $160.00 each after almonds. Call 949-407-
0369.
FOR SALE: Deep extracting supers, 9-frames per
super. (308) 470-0177.
SWORDS APIARIES – retired. Good beekeeping
equipment for sale. 60-frame SS extractors, chain
uncapper, 2000 gallon SS honey tank, pumps,
hive bodies, 5 ¾ supers, nucs, etc. 229-502-4202.
Leave Message.
300 - 10 Frame dark comb in boxes. 60 frame
Stainless steel Dadant Extractor. Exit 208, Hey-
burn, Idaho call 208–431 –3097.
Echo Honey LLC. - 5 frame nucs in central la.
Available starting in April. Call for pricing. 318-
201-8696.
2000 gallon SS inside and out, insulated access
hole on top, 16’ long, 5’1” wide - $4000.00. 3300
gallon stainless inside insulated heating coils gear
box motor - $5000. 50 gallon used (barrel honey)
$5 each. Trade honey or beeswax. Call (620) 365-
5956.
234
7 5/8” SUPERS WITH 9-FRAMES DRAWN
LIGHT COMB IN GOOD SHAPE - $27 EACH.
300 AVAILABLE - / 10 MINIMUM. ALSO,
METAL QUEEN EXCLUDERS, CLEANED -
$5.00 EACH. (417) 882-8008 (MISSOURI)
FOR SALE: SINGLES ON 4-WAY PAL-
LETS, 5-FRAMERS, BROOD, AVAILABLE
MARCH-APRIL 2018, SOUTHEAST TEXAS
(507)635-5745.
For sale...200 colonies after almonds. Strong
double deep. Call 760-310-0005.
High Quality Michigan cutcomb: starthistle, wild-
flower. 2018 5-frame nucs, queens. Pine Creek
Honey, LaGrange, IN. Voice-mail (260) 499-
4628, ext. 1.
DD 8 frame on 4 way pallets $170; 10 frame
singles $160; 4 frame nucs $95; California,
Stockton 925-626-7800.
Downsizing, I have deeps, shallows, lids and
pallets for sale. Equipment varies in condition.
Contact Brad at 970-759-0585.
For Sale: 1 ½ story hives on 4-way pallets in
Florida. Now or after almond pollination in
California. Call Joseph at (561) 715-5715.
HONEY FOR SALE
Excellent clover honey in drums and light beeswax
available. Mark Gilberts Apiaries, (608) 482-1988.
U.S. sweet clover, alfalfa, thistle mix, (9 drums of
black locust-limited supply), white honey, melter
honey, filtered, new drums, excellent honey -
f.o.b. several loads available. Produced by Bald-
win Apiaries, Darlington, WI (608) 776-3700.
Very nice looking & good tasting Nebraska
bottling honey. (402) 319-5125.
CLOVER – Buckwheat, Orange, Tupelo, and
Wildflower – pails or drums. PURE SWEET
HONEY FARM, 514 Commerce Parkway,
Verona, Wisconsin 53593. (608) 845-9601.
Clover, Basswood, Wildflower honey available in
drums in WI. Great tasting! Light beeswax avail-
able. Call (262) 689-1000.
Honey and beeswax for sale. Clover, Orange
Blossom, Wildflower. Many varietals available.
Smitty Bee Honey (712) 748-4292.
PREMIUM HONEYS – Summer: Michigan
Blueberry, Thistle (Knapweed) – excellent for
creamed honeys, plus FL premium fall pepper
and FL spring orange blossom honeys. Call Ed
(231) 408-7485. Email: edeisele@gmail.com
QUALITY HONEY, barrels, your buckets.
Hollenbeck, Kirksville, Missouri. (660) 665-2542
evenings.
Viet Nam, Indian and Brazilian
honey for sale in bulk. Beeswax and
bee pollen in bulk. Please call 908-
967-1484. Email: info@Sarahimpex.
com
HONEY AND
BEESWAX WANTED
HONEY WANTED—Extracted or comb.
LEIGHTON’S HONEY, INC., 1203 Commerce
Ave. Haines City, Florida 33844. (863) 422-1773.
FAX (863) 421-2299
HONEY WANTED– all grades. Also, honey
barrels for sale. Contact Pure Sweet Honey Farm
Inc., 514 Commerce Parkway, Verona, WI. (608)
845-9601.
Round comb, Fresh, good tasting
Pollen, Varietal Honeys. 800-678-1226.
tasty@zspecialtyfood.com
HONEY PRICE UPDATES. Call Honey
Hot Line. (763) 658-4193.
