Platform for beekeeping practice and know-how

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.

Laurel is a shrub with aromatic leaves, typical of Mediterranean regions. There are several varieties that adapt well to our climate and flower at different times of the year. It is mainly found in gardens, where it forms attractive hedges thanks to its dense green foliage.

In 2019, it came as a surprise to learn that the Varroa mite does not feed on the bees’ haemolymph but pierces their cuticle in order to ingest the so-called fat body (► see article).

Research is progressing very rapidly, and today it is known that the saliva of the adult Varroa mite allows it to keep the opening it has pierced through the membrane of the nymph or the imago wide open, in order to liquefy and then suck up the fat body. A salivary enzyme (chitinase) appears to reduce the bee’s immune defences and to play an important role in the survival of the Varroa mite … it is therefore natural to envisage blocking this enzyme as a future strategy in the fight against this deadly parasite …

The Asian hornet is poorly named, since the vast majority of hornets (including our European hornet) originate from Asia. Scientists are more precise and refer to it as Vespa velutina nigrithorax. This Latin designation could be translated as “large wasp, covered with numerous short, silky hairs, with a black thorax”. It belongs to the hymenopteran insects (bearing 4 membranous wings that couple in flight via a series of small hamuli) Apocrita (with a narrow wasp waist). Its portrait is clearly less poetic...

There are several circumstances in which this beekeeping operation is required; however, the most serious case, which calls for the greatest precautions, is American foulbrood. The content of this information sheet therefore focuses on this specific disease.

The major concern of beekeepers at present, in our regions, is the approach of a disease coming from the East […] [known as] varroosis. […] It is a parasite that feeds on the blood of bees, which die from exhaustion. First detected in Siberia, the disease is spreading across the whole of Eurasia; it appeared in Russia, then in Eastern European countries, and has reached the Federal Republic of Germany. France and Switzerland are currently spared. Bees are not imported from countries affected by the scourge, which makes it possible to delay (or even halt?) the advance of the disease.

L’impartial, 23 March 1983.

Winter is receding; nights can still be cold, while days are warm, and a single night of frost can destroy all the blossoms of fruit trees. The warmth of the day and the length of sunshine should not lead to excessive optimism, as several consecutive days of rain can ruin flowering. Caution is therefore required: this is the month when colonies expand rapidly and the main work begins—spring inspection, stimulating comb building, monitoring swarming, and preparing queen rearing.

The developmental cycles of Varroa destructor and the honey bee are closely linked. Since the emergence of the varroa mite in Europe in the early 1980s, numerous chemical treatments have been recommended and applied to control varroosis. Residues of synthetic chemicals and persistent compounds have accumulated in beeswax over the years, contributing to the selection of varroa populations with increased resistance. It is therefore possible to manage varroa populations by intervening in the bee’s developmental cycle. Caging the queen to obtain a brood-free colony is an example of an interesting biotechnical method for controlling varroosis.

The production of F1 hybrid lines requires substantial prior selection work on pure lines from different populations, followed by crossbreeding tests of these pure lines. To achieve a maximal heterosis effect (see below), these lines must be highly distinct (by crossing different genetic pools, such as formerly geographically isolated origins). In addition, the desired traits must be introducible, which presupposes the availability of what geneticists refer to as a “reservoir of variability.”

Bee packages – all similar, yet very different in their composition and use.

The preparation of bee packages is not a common practice in beekeeping, as it requires specific expertise that is rarely taught in beekeeping schools. Many online videos fail to provide all the information surrounding this technique, which often leads to unsuccessful outcomes when beekeepers attempt to put it into practice.

The individual behavior of the honey bee is embedded in the overall management of the colony as a superorganism. Activity deep within the brood nest is now revealed thanks to the work of a research team that has developed a technology for digitally recording striking video footage. The intimacy of the colony is exposed down to the bottom of the comb cells: egg laying, larval hatching, care of open brood, and food storage appear in short videos, making it possible to visualize behaviors that had previously gone unnoticed.