Link

BBC Radio 4 - On the Trail of the American Honeybee

Crate where bees once livedPhoto by: bbcworldservice / CC: Attribution-NonCommercial License

Documentary looking at migratory beekeeping in the USA from the california almond mega-monocultures and beyond.

Almond orchardPhoto by: bbcworldservice / CC: Attribution-NonCommercial License

As Ontatio's provincial apiarist reported the numbers of hives moving from Ontario to the blueberries ~1000+km away has more than doubled in the last few years, the issues experienced by our southern neighbours are certainly worth contemplating up here in Canada (and in the nut aisle of bulk food stores everywhere).

Link

Walt Wright » Propolis – Another 5 Percenter

Walt Wright Suggests constructing the hive in such a way as to reduce the need for the bees to add propolis will allow them to spend that much more time collecting honey.

PropolisPhoto by: OBA TTP / CC: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License

He suggests trying to make the hive boxes as level as possible, as well as shaving the end of the frame that rest on the rebates down to a sharp angle so as to reduce the point of contact between the frames and the hive body.

Link

Nestduftwärmebindung - Johann Thür's concept of retaining nest heat and sent

David Heaf's translated excerpts from Johann Thür work asserts the importance of heat and smell for the bees. Thür has scathing criticism for the use of frames. He claims the extra space around the frames makes it easier for the warm air of the hive to escape the nest and increases stress on the bees.

Link

Hive Tracks

Handy free web site which allows you to keep notes and records of multiple hives in multiple bee yards. This tool lets you check key some of the hive info at a glance. One of the notable extra features is the google map with different forage distance rings showing.

By using the this tool you are giving them a bit of personal info, they claim they will keep it private but that they will use the data to publish general trends for a broad geographical area.

Link

Estimate Wood Movement Calculator

Update: Unfortunately this calculator no longer appears to work.

When constructing your own hives it is useful to remember that wood shrinks and expands in relation to the moisture content of the wood. This means you might want to leave a little extra room for bee space if you expect your wood might become drier during use than it currently is.

According to the site If you are using kiln or air dried lumber you are probably in the area of 7 - 19% moisture. In North America it's typical for the moisture content in unfinished wood to fluctuate between 4 - 14%. So plugging those numbers for dried wood into the calculator, estimating about 1 cm of change in the depth of a hive box seems reasonable.

This is relevant to take into account as frames are made with the grain running parallel to the direction of the wood grain in hive bodies. So hive bodies will shrink and frames won't.

Note: the 'relative humidity' and 'moisture content' labels on the link seem to be reversed at the moment of writting this post. As each option allows different number ranges you can check you have selected the correct option by entering 101 for 'initial Relative Humidity or Moisture Content' and take note of which option the subsequent error message thinks you have selected.

Link

Dave Cushman's analysis of bee space

The discovery of the bee space is said to be the foundation of modern beekeeping.

For a long time I thought it was a very simple matter and didn't give it much thought, but as I've been attempting to build my own hives I've discovered there's a range given for exactly what the bee space is (6mm - 9mm or 1/4"-3/8").

I've also learned I need to account for wood shrinkage and different parts of the hive need different kinds of space (ex. between boxes or between combs).

In the linked article Dave Cushman's provides a great overview of important space dimensions used in different pieces of hive equipment.

Link

Zembla - Murder of the Honeybee

This Dutch film implicates pesticides as playing a significant role in the high bee mortality in the Netherlands and questions why the issue hasn't been taken seriously.

The film contrasts interviews with French scientist Prof. Jean-Marc Bonmatin who's research has led to pesticide bans in France against interviews with Dr. T. Blacquiere, the principal adviser to the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture who appears to have strong financial connections to Bayer, a pesticide producer.

Link

Organically Managed Beekeeping Podcast and Forums

Informative podcast produced by Craig in Southern Maryland with a focus on sustainable practices. To date he has already interviewed a number of notable beekeepers such as the backwards beekeeper, Phil Chandler, Ross Conrad and a bunch of others.

In his last episode of 2012 Craig the host revisited different aspects of his approach, his recommendations for beginners and how his ideas have evolved over the years.

Definitely worth going through the whole episode library.

Link

Do small cells help bees cope with Varroa? A review

In 2011 David Heaf put together a fairly comprehensive review of different scientific studies on the usefulness of using small cell comb as a varroa control. While a few studies found positive results, particularly when africanized bees were used, the majority of the studies did not find small cell beneficial against varroa. Of course some questions still remain.

Terrible VarroaPhoto by: Shawn Caza / CC: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License