ROYAL JELLY
BEST 100% PURE FRESH ROYAL JELLY.
$65.00 per kilo + shipping. HIGHEST PO-
TENCY. LOWEST PRICES guaranteed on
large orders. TOP QUALITY. Stakich, Inc.
(248) 642-7023 X 301
POLLEN
QUALITY, CLEAN, LOW MOISTURE POL-
LEN $5.40/lb. Min. 10 lbs. + shipping. LOW-
EST PRICES guaranteed for large orders.
STAKICH, INC. Phone (248) 642-7023 X 301
Fresh 2017 Northern California raw bulk pollen
available. Available raw uncleaned and semi-dried
and cleaned. Call for pricing at (916) 224-2211.
High Mountain Desert U.S. Pollen – PESTI-
CIDE-FREE, FRESH FROZEN, $70 FOR 5 LBS.
$130 FOR 10 LBS. FREE SHIPPING. Help bees
digest and metabolize with probiotics trace min-
eral soil, high-protein natural pollen patties - $45
per 10lbs. (805) 616-0187. beekeepermike.com
POLLINATION
Bees wanted for the Almonds. Art Harris, 6301
Victor St. #63, Bakersfield, CA 93308 (661) 444-
1470.
Bees Wanted for 2018 Almond Pollination. We
Provide the Following: Hives are placed behind
locked gates. 24/7 security with nightly patrols.
Fungicide spraying only and only at night. Win-
tering yards with full service hive maintenance,
feeding, and medication. We have forklifts and
crew to place hives in orchards. You are paid
50% on or before February 25th and 50% on or
before April 20th. Visit: www.almondbeepollina-
tion.com for more details. Please Call: California
Almond Pollination Service, Inc. (209) 202-8915
E Mail: shousebee@gmail.com
BEES AND QUEENS
JERRY FOSTER QUEENS quality Carniolan and
hybrid Italian queens at competitive prices. Nucs
and packages also. Jerry Foster Apiaries, 937 9th
St., Colusa, CA 95932. Phone (530) 458-4234.
Pacific Northwest mated queens. Orders of 50 or
more. Treasure Valley Idaho. Call for Pricing, Jon
@ (208) 412-1092. www.goldenbeeinc.com
QUALITY QUEENS from HAWAII, available
year round. Call KARRUS QUEENS (808)
854-5308.
3 lb Packages Bees for sale, for pick up in
Wisconsin. Contact: Mark Gilberts Apiaries 608-
482-1988.
Let us put bees into your equipment with enough
time to feed them up for the almonds. May be
willing to do the feeding. Also, willing to fill your
equipment in the spring. Call Rick Riggs (661)
204-2631.
Doubles, singles, brood for sale
year round. FOB Jan-April, Oak-
dale, CA. April-Dec., Milton Freewa-
ter, OR. Queens less than 6 months,
great equipment. Ryan@sweetbee
honeyco.com (360) 907-0842. $5k min.
purchase.
Olympic Wilderness Apiary – Pa-
cific NW WILD SURVIVOR BREEDER
QUEENS – Disease and Mite Resistant
– Isolated Yards– Available July – Sept
(360) 928-3125. www.wildernessbees.
com
Early-bird pricing for 2018. Italian & Russian
Hybrid package bees, queens and nucs. Pick up
in KY, ship to 5 zones. Web: www.schoolhouse-
bees.com Pails of honey for sale year-around.
School House Bees (859) 356-1350.
American Bee Journal
ITALIAN PACKAGE BEES, 3# $88.00, cage in-
cluded. Pick up only. 50 minimum. 10% deposit.
Cottonwood, CA. Sam & Joyce Van Vleet, (530)
347-1987.
EASTERN BEE SUPPLY – Nucs/Queens/Pack-
ages. (910) 290-4186 http://easternbeesupply.
my-free.website
5 frame Russian stock Nucs! Order now for April
2018 pick-up Petal, MS. Price break info, email:
Sunrisehoney1@Yahoo.com
Package Bees for Sale in Spring of
2018 in Ohio and Eastern Indiana.
www.olddrone.net
NUCS & QUEENS – shipping available.
NorthFloridaBees@mail.com 850-661-8077
Minnesota Hygienic Italian mated
queens for sale. Call for pricing and
availability. Bayou Hives 9340 HWY 451
Moreauville, LA 71355 (318)359-2096
Email saucier.l@yahoo.com
1000 colonies, 1 3/4 story new pallets good equip-
ment. Ready to split shake, make nucs after al-
monds in Red Bluff CA $225. Call Arrowsmith
and Sons. Also will have 1000 queen mothers, 3
story with 11,000 queen nucs - feed cans -new
pallets, $300,000. 530-515-4522.
