Theories, Practice & Commercialisation
Articles on beekeeping with Apis mellifera across the spectrum of theory and practice, as well as the big leagues of commercial beekeeping.
Single-Target Acaracide Resistance in Varroa
Earlier this year, Australia recorded its first case of flumethrin-resistant mites in northern New South Wales, and this same population later tested positive to amitraz a non-pyrethroid acaracide. Does this mean these treatments are ineffective
Robotic Control & Other Beekeeping Autonomations
You probably imagine a humanoid robot carrying supers and performing inspections. That is all well and good since honey supers are backbreaking manual work. What it can’t (yet) do are the creative aspects – can
What Traits Do Queen Breeders Want?
While researching how honey bees learn to forage I came across a paper titled “Beekeepers’ preferences for honeybee breeding goals: a French case study” and found it to be a far more interesting rabbit hole
Mites Plus Beetles: A Slimeout Story
A strong hive was scheduled for Varroa management and we applied formic acid treatment. A rainy week followed and the bees could not leave the hive, and four days after that, the colony collapsed. A
Addressing Deficiencies in Commercial Bee Feeds
Honey bees are generalist foragers, meaning their diet consists of a variety of nutrients and microbials. Bees also feed one another trophallaxicaly (“mouth to mouth”), resulting in further chemical and microbial processing of the foraged
Honey Bee Drone Development and Reproduction
Apis mellifera drones take 24 days to emerge from the cell. They spend the next 8-12 days maturing in preparation for mating with a virgin queen. Once mated, the drone dies and provides the queen
How Honey Bees Use Propolis
Propolis is a combination of plant resins and wax used by worker bees inside the hive to mend cracks and defects, preserve the dead, and sticking frames together to annoy beekeepers. Foragers collect resin from
Jelly Production in Honey Bees
Worker bees secrete “jelly” from the hypopharyngeal glands located in their heads. Royal jelly is fed to all brood in the first few days after hatching, and then exclusively to queen larva throughout their larval
Factors Influencing Queen Bee Health
Diet, genetics and hive environment are what most beekeepers think of when assessing queen health, and fair enough, these are 80% of it. The other 20% is in factors like mating success, internal hive environment
Thermoregulation in A. mellifera Subspecies
Variations in temperature control within Apis mellifera subspecies arose in response to their local climate. They still belong under the umbrella term of “A. mellifera: the Western/European honey bee”, and have received more precise classification
Temperature Limits of Honey Bees
Apis mellifera aims to maintains a stable colony temperature of ~36°C during environmental extremes. In hot weather, worker bees fan their wings, beard outside the hive and spread water over frames, or huddle into a
Apps for Backyard Beekeeping
Many data collection technologies are for commercial beekeeping operations–ApisProtect uses sensors, internet connectivity (“internet of things”) and GPS pinpointing for remote hive monitoring systems. Beewise built “Beehome”, which I view as one large Langstroth hive
How Do Bees Make Honey?
Bees collect nectar from flowers and store it in their honey stomach (“crop”). Enzymes within the crop break down large sugar molecules into simpler structures (glucose and fructose). In honey bees, the forager returns to
The Role of Pheromones in Newspaper Combines
A newspaper combine is used to unite two colonies – one receives bees, the other donates them. Combines can be done by providing weak hives with adult bees and/or brood from a stronger hive, or
Starting a Golden Tail Sugar Ant Colony
############ As of 1st June 2025, the experiment failed- the ants were unable to establish a colony due to a poor nesting environment. The container barrier (baby powder & water) was inadequate, the mature worker
Varroa-Sensitive Hygiene & The Basis of Natural Resistance
Hygiene is defined as the removal of dead or injured brood to defend against diseases and parasites of the colony. Varroa-Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) is the selective breeding of bees with the ability to self-manage Varroa
Why do Beekeepers Smoke Their Hives?
Beekeepers smoke their hives because “it calms the bees down” and makes inspections easier. Smoke works by masking alarm pheromones and providing a mild anaesthetic effect on the worker bees (amongst other things, depending on
Guard Bees and the Hive Entrance
In beekeeping circles, we speak highly of the nurse bees (less than 7 days of age) and foragers (over 21 days of age), rarely of the multi-specialist middle-aged bees. These workers are undertaker bees and
“Healthy” vs “Strong” Colonies
A healthy colony refers to one that is free from disease and minimal pest infestations. The population is of a decent size relative to the season and neighbouring hives. Food stores are plentiful and sufficient;
Absconding Colonies: Survival Outside the Hive
This is a followup investigation to my winter hive deaths. My three colonies are no more, having absconded from severe Varroa infestation. Absconding is when the colony quietly leaves the hive in search of a
Winter 2024 Hive Deaths
Dad noted two of our hives were less active this winter. Towards the end of the season, there was no activity from either of them. Upon inspection, both had a few dozen workers remaining, not
Hive Box Insulation for Bees & Beekeepers
Wood hives, polyurethane boxes, or an entire tree trunk? Multiple materials exist for use as a hive body, and it’s up to the beekeeper to decide the long term approach. Wood is lindy and durable.
