Vermont Beekeepers Association

Apiology

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

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

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

Detection of amitraz resistance and reduced treatment 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.

More:Amitraz

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

A mathematical model of honey bee colony dynamics to predict the effect of pollen on colony failure

The decline in colony populations of the honey bee, known as the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), is a global concern. Numerous studies have reported possible causes, including pesticides, parasites, and nutritional stress.

More: Pollen Model

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

More:Microclimate

Beekeeping in Vermont

The Secret to Better Berries? Wild Bees

First study to reveal wild bees’ impacts on blueberry size, quality from UVM's Gund Institute for Environment.

Want bigger, faster-growing blueberries? New research shows wild bees are an essential secret ingredient in larger and better blueberry yields – producing plumper, faster-ripening berries.

Details: Last Updated: 01 December 2018 01 December 2018

Summer 2019 Keynote Speaker Announced

Humberto Boncristiani, has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for the Vermont Beekeepers Association Summer 2019 meeting on July 13.

Dr. Boncristiani is the honey bee husbandry applied researcher at the University of Florida Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab. Boncristiani has a diverse background in honey bee research, having worked in a government institution (USDA), academia (UNCG, UMD), private industry, with the National Research Council, and having come from a beekeeping family. At the Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab, Boncristiani conducts honey bee husbandry research that is directly applicable to commercial beekeeper operations in the state of Florida and across the country.

Details: Last Updated: 29 November 2018 29 November 2018

Treatment Free Beekeeping from Ross Conrad

A great finale to the 2018 ACBA season with Ross Conrad presenting his approach to treatment free beekeeping. Forty guests coming from Fairfax, Chelsea, Addison County and even Massachusetts...

Special shout out to the UVM bee club for coming on down to our meeting.#honeybee #vba.

More pictures on our Facebook page.

Details: Last Updated: 25 October 2018 25 October 2018

Support Request for the Vermont Bee Research Team

Dear Vermont Beekeepers,

In December 2016, we appealed to the beekeeping community to make a donation through Experiment.com to support a research project on effects of migratory beekeeping practices on honey bee disease (link). We were fortunate to receive enough support to conduct an experiment in which we compared disease loads in a group of stationary hives with those in a group we sent to California for almond pollination. We have some very interesting results with real-world applications to improve honey bee health, and are excited to report that a manuscript describing this work is accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal!

Details: Last Updated: 17 October 2018 17 October 2018

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!