Bee operation for sale in South Dakota. 90 loca-
tions – alfalfa, clover, Swinger lift trucks, honey
supers, extracting equipment, shops. Call Arrow-
smith & Sons - 530-515-4522.
3 lb. Packages and Nucs. 2018 Hawaiian Queens.
Shipping begins April 1st. (805) 616-0187. bee-
keepermike.com
Hawaiian Queens – March $35 lots of 10 or more
only. 805-616-0187. beekeepermike.com
Minnesota Hygienic Italian Queens
for sale. Proven 2018 laying queens.
Call for pricing and availability – Mark
Gaspard, PO Box 366, Moreauville,
Louisiana 71355. (225) 718-1378. Email:
mag_0424@yahoo.com
RUFER’S DEEP EAST TEXAS QUEENS LLC
-- Now booking for 2018 season for MN Hygienic
Queens, Brood, or fill equipment out of our Deep
East Texas location. For pricing and scheduling,
contact: Darrel at (612) 325-1203.
Cisneros & Sons Honey Bees is now taking or-
ders for 2018, Italians and Carniolan queen bees.
Available April to September. Call or email David
Cisneros (530) 592-7762. alex-cisneros@live.
com
SINGLE-BOX BEEHIVES AVAILABLE LATE
MAY. PICKUP SW MISSOURI. SIX FRAMES
BEES/ FIVE FRAMES BROOD/ ITALIAN
QUEEN/NEW HIVE BODY, MIGRATORY LID
AND BOTTOM. 5@$220. 10@$215/20@$210
EACH. THESE WILL MAKE YOUR HONEY!!
(417) 882-8008. ALSO 4-FRAME NUCS - $145
EACH.
5 frame nucs Italian Queens ready mid April 2018
in South MS. Large order discount. call/text 601-
788-7717. Queen cells available.
Singles for sale out of MS available in April Semi
Load or pick-up only. All hives on a 4 way pal-
let with lid and a feeder. Price is $185 deposit
required on semi loads. Contact McCoy Family
Apiaries LLC at (989) 550-3111.
BUTTE BEES – Italian hybrid queens selected
for overwintering and honey production. Queens
available April to September. Packages pickup
2nd week April. Call for pricing (530) 713-4725.
YUBA CITY, CALIFORNIA.
WANTED
Honey and Beeswax wanted. All colors and
varietals. Send samples or call Smitty Bee Honey
(712) 748-4292.
February 2018
Buy existing beekeeping business in-
cluding beehives, yards, pollination
contracts. We will keep current staff.
Min 2000 BH, located in California.Con-
tact Vivian Martino at 209-521-9190 or
VMartino@LeemodeLaw.com in Modesto
Looking for honey extractor. Whole set.
60-frames and up. (916) 662-2006
NEED BEES FOR ALMOND POLLINATION.
LOADING YARDS INCLUDED. (916) 320-2551.
HELP WANTED
Full time position available in Oregon. Bee-
keeping experience and CDL required. Contact
Ryan@sweetbeehoneyco.com PO Box 558,
Milton Freewater, OR 97862 (360)907-0842.
Seasonal and full-time help needed at our migratory
bee operation. We are located in FL and WI. We do
pollination, queen rearing and honey production.
Some experience preferred, team environment,
wages dependent on experience, good opportunity
or advancement. Prior work history and references
required. Contact Gary at (262) 689-1000.
Olivarez Honey Bees/Big Island Queens is seek-
ing motivated beekeepers to join our Hawaii
team! Experience preferred. Self-motivator and
ability to work in a team environment a plus. Po-
sitions are full time, salary based on experience.
Great Benefits Package. Prior work history and
references required. Advancement opportunities
available. Submit resume to info@ohbees.com
or Olivarez Honey Bees Inc/Big Island Queens,
P O Box 847 Orland Ca 95963, Fax: 530-865-
5570, Phone 530-865-0298
Looking for a beekeeping unit manager to oversee
a crew of 10 located in California doing pollina-
tion, queen rearing and honey. Full-time position.
Motivating salary. Driving license and social
security required. Write ABJ, Box 150, Hamilton,
IL 62341
McCoy Honey Co. is looking for motivated in-
dividuals to work in a large commercial opera-
tion. Applicants should have some experience,
a valid driver’s license, and be willing to travel.
