Apiology

The study of honeybees...

Trophallactic interactions in the adult honeybee (Apis mellifera L.)

Abstract - Trophallaxis, the transfer of food by mouth from one individual to another, occurs among adults of honeybee colonies. The drones and the queen consume but do not donate, while the workers are recipients and donors.

More:Trophallaxis

Measuring biological age to assess colony demographics in honeybees

Honeybee colonies are increasingly exposed to environmental stress factors, which can lead to their decline or failure.

More:Demographics

Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab

The USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Program designs and develops large and small-scale surveys for native bees. As part of that program, we also develop identification tools and keys for native bee species. One aspect of creating those tools is creating accurate and detailed pictures of native bees and the plants and insects they interact with.

More:Bee Inventory

The behavioral regulation of thirst, water collection and water storage in honey bee colonies

This study investigated how a honey bee colony develops and quenches its collective thirst when it experiences hyperthermia of its broodnest..

More:Thirst

Home sick: impacts of migratory beekeeping on honey bee (Apis mellifera) pests, pathogens, and colony size

Honey bees are important pollinators of agricultural crops and the dramatic losses of honey bee colonies have risen to a level of international concern. Potential contributors to such losses include pesticide exposure, lack of floral resources and parasites and pathogens.

More:homesick

Catch the Buzz

General Beekeeping News...

Beekeeping in Vermont...

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.

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.

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!

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!