Superorganism, welfare, honey bee colony

21 January 2022

A honey bee colony is a superorganism. Something I say very often is: “A colony is more than the sum of the number of adult bees and brood cells!”. That seems difficult to understand sometimes. Considering that honey bee health is getting more attention, however, this is an important concept to figure out. Even more…

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varroa infestation resistance against varroa treatments

7 January 2022

In the past two years I often heard “There’s no glory in prevention.”. This is one of the reasons why New Year’s resolutions often fail. It’s the gap between the instant gratification of staying on the couch eating chips in contrast of the long-term benefit of exercising and eating healthy. So, very timely for this…

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24 December 2021

Another year has come to an end and it’s time for some rest. BeeSafe is signing off for a while and will be back with more content and bee science in the New Year. Take care and stay healthy. Dr. Claudia Garrido

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varroa infestation resistance against varroa treatments

10 December 2021

Honey bee health is the main topic of my work. My concept of this has changed over the years. I started as a Master student looking at parasites of solitary bees. Then I made my PhD thesis on the reproductive regulation of Varroa mites. These things were quite separated for me, the common point being…

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bee viruses

26 November 2021

Bee viruses became a hot topic in the past years when talking about bee health. Especially DWV – as an associate with varroa mites. It’s one of the few viral infections in honey bees with clear symptoms. Though… you see them when it’s already to late. Crippled wings are a symptom not only for the…

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varroa infestation resistance against varroa treatments

13 November 2021

Oxalic acid treatments against varroa mites are both efficient against the parasite as well safe for the bee colonies. Efficiency and safety – those are the most important criteria for a bee health product. Or for any drug in veterinary of human use, for that matter. Oxalic acid was used in Asia and Eastern Europe…

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