McCoy Honey Co. has operations in MI and MS
and pollinates in CA/MS/ME/WI. Pay is based
on experience and queen grafting is a major plus.
McCoy Honey Co. is a family business and a team
environment. Applicants should contact Ryan at
(989) 550-3111.
LABELS
Custom Labels. FREE BROCHURE.
(319) 759-0161 leave message or
amysbeelabels@hotmail.com
BEE TRANSPORTATION
Are you tired of mobilizing to California? Let
us place and remove your bees for you. We have
trucks, trailers and forklifts. Our crew leaders
have had 6 plus years of experience. Call Ben at
435-272-7239 or ben@honeycreek.biz
MISCELLANEOUS
The AMERICAN BEEKEEPING FEDERA-
TION has many benefits to offer its members. Send
for a membership packet of information today! We
also offer a free Beginning Beekeeping Packet.
Contact the AMERICAN BEEKEEPING
FEDERATION, 3525 Piedmont Rd. NE, Bld. 5.
Suite 300, Atlanta, GA 30305-1509, Phone (404)
760-2875, Fax 404-240-0998, or email info@
abfnet.org.
HONEY BEE INSEMINATION SERVICE
Susan Cobey - Instrumental Insemination Special-
ized Equipment, Consulting, Training, Custom
Service honeybeeinsemination.com scobey@
mac.com Tel. 360-969-9441.
Offloading-Loading in Almonds: Careful Crew
for hire! $1/hive SCHEDULE NOW FOR PRI-
ORITY PLACEMENT. Valid references avail-
able. Contact Christopher (714)904-2930.
PERIODICALS
L’ABEILLE DE FRANCE—The most important
of the monthly publications in France - for all
beekeepers, from the amateurs to the professional.
Each month: an article for beginners, reports from
specialists, a review of the latest information all
over the world. Ask for a sample Annual sub-
scription: 40$ US. ABEILLE DE FRANCE- 5,
rue du Copenhague-F 75008 PARIS.
THE AUSTRALASIAN BEEKEEPER—
Senior Beekeeping Journal of the Southern
Hemisphere. Complete coverage of all bee-
keeping topics in one of the world’s largest
beekeeping countries. Published by Pender
Beekeeping Supplies Pty. Ltd., “Bilga” 79 Nay-
lor Road, Urila, N.S.W. 2620, Australia. Annual
subscription paid in advance $160 AUD.
THE AUSTRALIAN BEE JOURNAL—
Caters to both amateur and commercial
apiarists. Subscription $120.00 Australian
currently for all overseas subscribers per annum.
Published monthly. Victorian Apiarists’ Asso-
ciation, Inc., P.O. Box 40, California Gully,Vic.
Australia 3556 Ph: 03 5446 1543, Email: vaa@vic
beekeepers.com.au.
BEECRAFT The UK’s leading monthly beekeep-
ing magazine. View a digital copy and subscribe
on line at www.bee-craft.com.
DIE BIENE – ALLGEMEINE DEUTSCHE IM-
KERZEITUNG (ADIZ) – IMKERFREUND The
Bee magazines with special publications in bee
science and management for the hobbyist as well
as for the sideliner and professional beekeeper.
Three regional titles but same content today for
Germany except partly Imkerfreund for Bavaria.
Monthly publications with 64 pages. Subscription
Euro 44.50 per year – Deutscher Landwirtschafts-
verlag GmbH, Postfach 870324, 13162 Berlin, Tel.
+49(0)30/293974-87, Fax +49(0) 30/293974-59,
www.diebiene.de
HIVELIGHTS, National magazine of the Cana-
dian Honey Council. Published quarterly. Free
sample on request, write to Canadian Honey
Council, Suite 236, 234-5149 Country Hills
Blvd. NW, Calgary AB T3A 5K8, CANADA.
Subscription information available at www.
honeycouncil.ca.
HONEYBEE NEWS, The Journal of the New
South Wales Apiarists’ Association, Inc., Inter-
national Subscription AUS$50.00 (Airmail) Bank
Draft, Visa or MasterCard payable to NSW AA.
Published bi-monthly—For more information
contact: The Editor, PO Box 352, Leichhardt
NSW 2040 Australia. E-mail: honeybee@
accsoft.com.au
IBRA (the International Bee Research Associa-
tion) is a unique organization established in 1949
for the advancement of bee science and beekeep-
ing. It publishes two magazines: JAR – the Journal
of Apiculture Research, for scientists, and BW
- Bee World, for beekeepers who want broaden
their horizons by learning about other beekeeping
traditions, other bees, other ideas. Members chose
which magazine(s) to include in their membership.
