Vermont Beekeepers Association

Apiology

The study of honeybees...

'Intensive' beekeeping not to blame for common bee diseases

More "intensive" beekeeping does not raise the risk of diseases that harm or kill the insects, new research suggests.

Intensive agriculture—where animals or plants are kept crowded together in very high densities—is thought to result in higher rates of disease spreading.

But researchers from the University of Exeter and the University of California, Berkeley found this is not the case for honeybees.

More:Intensive

RNA virus spillover from managed honeybees (Apis mellifera) to wild bumblebees (Bombus spp.)

The decline of many bumblebee species (Bombus spp.) has been linked to an increased prevalence of pathogens caused by spillover from managed bees. Although poorly understood, RNA viruses are suspected of moving from managed honeybees (Apis mellifera) into wild bumblebees through shared floral resources.

More:Bombus

Seasonal variation of pollen collected by honey bees (Apis mellifera) in developed areas across four regions in the United States

For honey bees (Apis mellifera), colony maintenance and growth are highly dependent on worker foragers obtaining sufficient resources from flowering plants year round. Despite the importance of floral diversity for proper bee nutrition, urban development has drastically altered resource availability and diversity for these important pollinators.

More: Pollendiversity

Toward Audio Beehive Monitoring: Deep Learning vs. Standard Machine Learning in Classifying Beehive Audio Samples

Electronic beehive monitoring extracts critical information on colony behavior and phenology without invasive beehive inspections and transportation costs. As an integral component of electronic beehive monitoring, audio beehive monitoring has the potential to automate the identification of various stressors for honeybee colonies from beehive audio sample

More:AudioMonitoring

Reduced density and visually complex apiaries reduce parasite load and promote honey production and overwintering survival in honey bees

Managed honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies are kept at much greater densities than naturally occurring feral or wild colonies, which may have detrimental effects on colony health and survival, disease spread, and drifting behavior (bee movement between natal and non-natal colonies).

More:HoneybeeDrift

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General Beekeeping News...

Beekeeping in Vermont...

Proposal: VBA Recognition Program

The VBA Board of Directors is considering enhancements to the VBA Recognition program. We would like to form a committee consisting of one or more Board members as well as interested VBA members to develop any ideas and potentially implement the Recognition program. The information below was proposed as a starting point at our last VBA Board meeting. If you would be willing to help out on this effort, please contact VBA Board member, Fred Putnam, at 802-247-3323 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thank you for your interest!

Recent Events in Pictures...

Amanda Werner provided these images from the September 29 Northern Yard Workshop on getting things ready for winter. Kim Greenwood sent along more photos from the Tunbridge Fair. KIM 5005

Sweet Days at the Tunbridge Fair - 2018

From left to right: Ron Hernandez, Tony Antonucci & John Mcneil

tunb2018

...with Bill Mares and Scott Wilson

The Allurements of Theorists

"The Allurements of Theorists" is an article from a simpler time, written in language that reflects the era.

Bee culture is a very profitable as well as fascinating pursuit, yet in choosing it as a profession a person must be very sure he likes it above all other trades, or he will not be very sure to make a success of it. The trade a person engages in is never to blame for the failure of the person who has adopted it. If you like your team you will take good care of it ; just so with your trade, no matter what it may be. After having made sure you like bee keeping as a trade, make up your mind to drive it well, and never let it drive you.

"Added Sugar" Labels Update

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says new guidance about added sugars that will provide an alternate labeling option for pure maple syrup and honey will be released next year.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Thursday that the new rules will provide “a path forward for pure, single-ingredient” maple syrup and honey products that does not involve an “added sugars” declaration along with the nutritional facts.

Congratulations Dr. Samantha Alger!

VBA Advisory Board Member Samantha Alger has successfully defended her Ph.D. and is now officially Dr. Samantha Alger!

Her work has aided both the scientific and beekeeping communities to better understand how disease transmission between bee species occurs.

In addition, we applaud her ability to channel newly gained scientific knowledge into useful tools and recommendations for beekeepers in this state. We look forward to Dr. Alger’s bright future and offer her congratulations for her amazing achievement.

Dr. Alger will be facilitating a partnership between VBA and the UVM Beekeeping Club - one of the topics discussed at the last VBA board meeting.

Congratulations Michael Palmer

EAS 2018 honors Michael Palmer with the Divelbiss Award
For Outstanding Apicultural Contributions

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.