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22.12.2025
The European honey bee, also known as the honey fly (Apis mellifera), is a domesticated honey bee species native to Europe. It is considered semi-domesticated. It is one of the bee species bred on a large scale for honey production.
22.12.2025
There is a simple and fairly reliable method for adjusting (calibrating) the refractometer: using extra virgin olive oil.
According to a test conducted by Dr. Werner von der Ohe from the Bee Institute in Celle, calibration of the refractometer with extra virgin olive oil at a temperature of 20 ºC is possible. Tests using three different extra virgin olive oils showed a maximum deviation of 0.08 % (see the article published below in ADIZ – die biene – Imkerfreund).
22.12.2025
“On Saint Clotilde’s day, from flower to bush, the bee forages in abundance.”
In June, the major blossom periods of fruit trees are over, but shrub flowers remain important until August. Everything – or almost everything – reaches maturity. Colony development, which peaked at the end of May, now determines the potential for honey harvest. Queen rearing becomes less successful, and a nectar dearth begins in some regions. The risk of starvation looms, even as foragers remain highly active at the hive entrance.
23.12.2025
There is no single correct beekeeping practice. However, there are rules based on common sense and on the experience of seasoned or professional beekeepers. While the queen is indeed the driving force of the colony, hive cleanliness, control of varroa mites, swarm-prevention strategies, the location of the apiary, and winter preparation are equally important for the healthy development of the colony with a view to achieving a good honey harvest.
23.12.2025
Varroa is known to suck the haemolymph of bees. Well known, but apparently (largely) incorrect.
Researchers in the United States were intrigued by the magnitude of varroa’s impact on bee health in relation to the relatively small amount of haemolymph it extracts. Since insect haemolymph is comparatively poorer in nutrients than mammalian blood, they questioned how the parasite could develop on such a resource.
23.12.2025
Faced with the current context—polluted environments, pesticides, climate change, varroosis, etc.—beekeeping is confronted with multiple challenges. However, this context does not explain everything. In order to act effectively, it appears necessary to address the “health aspect” of bee colonies in a holistic manner. This approach assumes that the biological functioning of bees is similar to that of other living organisms and that all these factors share the characteristic of being influenced by human actions. Such reflection should guide beekeeping interventions in a way that respects the health of the bees.
23.12.2025
August is sometimes a lean month for bees in terms of resources. The abundant flowering period is over. The high temperatures of the second half of July and the first half of August have dried out the soils, thereby reducing nectar production.
23.12.2025
<p>The idea that an animal or a plant is merely the product of the genes inherited from its parents is increasingly being questioned. Until now, it was known that the environment can, sometimes to a non-negligible extent, influence the characteristics of living beings, in their appearance or behavior (the phenotype). It now appears that the imprint of the environment can in some cases be transmitted to subsequent generations without any modification of the genetic information itself. The set of mechanisms governing this heritable component influenced by the environment is referred to as “epigenetics”.</p>
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23.12.2025
The number of plant species producing nectar and pollen is very large; in Switzerland, several thousand are recorded. However, they do not all have the same beekeeping value, and only a few hundred are actually visited by bees. Among these, barely around thirty have a truly high beekeeping value, about seventy are considered secondary, and the others are of lesser interest because they are less common or occur only sporadically.
23.12.2025
What is the approximate brood volume as a function of the queen’s egg-laying capacity? How many brood frames does the queen need in order to lay eggs without space limitation?
23.12.2025
There are many methods of queen rearing. All of them are based on the same principles. Every beekeeper knows that, outside the swarming period, a colony with a queen will not accept the rearing of additional queens without specific precautions (in general, the presence of the queen prevents or destroys any queen rearing). Queen-rearing techniques consist in the practical implementation of these “precautions”.
23.12.2025
The garden aster is a perennial herbaceous plant reaching 90–150 cm in height and flowering from August to November. Native to North America, Aster novi-belgii was introduced to Europe in the 18th century as an ornamental plant. Having escaped cultivation, it now grows spontaneously in many places, preferably on rather calcareous soils: in gardens, meadows and moist woodlands.
23.12.2025
Varroosis promotes drifting, a mechanism explained by the fact that bees from heavily infested colonies lose the specificity of their cuticular chemical profile as well as the accuracy of their orientation. What can we learn from wild colonies?
23.12.2025
Varroa destructor, a killing machine!
The many scientific articles available to beekeepers make it possible to understand the physiology of bees, drones and, of course, varroa. However, it is essential to grasp the relationships between these different actors within the hive and over the course of the months, that is, the pathophysiology of these three populations. Joseph Létondal provides a comprehensive perspective, and the curves in his diagrams allow potential varroa-related problems to be anticipated before it is too late. This video is very rich in a wide range of practical information.
23.12.2025
When a beekeeper looks at the head of his bees and sees the two large, immobile compound eyes positioned on either side of the head, as well as the three ocelli located on the forehead or vertex, he inevitably asks himself the question: with these two large eyes, can my bees see the same things as I do, or do they perceive the world differently? And why are there additional eyes on the head?
23.12.2025
It has become clear that honey bees can develop several strategies to reduce infestation by Varroa. This has been demonstrated both in untreated wild colonies and in selected colonies (such as bees exhibiting the VSH behaviour of the USDA in Bâton-Rouge). Resistance strategies can be classified into two types: those associated with the brood and those associated with the period during which Varroa is present on adult bees.
23.12.2025
Neonicotinoids are extremely ecotoxic pesticides. By infiltrating all environmental compartments, they indiscriminately kill both vertebrates and invertebrates. Despite their ban in 2018, traces of these substances persist in the environment at lethal concentrations.
23.12.2025
What qualities are required to be a good beekeeper? They are numerous, as beekeeping draws on a wide range of techniques and fields. Some are present from the outset, while others are acquired over time.
23.12.2025
Horizontal or creeping cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis) is a shrub native to China that was introduced to Europe at the end of the 19th century. For a long time, it remained confined to parks and gardens, where it is appreciated for forming a dense ground cover that blankets rock gardens and stabilises slopes.
23.12.2025
Although substantial research has been conducted on the causes of colony collapse disorder in the European honey bee Apis mellifera, there has been increasing evidence over the past two decades that another pandemic affecting both domesticated and native bees is emerging. This pandemic is the result of the spread of fungal pathogens of the genus Nosema.
23.12.2025
by ALAIN SATABIN
As early as Antiquity, mathematicians observed that the shape of honeycomb cells in beehives optimizes the ratio between available volume and the amount of wax used. Demonstrating this, however, is another matter … one that has still not been fully resolved.