I am continuously impressed with the seemingly endless wealth of knowledge beekeepers accumulate over the years. Whether that knowledge is passed down from generation to generation, a product of their own curiosity, or a combination of both; a successful beekeeper, more often than not, possesses a fundamental knowledge of the topography of the land on…
Liz and I spent a week in Southern California taking samples for the National Honey Bee Disease Survey. We came across purple brood – something I had never seen before. The larvae had a bright purple hue to them along their gut line. It was quite pretty. After some research, it seems that the most…
I would like to share a blog from an undergraduate by the name of Julius Goldberg…enjoy! As an undergraduate student majoring in biology, I am often asked if I am doing any scientific research. My answer is, “Yes, I study honey bees”. This answer seems to shock nearly everyone. Most people respond “Really? Bees?” It…
Ever since the BIP Tech Teams were established in California and Minnesota, we have been thinking about a tagging system to differentiate colonies that are part of the sampling process and those that are not. We also want to keep an organized, easily accessible way to let the teams and beekeepers view colony data, mostly…
I would like to share a blog from an undergraduate student conducting research in our lab. His name is Chris Riley and here is his take on Nosema… Before coming to work for the vanEngelsdorp lab, the importance of honey bees never really crossed my mind, aside from their obvious role in the production of…
“Dr. Dennis vanEnglesdorp of the University of Maryland describes the newly-created Bee Informed Partnership. Utilizing beekeepers real world experiences to help solve beekeepers real world problems.”
Hunt. (2012). The Rise of Urban Beekeeping in Washington. The Washingtonian. November 2012. “Colony Collapse Disorder is a real concern—but some backyard beekeepers are trying to combat it.” Hunt. (2012). The Rise of Urban Beekeeping in Washington. The Washingtonian. November 2012.
Last weekend the east coast was hammered by Hurricane Sandy. Thankfully, all of us at the University of Maryland lab made it through unscathed, but some areas of the East Coast weren’t so lucky. My heart goes out to everyone who experienced flooding and devastation. I kept my parents company during the hurricane at their home on…
It has been said that the largest enemy of the honey bee is the Varroa mite. Latching on to the bee, weakening their immune systems and causing an increased risk of disease and virus with their bite, it is the equivalent of a human being having a tick the size of dinner plate attached to…
To determine if something is wrong with your hive, you must first know what a healthy, productive hive looks like. Knowing what a healthy colony looks like takes time, patience, and many hours in the hive to get a feel of what is going on in the colony throughout the year. Sometime the colony does…
