TheApiaristBlog

The winter may feel never-ending, but in person and online talks offer the opportunity to improve your understanding, learn something new, and make the ‘off season’ seem just a little shorter.

It might be possible to create pesticides repellent to honey bees that reduce the accumulation of the sub-lethal chemicals that have a long-term detrimental impact on colony health.

Some equinoctial thoughts on success and failure in beekeeping, and attempts to understand my woefully poor queen mating this year. Mating occurs in drone congregation areas (DCAs) … or does it? A recent review questions the evidence supporting the role for DCAs in queen mating.

Looked after properly, beekeeping equipment should last for years. Looked after improperly, it will need to be repaired … but will also last for years. Here are some fixes to major damage and minor holes in poly hives, and repairs/rebuilds of two essential pieces of equipment.

Tropilaelaps in Turkey, recent studies of the complexity of the waggle dance, and (yet more studies on) the influence of queen cup size on the size of the resulting queens. Bigger is not always better.

Why choose fondant, where to buy it, and how to use it. Save money by using fondant to feed your bees in autumn, and — perhaps more important — make your beekeeping easier.

When, why and how to take pre- and post-treatment mite counts, and what to do with the numbers. Is it routinely needed, and when should you definitely do it? And if you thought that was confusing, when do miticides work but not work?

A variety of late-season queen-related topics; finding, missing, marking, judging, and clipping them … together with discussions of some DIY ‘mods’ that make all these things easier. All that, plus the sad news that the season is pretty-much over 😞.

Licensed miticides, used correctly, are very effective at controlling mite infestations which would otherwise kill the colony. However, the manufacturer’s instructions for miticide use are often poorly worded, confusing or contradictory. Could they be improved?

Thymol-containing miticides offer many advantages (no mite resistance or wax-soluble residues) but must be used properly to be effective. Temperatures are critical, and high brood levels may negatively influence treatment efficacy. If you’re going to use them, understand their limitations.