Vermont Beekeepers Association

Apiology

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

Queen cells acceptance rate and royal jelly production in worker honey bees of two Apis mellifera races

Royal jelly (RJ) is an acidic yellowish-white secretion of worker honey bee glands, used as food material of worker bee larvae for the first three days and queen bee larvae for the entire life. It is commercially used in cosmetics and medicinal industry in various parts of the world.

More:Royal Jelly

Making honey without bees and milk without cows

It's not unusual for vegans to miss certain foods. What is unusual, though, is Mr Mandich's solution: to create a type of honey, identical to the natural kind in every molecule, but produced without involving any bees at all.

More: VeganHoney

Early-life experience affects honey bee aggression and resilience to immune challenge

arly-life social experiences cause lasting changes in behavior and health for a variety of animals including humans, but it is not well understood how social information ‘‘gets under the skin’’ resulting in these effects.

More:Early Life

Altering social cue perception impacts honey bee aggression with minimal impacts on aggression-related brain gene expression

Gene expression changes resulting from social interactions may give rise to long term behavioral change, or simply reflect the activity of neural circuitry associated with behavioral expression.

More:Social Cue Perception

A model of infection in honeybee colonies with social immunity

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) play a significant role in the pollination of various food crops and plants. In the past decades, honeybee management has been challenged with increased pathogen and environmental pressure associating with increased beekeeping costs, having a marked economic impact on the beekeeping industry.

More: Infection

Testing the effect of pollen exine rupture on metabarcoding with Illumina sequencing

Pollen metabarcoding has received much attention recently for its potential to increase taxonomic resolution of the identifications of pollen grains necessary for various public health, ecological and environmental inquiry.

More:Pollen Rupture

A Look into the Cell: Honey Storage in Honey Bees, Apis mellifera

Honey bees, Apis species, obtain carbohydrates from nectar and honeydew. These resources are ripened into honey in wax cells that are capped for long-term storage. These stores are used to overcome dearth periods when foraging is not possible.

More:Honey Storag

Beekeeping in Vermont

VBA June Meeting Minutes Online

Minutes from the June VBA Board of Directors meetings are now available online. VBA members may read the minutes by logging in to the site and selecting Meeting Minutes under the Members Only top menu heading.

Details: Last Updated: 11 June 2019 11 June 2019

Great Weather, Great Information

The group (pictured here) attending the May 12th North Workshop presented by the ACBA's Scott Wilson and Fred Putnam enjoyed good weather and a wealth of information. Topics included how to perform a beehive post-mortem following what has turned out to be a concerning winter for Vermont beekeepers with higher than usual losses reported and management of Varroa - of course.

Mites - The problem continues. Please read this from the Honey Bee Health Coalition: Tools for Varroa Management.

Details: Last Updated: 13 May 2018 13 May 2018

Opportunities for Vermont Beekeepers

We're resurrecting a feature on the site called Opportunities for VBA members. These opportunities may be ways for you to help other beekeepers, schools, the general public or area orchardists needing pollination services. There really is no limitation to what is possible.

The first new listing is for someone in need of pollination services. VBA members can get the details by logging in to the VBA website and looking under the Members Only menu for Opportunities.

Details: Last Updated: 12 May 2018 12 May 2018

Bee Healthy and Legal

A Vermont beekeeper has a duty to other beekeepers and the general public in knowing the laws that apply to beekeeping in Vermont.

Vermont State Apiarist and Food Safety Specialist David Tremblay reminds us that he is concerned about uninspected bees coming into Vermont and these bees then not being registered or inspected. It is acceptable to ask the honeybee supplier if their bees have been inspected and to view the inspection certificate.

Details: Last Updated: 11 May 2018 11 May 2018

Is there added sugar in Honey?

You may have heard about the FDA and their intent to label honey and other products as containing added sugar.

The draft guidance is found by clicking here. Please take the time to read it and submit comments as you see fit.

Details: Last Updated: 03 May 2018 03 May 2018

Fred Putnam Jr. speaking at Killington Town Office

If you happen to bee in Killington on August 8, 11:00 A.M. buzz on over to the Killington Town office to hear Fred teach kids about honeybees, beekeeping, culminating with a fabulous Vermont honey tasting.This is part of the Town of Killington kids summer camp organized by the Town of Killington Recreation Director, Cathy Foutch.

Details: Last Updated: 30 April 2018 30 April 2018