The beekeeping season can feel like a series of calamities interrupted by winter. Queens can fail, not get mated in the first place or simply disappear. Workers can start laying eggs and hives are then difficult to requeen. Bees are susceptible to parasites – like Varroa – and the viruses they transmit. If that wasn’t bad enough, there’s the threat of new invasives.
If it can go wrong, at some point it will. Beekeeping … so much more than honey 😉
Queen failure and laying workers
Locally bred queen …
Drone laying queens, queenless colonies and – although not technically a queen-related problem – laying workers.
- Fainting goats … and queens July, 2021
- Little dramas June, 2021
- Acting on Impulse April, 2021
- A June Gap June, 2020
- Queenright … or not? May, 2020
- Polyandry and colony fitness January, 2020
- Spotty brood ≠ failing queen November, 2019
- And they’re off … April, 2019
- Spot the queens August, 2018
- Downstairs? Upstairs? August, 2018
- In perpetuity July, 2018
- Old and new duds March, 2018
- The Autumn of the Matriarch June, 2017
- Finding the queen March, 2017
- Dealing with DLW’s July, 2016
- Drone laying workers July, 2016
- DLQ RIP April, 2016
- Time to change the queen June, 2014
Varroa
Out, damn’d mite …
Probably the biggest threat to bees and beekeeping.
- Contact killer November, 2021
- Socially distanced bees November, 2021
- Irrational Varroa control August, 2021
- Rational Varroa control July, 2021
- More from the fun guy June, 2021
- OA Q&A November, 2020
- Oxalic acid (Api Bioxal) preparation November, 2020
- Winter bee production September, 2020
- Does DWV replicate in mites? June, 2020
- Measles, mites and anti-vaxxers March, 2020
- Darwinian beekeeping March, 2020
- Apivar (amitraz) resistance January, 2020
- Rinse and repeat December, 2019
- Midwinter, no; mites, yes November, 2019
- Strong hives = live hives November, 2019
- Crime doesn’t pay September, 2019
- Flower mites September, 2019
- The flow must go on August, 2019
- Midseason mite management June, 2019
- Bait hive guide March, 2019
- Hanging around February, 2019
- Pedantically not phoresy February, 2019
- Chewin’ the fat February, 2019
- Mites equal viruses January, 2019
- Responsibilities January, 2019
- Know your enemy December, 2018
- Convenience or laziness? December, 2018
- Resistance is not futile October, 2018
- Survival of the fattest August, 2018
- Sublimox spares and repairs February, 2018
- Kick ’em when they’re down October, 2017
- Counting Varroa September, 2017
- Small cell foundation April, 2017
- CSI: Forensics in Fife February, 2017
- Take one for the team July, 2016
- Same time, next year June, 2016
- Keep your distance June, 2016
- Divide and conquer April, 2016
- All together now February, 2016
- When to treat? February, 2016
- The Drifters cont. January, 2016
- Vaporising Api-Bioxal January, 2016
- Time to BEEHAVE January, 2016
- Drifting in honeybees December, 2015
- CABK Stratford Conference November, 2014
- Reducing winter losses September, 2014
- Apiguard treatment August, 2014
- Oxalic acid treatment January, 2014
Drifting and robbing
Isolated hive
A major route by which Varroa are transmitted between colonies and a major reason why coordinated mite treatment should be beneficial.
- Rational Varroa control July, 2021
- A virus that changes bee behaviour July, 2020
- Darwinian beekeeping March, 2020
- Midseason mite management June, 2019
- A tale of two swarms May, 2019
- Robbery August, 2018
- Sphere of influence July, 2018
- If Carlsberg did apiaries … June, 2018
- Keep your distance June, 2016
- The Drifters cont. January, 2016
- Drifting in honeybees December, 2015
Diseases
DWV symptoms
Deformed Wing Virus, Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus, European and American foul brood.
- Science snippets December, 2021
- Socially distanced bees November, 2021
- Cut your losses September, 2021
- Irrational Varroa control August, 2021
- Rational Varroa control July, 2021
- Superinfection exclusion July, 2021
- More from the fun guy June, 2021
- Winter losses April, 2021
- Brexit and beekeeping March, 2021
- Oxalic acid (Api Bioxal) preparation November, 2020
- Does DWV infect bumble bees? October, 2020
- Weed and feed September, 2020
- A virus that changes bee behaviour July, 2020
- Barcoding bees July, 2020
- Aristotle’s hairless black thieves May, 2020
- The scent of death April, 2020
- Time to deploy! April, 2020
- Darwinian beekeeping March, 2020
- Which is the best … ? February, 2020
- Polyandry and colony fitness January, 2020
- Questions & Answers December, 2019
- Rinse and repeat December, 2019
- More local bee goodness? December, 2019
- Spotty brood ≠ failing queen November, 2019
- Virus resistant bees? August, 2019
- Magic mushrooms not magic bullets July, 2019
- Leave and let die June, 2019
- Midseason mite management June, 2019
- Responsibilities January, 2019
- Convenience or laziness? December, 2018
- Botulism September, 2018
- Survival of the fattest August, 2018
- They think it’s all over! August, 2018
- Sphere of influence July, 2018
- CSI: Forensics in Fife February, 2017
- Drifting in honeybees December, 2015
- Deformed Wing Virus October, 2014
Invasives
Vespa velutina …
Small Hive Beetle and Asian Hornet. Not here … yet.
- Asian hornet 2017 September, 2017
- Extrapolating Asian Hornets August, 2017
- Asian hornet in the UK September, 2016
- Small Hive Beetle update October, 2015
- Time to ban bee imports? November, 2014
- Small Hive Beetle (SHB) and the UK November, 2014
… and the rest
Pixie or Dixie?
Any number of additional things – animal, vegetable and mineral – that threaten our bees.
- Chips with everything January, 2022
- Dancing in the City October, 2021
- Fainting goats … and queens July, 2021
- It’s a drone’s life May, 2021
- Acting on Impulse April, 2021
- Quick thinking & second thoughts March, 2021
- Going the distance January, 2021
- The waggle dance January, 2021
- Smell the fear October, 2020
- Diutinus bees October, 2020
- Preparing for winter October, 2020
- More gentle beekeeping August, 2020
- Orientation flights August, 2020
- The gentle art of beekeeping August, 2020
- Barcoding bees July, 2020
- If it quacks like a duck … July, 2020
- Swarm prevention April, 2020
- Who’s the daddy? January, 2020
- Polyandry and colony fitness January, 2020
- Bee bombs November, 2019
- Bee shed musings November, 2018
- Downstairs? Upstairs? August, 2018
- Robbery August, 2018
- Sphere of influence July, 2018
- Stroppiness May, 2018
- I hate those meeces to pieces January, 2016
- Bait hive – fail May, 2015
- Belt and braces March, 2015
- Woodpeckers December, 2014
- The beautiful and the damned May, 2014