Vermont Beekeepers Association

Apiology

Apiology – (from Latin apis, "bee"; and Ancient Greek -λογία, -logia) is the scientific study of honey bees.

Colony Size, Rather Than Geographic Origin of Stocks, Predicts Overwintering Success in Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in the Northeastern United States

Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are key pollinators of agricultural crops. However, approximately 30% of managed colonies die each winter in the United States. There has been great interest in breeding for ‘locally adapted stocks’ which survive winter conditions in a particular region.

More:Local Stock

Varroa destructor: A Complex Parasite, Crippling Honey Bees Worldwide

Varroa is also a highly efficient vector of honey bee viruses and drives changes in virus distribution, prevalence, and virulence.

More:Varroa Vector

Effect of Bodily Fluids from Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Larvae on Growth and Genome-Wide Transcriptional Response of the Causal Agent of American Foulbrood Disease (Paenibacillus larvae)

Paenibacillus larvae, the causal agent of American Foulbrood Disease (AFB), affect honey bee health worldwide.

More:AFB

Efficacy in the Varroa Mite, Varroa destructor, within commercial beekeeping operations

The parasitic mite Varroa destructor and the associated viruses it transmits are responsible for most instances of honey bee colony losses in the United States. As such, beekeepers utilize miticides to control Varroa populations. Widespread resistance has developed to the miticides fluvalinate and coumaphos. However, Varroa has largely maintained susceptibility to amitraz despite a long and extensive use history.

More:Amitraz

Coronavirus stings world's top honey makers with China beekeepers locked down

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beekeepers in China, the world's top honey producer, are bracing for a bleak start to the key spring pollinating season as travel curbs aimed at containing a coronavirus outbreak keep them at home while their bees go without food for weeks.

More: CoronaVirus

Functional Properties of Honey, Propolis, and Royal Jelly

Honey, propolis, and royal jelly, products originating in the beehive, are attractive ingredients for healthy foods. Honey has been used since ancient times as part of traditional medicine.

More: Propolis

What You Need to Know (And What We’re Working to Find Out) About Products Containing Cannabis or Cannabis-derived Compounds, Including CBD

You may have noticed that cannabidiol (CBD) seems to be available almost everywhere, and marketed as a variety of products including drugs, food, dietary supplements, cosmetics, and animal health products.

More:Cannabis

Beekeeping in Vermont

Extracting Your Honey Crop

You're finishing your first successful beekeeping season and now it is time to learn how to harvest your honey crop! Join VBA Vice President Andrew Munkres, of Lemon Fair Honeyworks as he shares his expertise. We suggest you register early as this is a popular workshop.

Note: We are still working out details on how we present this workshop. It may be a live video program on Zoom or part of it may be pre-recorded then presented by Andrew who will take questions during the Zoom call. In any event, we will announce details as they become known. Since this workshop is being arranged on short notice we wanted to give you the opportunity to register for it as soon as it was scheduled!

Details: Last Updated: 10 August 2020 10 August 2020

Last Night's AMA Online

We've posted the recording from last night's AMA Zoom meeting where we discussed AFB and how it is being managed, along with a number of interesting topics. Take a listen (login required) and sign up for the next one...

Details: Last Updated: 07 August 2020 07 August 2020

AFB Reported in Hinesburg

Brooke Decker
Pollinator Health Specialist
State Apiculturist
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets

American Foul Brood Announcement

July 30, 2020

American Foul Brood (AFB) ) Paenibacillus larva has been confirmed at an apiary located in Hinesburg, Vermont.

The multiple hives and associated equipment have been destroyed by fire. The remaining colonies are under quarantine and enhanced inspection protocols.

Details: Last Updated: 30 July 2020 30 July 2020

Vermont Bee Lab is Open

The Vermont Bee Lab is happy to announce that we are now open and ready to receive samples. We are currently offering tests for Varroa mites and Nosema.

Samples can be dropped off or mailed.

For more information on collecting and submitting samples, check out our FAQs on our website and view our video:

Details: Last Updated: 27 July 2020 27 July 2020

Italian Honeybee on Italian Parsley

5f11a7e6e9811 20200717 090310 Photo by Scott Wilson

Details: Last Updated: 17 July 2020 17 July 2020

2020 Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium

VBA member Debby Pasho is a veterinarian who is "honey bee qualified." She passes along the information that the 2020 Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium will be a virtual conference this year due to COVID-19 but has been opened up to allow anyone to participate.

View the program agenda and register online for a modest fee. The program runs September 21-22 and 28-29 and includes such topics as "What's Killing Honey Bees?", "Varroa Mite Biology and Management" and much more totaling 8 hours of live sessions online over the course of four days. Register here.

Details: Last Updated: 15 July 2020 15 July 2020

American Foul Brood Reported in Additional Locations in Vermont.

Brooke Decker
Pollinator Health Specialist
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets
802-272-6688
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

American Foul Brood has been reported in 2 additional locations in Vermont.

On July 6th 2020, additional cases of American Foul Brood (AFB) Paenibacillus larvae, were self-reported to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. The cases were located at 2 different apiaries, one in Jericho and one in Orwell, Vermont.

The colonies showing clinical symptoms of AFB were destroyed by fire and remaining colonies sampled for laboratory analysis.

Beekeepers should familiarize themselves with AFB symptoms and observe carefully when inspecting colonies and equipment. Any suspect findings should be reported immediately to Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets Pollinator Health Specialist, at 802-272-6688.

Details: Last Updated: 13 July 2020 13 July 2020

Pests & Diseases of the Honey Bee

Brooke Decker, Pollinator Specialist with the Vermont Department of Agriculture, Food & Markets presented Pests and Diseases of the Honey Bee to VBA members participating in an online conference.

The presentation covered a variety of topics and detailed what Vermont beekeepers need to watch in order to keep their colonies healthy. The complete presentation is available to everyone in a format that allows you to annotate or make notes on each page and is formatted to easily read on your mobile device. You can also zoom-in, download and print the pages.

The online conference is also available to VBA members by logging in to the site and going to our Webinars page.

Details: Last Updated: 26 June 2020 26 June 2020

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