Competition between honey bees and wild pollinators is often an issue between beekeepers and conservationists. In some situations, beekeepers are openly attacked by conservationists when they bring their colonies to certain places. On the other hand, beekeepers often feel like being conservationists themselves (I won’t go into how justified or not this is). However, the […]
It’s getting autumn and while I’m writing this it is far from the right weather to work with bees. Last year about this time, I wrapped up the season. This year I spent the summer mostly at the desk and my field season begins now, when the cold arrives. Wonder why? Well, an essential part […]
Try to think of the last time you had a heavy cold. You felt weak and not really motivated to work, right? Diseases obviously affect our capacities, from being sluggish because of a cold to unable to leave the bed with high fever. Well, it may be very similar for bees: honey bee workers parasitized […]
Like any organism, bees have diseases. In honey bees, there are treatments against the Varroa mite. With other diseases, the beekeeper just can give some help, like chosing the right place for the apiary etc. Non-managed bees, however, have to deal with their parasites and pathogens without human help. This doesn’t mean they’re completely helpless: […]
As a student I learned that bumblebee species differ in tongue length and that they visit mainly matching flowers. Since then, I’m fascinated by floral ecology. Though I took another direction in my career, I still can’t look at a flower that I don’t know without wondering who pollinates it. The beauty of it: the […]
Carl Linnaeus invented the floral clock – perhaps not his most famous accomplishment. But it’s a curious thing and, turning it into a game, it may be a great way to create interest in flowers. And pollination ecology. And bees. But lets start from the beginning: Each flower has a defined rhythm, some open already […]
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