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Depiction:
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
When a honey bee colony reaches a certain level of development, part of the population may leave the hive to form a new colony. This division is called swarming.
This is the natural reproduction of the colony viewed as a superorganism. It enables reproduction and thus the survival of the species, and has done so for millions of years. However, beekeepers aim for colonies that develop well and become strong without swarming. What methods can be used to prevent swarming?
22.12.2025
Collecting pollen is no small task : bees therefore use several senses and different techniques to choose it.
22.12.2025
Deciduous trees and shrubs with hermaphroditic white to slightly pink flowers that develop into edible fruits of various colours. In Switzerland, the wild cherry (P. avium), plum (P. domestica), sour cherry (P. cerasus), apricot (P. armeniaca), and blackthorn (P. spinosa) are commonly found.
22.12.2025
Four types of queen cells are distinguished :
1. Natural swarming queen cells
2. Emergency queen cells
3. Supersedure queen cells
4. Artificial queen cells
22.12.2025
The division of a colony is carried out for various reasons :
- increase of the colony stock,
- replacement of a dead colony that has become drone-laying,
- risk of swarming in a very strong colony,
- creation of nuclei for trade,
- or reserve colonies to compensate for expected losses in the following year …
There are many different and very simple methods for dividing hives.
The method described below works well :
22.12.2025
The parasitic mite is decimating beehives. Biologist Paul Page has shown that an Asian forager has found a countermeasure through a system of “altruistic suicide.” A model that its European cousin could follow?
22.12.2025
<p>Members of an “Apis mellifera” colony share the same olfactory signature, emitted by their cuticular hydrocarbons and linked to a specific intestinal bacterial flora.</p>
22.12.2025
The glandular system, the circulatory, respiratory and nervous systems, as well as the digestive, excretory and reproductive systems, will be presented in turn in the following fact sheets. When addressing the internal anatomy of the honey bee, an anatomical plate is more informative than lengthy explanations.
22.12.2025
Invasive plants are non-native plant species that have been introduced intentionally or accidentally by humans outside their area of origin and that reproduce and spread extensively, to the detriment of native species. Most often originating from other continents, they profoundly disrupt ecosystems and reduce local biological diversity.
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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<p>► <a href="?action=get_file&id=106&resource_link_id=624" target="_blank">Open the article</a></p>
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.