How Honey Bees Defend Themselves
Asian honey bees (Apis cerana) bee ball hornets to death. Giant honey bees (Apis dorsata) deter predators by synchronised shimmering atop their open combs, whereas the dwarf honey bees (Apis florea) abandon their nest and
Biology of a Drone Congregation Area
The male honey bee is known for his role in reproduction and not much else. Ejaculate in the queen, rupture your abdomen, die a few moments later. This is an oversimplification, for drones produce pheromones
Should Beekeepers Help with Hive Temperature Control?
There are beekeepers who ignore advice. There are beekeepers who live in environments with mild winters, where they leave the honey supers on. There are also beekeepers who live in mild winters, keep their supers
Honeycomb Inside Hive Lid
“Burr comb” is when bees build wax comb between the top bars and hive lid. “Bridge” comb is when its built between two frames hence “bridging” the two together. I classify cross comb as a
Pheromones in Honey Bees & Their Functions
Honey bee have two forms of communication: mechanical and chemical. The former includes “piping”, buzzing and waggle dancing. The latter relates to pheromones released by the brood and adult bees, and will be examined here.
Eggs in a Queenless Hive?
Seeing multiple eggs inside cells and no sign of the queen is a sign of laying workers, who deem the colony “hopelessly queenless”. No worker larvae remains for raising emergency queens, and the workers continually
Laying Workers, Worker Policing & Worker Relatedness
Workers laying eggs could either be due to queen failure, random genetic mutations or a recent swarm. The foremost sign of a laying worker is the presence of multiple scattered eggs per cell, as their
Capped Honey Frames in Brood Box: Honeylocked Hives
Start by removing the capped honey frames and replacing them with empty, drawn frames. If the weather will stay warm over the next weeks, I consider adding a honey super. Next: figure out why this
How do Bees Pollinate Apple Trees?
Self-pollination is when the pollen from the anthers (male reproductive part) is deposited into the stigma (female reproductive part) from flowers of the same plant. Apples require cross-pollination, which transfers pollen from one tree (e.g.
8 Weeks After Flumethrin Treatment
Several months back I wrote about flumethrin as a Varroa mite treatment. Here I report the results of an eight week of this Bayvarol treatment on three colonies, applied during the summer of 2023-2024. Yes,
What Do Bees Do With Their Dead?
Bring out your dead… Undertaker bees are middle-aged workers who specialize in adult corpse removal to prevent pathogen buildup. This behaviour is triggered by a reduction of cuticular hydrocarbon emissions, as a result of decreasing
Routes of Transmission: Deformed Wing Virus
Your hives are already infected with Deformed Wing Virus (“DWV”). Low levels of DWV are naturally found in honey bees, and rarely (if ever) cause issues. However, when a colony is infested with mites, symptoms
Why is European Foulbrood Treatable?
European foulbrood (“EFB”) is a treatable condition as the bacterium Melissococcus plutonius does not form spores like Paenibacillus larvae, the agent of American foulbrood. To confirm EFB diagnosis, samples can be sent to a laboratory
Chalkbrood-Infected Larvae
Mummified larvae were the first sign of something wrong. My hive was only months old when it started placing little white-black bricks at the hive entrance. I didn’t know much at the time, so I
When Robber Bees Attack a Swarm
I started 2024 with a swarm. I walked in the mid-morning sun, hearing the buzzes of the garden. I….Wait… why are getting louder? and why are so many bees flying around aimlessly? Turns out a
Honey Bees’ Life Cycle: From Egg to Eclosion
Bees are holometabolous insects (undergo a change of form via complete metamorphosis) with four distinct developmental stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult bee. There are caste-specific variations in honey bees, based on diet, wax cell
Using a Varroa Mite Sticky Board Inside Hives
For beekeepers with good eyesight, sticky boards can be used to assess the level of Varroa mites in colonies. For beekeepers with poor(er) eyesight or wanting more accurate readings, sticky boards are used alongside other
How to Check for Varroa Mites
Varroa mite checks can be simple, like the sugar shake and alcohol wash methods, or more intensive microscopic analysis. If the goal is to monitor Varroa mites for routine surveillance and treatment, then alcohol washing
Flumethrin for Varroa
For readers in Australia, Varroa mites is slowing spreading from New South Wales and into the remaining states. As of writing, surveillance teams have been deployed with sticky mats and flumethrin for Varroa screening. Yours
Requeening a Hive
Requeening a hive is a standard beekeeping practice that replaces an old queen with a newly-mated one. An “introduction cage” containing the queen and several worker bees is the most common method, with a direct
What do Bees do with Water?
