Professor David Evans is a virologist studying the biology of single stranded positive sense RNA viruses, including poliovirus, hepatitis C virus and deformed wing virus of honeybees. He has a fascinating, practical beekeeping blog, https://www.theapiarist.org/
- The financial outlay you need to make when starting beekeeping is less than the commitment the catalogues imply you should make. Buy wisely with compatibility and longevity in mind, but also invest in a couple of luxuries that will make your beekeeping easier.
- Colonies can starve in early spring. It takes just a few days of adverse weather for colonies to run out of stores. This week I discuss preventing starvation in managed colonies, together with some observations on the survival of, and finding, overwintered free-living bees.
- Don't believe everything you read in the catalogues. It's expensive to start beekeeping, so buy little, and buy wisely. The equipment should last — and be usable — for decades, so aim to make your beekeeping easier now, and in the future.
- Identifying areas with endemic foulbroods, and the adjacent regions at risk from natural spillover through swarming. What choices are there in dealing with swarms originating from infected areas, including the options available for euthanising them?
- Just because they contain an identical active ingredient don't assume they are equivalent. There are differences in the approved modes and frequency of administration, dosage, and shelf life … and significant differences in value for money (particularly for hobbyists).
- Swarms may carry pests and pathogens. Mites are easily managed, but the notifiable foulbrood diseases are not. It is important to consider the risks, based upon swarm behaviour and the known distribution of disease locally. Is it a risk worth taking, and if not, what should be done with the swarm?
- The age-related division of labour. Critical to colony survival and performance, disrupted every time you perform a split, but amazingly flexible so most splits (eventually?) are successful. What is it, why does it occur, and what happens when it is disturbed?
- The Demaree method offers the tempting prospect of maximising your honey production and preventing swarming. Achieving both these things needs appropriate conditions, a strong colony, timely colony checks, and lots of lifting.
- Colony temperament is determined by their genetics, the amount you disturb them, and the environment. You must select the first of these when rearing queens. To do that well you need to minimise the second, and understand the third. This post discusses all three, and the role of pollen availability.
- Large, larger, largest. Some comparisons of honey bee egg sizes relevant to queen rearing. All other things being equal, the largest eggs are not laid in queen cups.