Vermont Beekeepers Association

Apiology

The study of honeybees...

Drone and Worker Brood Microclimates Are Regulated Differentially in Honey Bees, Apis mellifera

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) drones and workers show differences in morphology, physiology, and behavior. Because the functions of drones are more related to colony reproduction, and those of workers relate to both survival and reproduction, we hypothesize that the microclimate for worker brood is more precisely regulated than that of drone brood.

More:Microclimate

'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

The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign Scientists Report on Honey Bee Stressors

The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) is a collaborative group of scientists, government agencies, NGO’s, private industries and agricultural and environmental concerns that work together to bring the plight of pollinators to national attention and to be the most trusted resource for information and behaviors in support of pollinating animals and the plants with which they interact.

More:Pollinator Protection

Beekeeping in Vermont

VBA Summer Meeting

Thanks to the Franklin County Beekeeping Club for hosting another successful summer meeting of the Vermont Beekeepers Association.

Fred Putnam Jr. of Brandon joins the board as VBA's Recording Secretary.

Watch for a write-up and photos from the meeting...

Details: Published: 23 June 2018 23 June 2018

North Yard Workshop Photos

Great weather at today's ACBA workshop where "Talking Bees with Chaz Mraz" was the program. Chaz covered many topics including making nucs, recognizing types of queens cells, mite monitoring, and treatment options as well as wide-ranging questions on Spring and Fall hive management. Pics (provided by Fred Putnam) are available on the VBA website gallery.

Details: Published: 16 June 2018 16 June 2018

Mares on Bee Democracy

VBA's Bill Mares on VPR recently discussing democracy as practiced by honeybees - with a nod to Thomas Seeley's Honeybee Democracy.

(VBA's Twitter feed also features the link and can be followed with RSS on our newsfeed page.)

Details: Published: 12 June 2018 12 June 2018

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: Published: 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: Published: 10 May 2018 10 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.