IBRA is a vital bridge between the local (hive)
and global concerns. IBRA is registered under UK
charity law (Office: 91 Brinsea Road, Congresbury,
Bristol, BS49 5JJ, UK) www.ibrabee.org.uk
IRISH BEEKEEPING—Read An Beachaire
(The Irish Beekeeper). Published monthly. Sub-
scription $50.00 per annum post free. Dermot
O’Flaherty, Journal Manager, Rosbeg, Westport,
Co. Mayo, Ireland
ATTENTION LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS—
Ranch Magazine is your monthly information
guide for Angora, Cashmere and meat goats, as
well as sheep and cattle. Comprehensive Breeder
Directory. 1-Yr $27, 2-Yrs $54. Foreign &
Canada add $36 per yr. postage. Subscribe today!
Box 2678-ABJ, San Angelo, TX 76902. Call for
free sample. (325) 655-4434
235

A.N. Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
A & O Forklift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
Acorn Beekeeping Equip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
American Bee Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
American Honey Producers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
Applewood Seed Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200
Australian Bee Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
Avant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162
Avoyelle’s Honey Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
Bastin Honey Bee Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
Bee Box Wraps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .198
Bee Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145
BeeCulture.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
Bee Excellent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202
Bee Hive Thermal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
BeeInformed.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192
Beekeepermike.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219
Beekeepingins.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
Beeline Apiaries & Woodenware . . . . . . . . . . . . .161
Beelite Wax Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
Bee Smart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
Bee Well Honey Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Beta Tec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209
Betterbee, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166
BL Plastic Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202
Blue Ridge Honey Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204
Blue Sky Bee Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182
Bordelon Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201
Borntrager, David. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Brand New Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Brown Honey Co. Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Browning Cut Stock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
Brumley Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Brushy Mountain Bee Farm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162
Butte Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202
Buzz’s Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
CC Pollen Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210
Carbolineum Wood Preserving Co. . . . . . . . . . . . .152
Chinabeeworld.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Complete Bee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210
Contract Pros Mfg.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227
Cook & Beals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204
Cowen Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227
236
Advertising Index
Dadant & Sons, Inc. . . . . . . . .129, 152, 181, 223, 226,
236 & Back Cover
Dakota Gunness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201
EAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
Ernst Seeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
Geneva Bee Conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
Globalpatties.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212
GloryBee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167, 220
Hardeman Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161
Hawaiian Queen Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222
Heitkams Honey Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222
Hilbert’s Honey Bees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
Hogg Halfcomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
Honey B Healthy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
Honey Land Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209
Horace Bell Honey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210
Jester Bee Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192
JJ’s Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
Koehnen, C.F. & Sons, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Kona Queen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201
Lohman Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222
LorAnn Oils and Flavors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222
Mann Lake Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186, 238
Maxant Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
McKenna Boiler Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
Medivet Pharmaceuticals Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
Meyers, A.H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180
Miller Bee Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168
Miller’s Beekeeping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201
Mother Lode Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168
Naked Bee Hives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
NMC Super Bee Forklift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Nod Apiary Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
Old Sol Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185
Olivarez Honey Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136
OxaVap.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210
Park-Burris Queens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
Pierce Beekeeping Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200
Pierco.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237
Plastic Packaging Concept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Powell Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
Queen Right Colonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202
QSI Honey and Food Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
R.M. Farms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209
Roberts Bee Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
Ross Rounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136
Rossman Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200
Sanders Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202
Sasse’s Apiary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Selby Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
Shastina Millwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130
Sherriff, B.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202
Simpson’s Bee Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Smith Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152
South Florida Bees-N-Queens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
South Georgia Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Spell Bee Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227
Stayer’s Quality Queens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192
Strachan Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180
Strong Microbials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
Suhre, Adam Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
Suhre, E. Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222
Sunrise Feed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
Sunshine Honey Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202
Superior Bee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201
Swienty Beekeeping Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . .198
Taber’s Honey Bee Genetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152
Texas Insurance & Financial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
TreatVarroa.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219
Tree’s for Bees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
T.R.S. Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202
University of Montana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180
Vidalia Apicultural Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201
VP Queens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152
Weaver, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .198
Western Bee Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126
Wicwas Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199
Wilbanks Apiaries Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204
Wintersun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222
Wooten’s Queens and Bees, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
Z Specialty Food, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222
American Bee Journal
February 2018 237
238 American Bee Journal
February 2018 239