Bee health

Discover 7 posts about bee health

Tracheal Mites: The Isle of Wight Disease Mystery
Bee health

Tracheal Mites: The Isle of Wight Disease Mystery

Acarapis woodi lives inside a bee's breathing tubes. It devastated British colonies in 1906 and American ones in 1984. Then Varroa arrived and everyone forgot.

January 30, 2026
tracheal mitesAcarapis woodi
Dead Bees at the Hive Entrance: Reading the Signs
Bee health

Dead Bees at the Hive Entrance: Reading the Signs

A scattering of dead bees with intact wings is Tuesday. Deformed wings mean Varroa. Extended tongues mean pesticide. The entrance is a diagnostic window.

January 12, 2026
dead beeshive diagnostics
Bee Forage and the Monoculture Nutrition Crisis
Bee health

Bee Forage and the Monoculture Nutrition Crisis

A colony surrounded by 10,000 acres of soybeans is starving. Monocultures bloom for two weeks then become a floral desert. Bees need diversity, not volume.

January 3, 2026
bee foragenectar flow
Chalkbrood, Stonebrood, and Sacbrood Explained
Bee health

Chalkbrood, Stonebrood, and Sacbrood Explained

Three fungal and viral brood diseases that don't get the attention of AFB or EFB. Chalkbrood mummifies larvae into white pellets. All three signal stress.

December 31, 2025
chalkbroodsacbrood
Feral Bees and Darwinian Beekeeping in Arnot Forest
Bee health

Feral Bees and Darwinian Beekeeping in Arnot Forest

Seeley tracked wild colonies in Arnot Forest for 33 years. They survive untreated. Small cavities, high swarming rates, and natural selection explain why.

December 16, 2025
feral honey beesDarwinian beekeeping
The Honey Bee Gut Microbiome and Colony Health
Bee health

The Honey Bee Gut Microbiome and Colony Health

Eight core bacterial species colonize every honey bee gut. Disrupt them with antibiotics and the bee becomes vulnerable to pathogens it normally shrugs off.

December 6, 2025
bee gut microbiomehoney bee bacteria
Neonicotinoids and Bees: The Science and the Ban
Bee health

Neonicotinoids and Bees: The Science and the Ban

Three compounds - imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam - control 25% of the global insecticide market. The EU restricted them in 2018. The US hasn't.

December 4, 2025
neonicotinoidsimidacloprid