Category Archives: Diseases and Pests
Halloween Trick and Treat
If you grew up in the British Isles or North America, you probably dressed as a ghoul or a super-hero each year on Halloween. For those of you outside the sphere of Celtic autumn rituals, you might not know that … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Diseases and Pests, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged Apocephalus borealis, Halloween, ZomBees, zombie
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Foulbrood – Still Smelling Foul
With so much attention on varroa destructors and nicotine-flavoured pesticides, we sometimes forget some of the other scourges of modern beekeeping. Not long ago, American Foulbrood (AFB) was the worst thing that could happen to your bees. If you were … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Diseases and Pests, Genetics
Tagged American Foulbrood, evolution, South Africa
5 Comments
How Honey Bees Discovered Vaccines
Last week, the popular press was claiming that honey bees discovered vaccines millions of years before humans did. It makes great lead paragraphs for news stories, but the tale is slightly off the mark. Honey bees don’t have scientists. They … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Diseases and Pests
Tagged AFB, American Foulbrood, honey bees, immunization, vaccines, vitellogenin
3 Comments
Honey Bee Sauna: “Keeps Bees from Roaring”
A German “crowd sourcing” fund wanted 10,000 Euros to build honey bee saunas. Within a few weeks, they had over 60,000 Euros in pledges – that’s about $75,000. I guess that the contributors don’t realize bees can die in a … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Diseases and Pests, Genetics, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged Bee Sauna, crowd-funding, hive temperature, Mite Zapper, Russian bee, varroa mites
17 Comments
No Cheery Welcome for the Beetles
“Ladies and gentlemen, The Beetles!” ** That’s how Ed Sullivan introduced John, Paul, George and Ringo to the American public. The introduction was followed by a lot of screaming, some disruptive noise on Ed’s stage, and general hair-pulling by the … Continue reading
Under surveillance
Alberta beekeepers have initiated a nation-wide program to monitor the health of Canadian bees. Even though Alberta has been largely untouched by heavy losses (so far), the Alberta Beekeepers Commission wants to stay ahead of potential disaster. Alberta beekeepers lost … Continue reading
Posted in Diseases and Pests, Save the Bees
Tagged Alberta, colony collapse disorder, Ontario, wintering
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Happy Dusty Anniversary
You know what they say about new technology – someone always finds a way to put it to nasty use. Combine airplanes and chemicals, and what could possibly go wrong? Let’s fly back to 1921 and visit a grove of … Continue reading
Posted in Diseases and Pests, Ecology, History, Pesticides
Tagged citrus, Florida, Florida's Natural, poisoned bees
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Best place to keep bees?
I don’t know what causes colony collapse disorder. CCD is likely due to poor nutrition, weak genetics, farm pesticides, chemicals used inside beehives, varroa mites, and viruses carried by mites and injected into whatever gooey stuff bees use as blood. … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Diseases and Pests, Friends
Tagged Alberta, bee inspection, colony collapse disorder, Medhat Nasr, Peace River, varroa mites
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Alberta deadline
Sorry I was late posting this. Hope you are not in big trouble now. But Albertans who keep honey bees or who own beekeeping equipment are required – by law – to register as a beekeeper by June 29 of … Continue reading
Candid Camera
We live close to the Rocky Mountains. One of our friends, Liz Goldie of Calgary, keeps some of her bees in an apiary in the foothills. As you can see in these pictures, our area is flush with interesting large … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Yards, Diseases and Pests
Tagged animals in the bees, bears, grizzly bears, mountain lions, Truth Cam
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Bad Beekeeping Blog 