On hot days, worker bees will collect water to spread throughout the hive. The bees fan their wings to evaporate this water and cool the colony. This is one use of the water, Bees however,
Why Do Bees Buzz?
The buzzing sound of bees is generated by their wings and flight muscles. This movement of air generates an audible buzz as the wings vibrate rapidly following contraction by the thorax’s indirect flight muscles. Buzzing
The Anatomy of Bees
Bees have three body segments: the head, thorax and abdomen. The head contains the eyes, the mouthparts, antennae and brain, the thorax contains the muscles: insect legs, insect wings and their respiratory system. Everything else
Altered Brood Pattern & Sacbrood Virus
Sacbrood virus causes the skin of infected larvae to form into a bulging “sac” of fluid, filled with viral particles (not to be confused with “sack” [English is difficult]). This is a minor brood disease
Wax Moths in a Beehive
Another common pest of honey bee hives are the two wax moth species: the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella and the lesser wax moth, Achroia grisella. It is the larvae, not the adult moths that
American Foulbrood: Pathology, Biology & Beekeeper-do-this-ology
The most serious of the honey bee diseases, American foulbrood (AFB) is a bacterial disease that infects brood. Forager (or robber) bees contract the disease from the environment (or infected hives), whereby they return the
Beetles in a Beehive
Small hive beetles (“SHB” ) are pests of honey bee hives. Native to sub-Saharan Africa, they thrive in humid conditions close to colonies. Female beetles lay eggs in the nooks and crannies of hives, hatching
How Pesticides Kill Bees
Previous articles analysed the sublethal effects of pesticides on bees and the consequences of accumulated, prolonged impairments. This article elaborates on how these sublethal effects kill bees. Three case studies of pesticide toxicity are examined:
How to Help Native Bees
In the public eye, “Save the Bees” doesn’t capture the variety of bee species beyond the honey and bumble bees, and so this article examines what can be done to help these native, wild bees.
Are Organic Pesticides Safer for Bees?
The topic of examining the effects of pesticides on bees and beneficial insects has been an overarching theme these past few months, from investigations on off-target effects on Apis mellifera to discussions on the sublethal
How Do Neonicotinoids Affect Bees?
Neonicotinoid insecticides are are synthetic compounds modelled after the natural plant-based pesticide nicotine and are systemically distributed throughout the plant tissue (including its nectar and/or pollen) when applied as a seed coating. These agricultural chemicals
Does Roundup Kill Bees?
Glyphosate-based herbicides like the Roundup products have been investigated for a variety of health and ecological reasons. Despite the differences in glyphosate pesticide formulations, studies show that this active ingredient has lethal and sublethal effects
Bees, Herbicides and Fungicides
When discussing chemical use in residential and agricultural settings, insecticides are quickly blamed due to their harmful impacts on bees. However, Insecticides are just one element within the “pesticide” category, with other components being fungicides
Managing Honey Bee Diseases
Honey bee diseases are numerous, varying from chemically treatable conditions to conditions requiring immediate colony euthanasia. Not all diseases are encountered during foraging; some are transmitted by pests, with Varroa mites being the most prominent
Honey Bee Removal
While honey bees naturally choose to nest in trees, the adaptability of the Western honey bee Apis mellifera enables it to nest in (almost) any cavity; Honey bee hives can be found from roof soffits
How do Pesticides Affect Honey Bees?
Pesticides (insecticides, herbicides and fungicides) are chemicals used for pest control in residential and commercial environments. Not all pesticides kill bees instantly, and many have delayed sub-lethal effects that appear when a critical threshold is
Migration of Bees
Ecologically, migration is the regular seasonal movement from one place to another in search of food, nesting places or better conditions. The Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, does not exhibit these traditional seasonal migration patterns,
Honey Bee Mites
Varroa mites are the biggest threat to bee populations worldwide. Mites feed on the haemolymph (bee blood) fat body tissue of developing bee larva (& adult bees; see Ramsey et al., 2019), weakening them and
Honey Bee Supplemental Feeding
Honey bee supplemental feeding is a controversial topic. Some suggest that it’s only for times of need, others go overboard and feed their bees year-round, and there are those who claim that this practice does
The Natural Beehive
There are two definitions to the term “natural beehive”: As a reference to “Natural Beekeeping”, the practice that involves using hive styles and management methods mimicking the nesting conditions of bees in nature, as in
Raising Queen Bees
The queen bee caste is present in social bees (and most social insects), like the honey bee Apis mellifera and the bumble bees (Bombus spp.). Her Majesty’s primary purpose is to lay eggs and maintain