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/
- Synopsis: Beekeepers prepare honey, candles or mead for gifting at Christmas, but what should a non-beekeeper get for a beekeeper? Introduction “Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat”, to quote the traditional nursery rhyme and Christmas song. Well, I can’t vouch for their corpulence, but my late season beekeeping visits to Fife are accompanied […] The post Christmas is coming … appeared first on The Apiarist.
- Synopsis: Two recent studies on potential therapies for DWV and a discussion of the practicalities of feeding fondant … and recovering the leftovers. Introduction This is the 47th post of 2023 and I’ll soon be writing the pre-Christmas seasonal reviews, the recommended list of presents for beekeepers and the annual “If you’ve not yet treated […] The post Fondant, mushrooms and DWV appeared first on The Apiarist.
- Synopsis: Effective oxalic acid treatment requires little or no brood in colonies. These conditions will likely occur in the next few weeks. How can you easily determine brood levels in the winter? Introduction Many beekeepers will already be thinking about the season ahead. Planning plans and scheming schemes. I expect that a number of them […] The post Is it time for oxalic acid? appeared first on The Apiarist.
- Synopsis: Drones occupy age-related locations in the nest and exhibit coordinated periodic hyperactivity. How was this determined and do these insights help our beekeeping? Introduction I’ve always enjoyed Robert Macfarlane’s writing. He assembles words that capture a scene or a feeling (or both) in ways many writers never achieve. In the opening paragraph of Underland […] The post Hyperactive drones appeared first on The Apiarist.
- Synopsis: Hives of horror! Getting stung and not getting stung. How did the sting of bees evolve and why is it painful … and how often is it fatal? Introduction Don’t you get stung a lot? If I got £1 for every time I’ve been asked that I would be a wealthy beekeeper . Other […] The post Stings appeared first on The Apiarist.
- Synopsis: How difficult is beekeeping? Learning curves, Dunning-Kruger, gentle introductions and future challenges … together with some enforced supersedure, mice and fainting queens. Introduction In principle, beekeeping is pretty simple. You dump some bees in a box and, at the end of the season, remove frames laden with delicious honey. The title of the first […] The post Shallow learning curves appeared first on The Apiarist.
- Synopsis: Cooler and shorter days leaves less time for the critical final tidying of hives before winter. Remember to remove Apivar strips and check the stores. New winter jobs include wax extraction and (more) honey preparation. Introduction Slip Slidin’ Away, the title of a Paul Simon song released 46 years ago this month, is also […] The post Slip Slidin’ Away appeared first on The Apiarist.
- Synopsis: Fire ants are globally invasive and cause problems for beekeeping. The fire ant is now established in Europe and recent studies suggest it can be infected with the most important honey bee virus. Worried? Perhaps you should be. Introduction The late Justin Schmidt, entomologist and selfless cataloguer of painful stings, described the sting of […] The post Ants, bees and viruses appeared first on The Apiarist.
- Synopsis: Strap your hives down ahead of the winter storms so they don’t end up as a “natural disaster” statistic in the surveys of winter losses. Some examples of good and bad practice, and the consequences of not battening down the hatches. Introduction Storm Agnes rolled through last week, leaving us shaken but not stirred. […] The post Batten down the hatches appeared first on The Apiarist.
- Synopsis: In your second season of beekeeping use swarm control to create an additional colony. It will improve your beekeeping and provide insurance against calamities. Make plans now and buy equipment in the sales. Introduction Going by the sound of the wind and the rain outside, the beekeeping season is now well and truly over. […] The post Your second season appeared first on The Apiarist.