Comb management is an important aspect of beekeeping, but comb management has not always been a management strategy of beekeepers. Rather, comb management is a fairly new concept. Beekeepers started managing comb with the invention of the Langstroth hive in the 1850’s. Today, comb management is a common practice for beekeepers, and an aspect of…
Mite-A-Thon, the first ever national event to capture and collect Varroa mite infestations in North America has started! Please dust off your sugar shake jars, grab some powdered sugar and join us in the colonies starting today and lasting until September 16th (we hope you continue to monitor your colonies beyond this drive as MiteCheck.com…
Hi, I am Jamie Sherman, COO of Pollinator Partnership (P2), and I’m guest writing this BIP blog to highlight a great partnership project between BIP, P2 and many other friends of P2 – The Mite-A-Thon. You probably have heard of this already, and I’m writing today to make a special plea for your participation. Varroa mites are…
In northern California, after a wet winter and spring it has been a really dry and hot summer. In the spring I saw a lot more chalkbrood than normal, something that was noted nationwide by our other teams. Below are a few images of some of the worst cases photographed. It has been the hottest…
The National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) recently reported the results of its second honey bee colony loss survey. The Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) also recently published preliminary loss results covering the same period. Despite the differences in methodology and sample sizes, these two surveys yielded comparable results. Specifically, we estimate 33.23% losses based on the…
Congratulations! You’ve purchased a shiny new hive scale from one of Bee Informed Partnerships “BIP Ready” hive scale vendors, and opted to share your scale data with BIP for the good of beekind and your fellow beekeepers on the BIP public map. Our users often ask how they can get their scale on the map,…
In the twin cities, spring brings complaints- about creeping charlie taking over lawns, strangling garden plants, and being generally relentless. But is the creeping charlie flower a good source of food for bees? In researching creeping charlie, we uncovered a fascinating story about this invasive plant’s strategy to draw insect pollinators. Creeping charlie draws a…
As a new member of the Pacific Northwest Tech Team, I have been fascinated by the wide variety of cultivated, native, and invasive bee-friendly plants in the region. Coming from the arid Sacramanto Valley of Northern California, the lush greenery and cool mountains have been a welcome change as well. One thing I have…
The summer of 2017 is an exciting time for the Bee Informed Partnership as industry support and beekeeper interest has facilitated the expansion of a new BIP Tech Transfer Team based in Michigan. This expansion into a new territory means learning about the specifics of the local landscape, agricultural systems and beekeeping calendar in order…
The Bee Informed Partnership has released preliminary state losses for 2016-2017. If there are fewer than 5 respondents in a state, we will not release those numbers to preserve confidentiality. These tables represent Annual loss, Winter Loss and Summer Loss. We also report Total Loss and Average Loss. For further details regarding the difference between Total and…
