The Waggle Dance of the Honeybee

This video is a design documentary, developed by scientists at Georgia Tech’s College of Computing in order to better understand and share with others the complex behaviors that can arise in social insects.

What’s up in the hives

What happens when bees bring back nectar and how do they transform it into honey? An article from June 2018 by Jerry Rigg on bees and how bees make honey.

Tools for Varroa Management

Varroa Resources from Honey Bee Health Coalition. This Guide explains practical, effective methods that beekeepers can use to measure Varroa mite infestations in their hives and select appropriate control methods.

Sick Bees – Mite Monitoring Methods

Parasite management centers around keeping an eye on varroa and nosema levels. This article focuses on monitoring the mite levels. by Randy Oliver Scientific Beekeeping

Make Your Own Alcohol Mite Washing Jar

Video by Scott Hendriks

National Honey Price

The National Honey Board reports average retail and wholesale prices per pound across all reporting regions monthly. Data from Bee Culture magazine used by permission. Search on “honey price”.

The Nuts And Bolts of Splits & Nucs

What, Why, When and How to make Splits & Nucs written by Jim and Pat Haskell

Modeling Nuc Buildup

Not all nucs build up to the same extent.  Is that because of the queen, the bees, or how we originally put the nuc together?  Written by Randy Oliver Scientific Beekeeping

Saskatraz – a Favorite

• Known for excellent honey production
• Good wintering ability
• Selected for increased varroa tolerance and resistance to brood diseases
• Show increased hygienic behavior

Italian

• Calm and gentle
• Easy to manage
• Strong
• Great honey production
• Great for all environments
• Known brood producers
• Highly hygienic
• Excellent foragers
• Excellent honey producers

Southern Italian

• High productivity and honey creation
• Focuses on raising brood
• One of the gentlest and most docile of the bee subspecies
• Readily builds comb
• Wonderful foragers
• Less tendency to swarm than other subspecies
• Strong cleaning behaviors
• Great for areas with continuous nectar flow and favorable weather throughout the summer

Carniolan

• Mostly gentle
• Good choice for colder climates
• More likely to forage on cool, wet days than other bees
• Excellent honey production
• Quick to brood up when nectar is available

Russian

• More resistant to varroa
• Highly resistant to tracheal mites
• Rear their brood during times of pollen availability
• Low likelihood of robbing

Russian Hybrid

• Excellent at wintering
• Resistant to varroa and tracheal mites
• High honey yield – same or better than Italian bees
• Can rear massive amounts of brood in short times to closely follow times of nectar and pollen flow
• Constantly maintains several supersedure queen cells for immediate queen replacement if the hive loses its current queen