Vita Bee Health
@vitabeehealth.bsky.social
📤 18
📥 22
📝 160
The yellow-legged
#hornet's
need for water is well demonstrated by its advance up the Guadalope River in north east
#Spain
. In the town of Alcaniz, 62 queens have been captured this spring.
www.vozpopuli.com/indux/en/the...
7 days ago
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Where There Are
#Bees
, There Is Life ... youngsters' painting competition to celebrate
#WorldBeeDay
. Lots of entries here:
sanalsergi.duzce.edu.tr
12 days ago
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Mallorcan researchers pulled off the seemingly impossible task of eradicatin the yellow-legged
#hornet
from the island and were presented with the
#Slovenian
#GoldenBeeAward
award yesterday, World Bee Day.
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https://sloveniatimes.com/47672/spanish-scientists-who-defeated-asian-hornet-win-golden-bee-award
13 days ago
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bsky.app/profile/bria...
add a skeleton here at some point
14 days ago
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The
#honeybee
queen that
#fainted
but then recovered after the attention of her workers.
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16 days ago
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#Bees
help unravel secrets of the Roman fleet two millennia ago.
#Pollen
revealed where a 2,200 ship found in
#Croatia
had been. A combination of pitch and
#beeswax
helped keep it afloat.
www.msn.com/en-in/news/w...
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MSN
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/2200-year-old-roman-shipwreck-reveals-the-secret-formula-that-kept-ancient-ships-afloat
19 days ago
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A Czech study has found that weak
#broadband
RF signals seem to affect the success of queens returning to hives after mating. They suggest that RF noise disrupts
#honeybee
orientation.
www.muni.cz/en/research/...
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Queens Lost in Broadcast: Weak broadband RF threatens the fate of honeybee queens | Masaryk University | MUNI
https://www.muni.cz/en/research/publications/2567540
26 days ago
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Super article from National Geographic about the yellow-legged
#hornet
in
#NewZealand
.
www.nzgeo.com/stories/were...
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We’re going on a hornet hunt
The fight to eradicate the yellow-legged hornet involves poison-puffing spears, spacesuits, Christmas tinsel, hectic chases through the bush—and an unflagging conviction that this time, we really coul...
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/were-going-on-a-hornet-hunt/
27 days ago
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Jeremy Owen of Vita has volounteered to take supplies to
#Ukraine
. Can you help, please?
www.justgiving.com/page/jeremy-...
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Convoy4Ukraine drive to Ukraine in June 2026
Help Jeremy Owen raise money to support CONVOY4UKRAINE
https://www.justgiving.com/page/jeremy-owen-74
29 days ago
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Saddle sore.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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Swarm of thousands of bees settle on bike outside Louvre in Paris
The swarm gathers underneath the saddle of a bike locked to the railings of a metro station.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70vjx99w2vo
about 1 month ago
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Gatwick Airport receives 4 or 5 calls a year to deal with
#swarms
. A swarm might have trouble catching a flight of course, but insects like mated yellow-legged
#hornet
queens. Fortunately, the UK NBU has sentinel hives near vulnerable areas like ports.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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Bees removed from Gatwick Airport after swarm near gate
Gerry James, a Reigate beekeeper, says he rescues bees from Gatwick
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgegd33ygpo
about 1 month ago
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There's a strong nectar flow near Vita's offices and the
#honeybees
are having to queue up to offload at this observation
#beehive
.
about 1 month ago
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The complexity of the effects of
#Nosema
ceranae - they vary widely according to other stressors present and timing. Often negative, sometimes neutral and even synergistic.
#beekeeping
#honeybee
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266676572600027X
about 1 month ago
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Earth Rise campaign to support 200 indigenous people keeping
#stinglessbees
in the
#Amazon
#Rainforest
Peru has just been launched. Until 29 April any donations will be doubled by a third party. It's being run by Bees for Development.
donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...
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Beekeepers protect Peru's Amazon rainforest – Big Give
With our partner Amazon Research Internacional, we will train indigenous people in stingless beekeeping, creating conservation leaders and protecting thousands …
https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS00000A2AVPYA3
about 1 month ago
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Earth Rise campaign to support 200 indigenous people keeping
#stinglessbees
in the Amazon
#Rainforest
Peru has just been launched. Until 29 April any donations will be doubled by a third party. It's being run by @beesfordev
donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...
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https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS00000A2AVPYA3
about 1 month ago
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Small hive beetle (#SHB, Aethina tumida)) has been seen in
#Thailand
for the first time in 2025. Genetic and morphological analyses suggest they originated from a single source in Hawaii or South Africa, but not from neighbouring Asian counties.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
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First report of small hive beetles infesting eastern and western honey bee, colonies in Thailand
Small hive beetles (SHBs), Aethina tumida, are parasites of social bee colonies endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and have become a widespread invasive species. SHBs have recently established populatio...
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00218839.2026.2649510
about 1 month ago
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Are you coming to the
#BBKASpringConvention
at harper Adams University this weekend? Be sure to drop by the Vita Bee Health stand.
www.bbka.org.uk/Pages/Catego...
about 2 months ago
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The best bargain - free
#bees
. Try Vita's
#swarm
lure. A pack of ten for not very much.
www.vita-europe.com/beehealth/pr...
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Honeybee Swarm Lure - Vita Bee Health
Vita's Honeybee Swarm Attractant Wipe helps to attract passing swarms, and to lure swarms temporarily hanging in trees and other awkward places into a skep or box containing the swarm attractant.
https://www.vita-europe.com/beehealth/product/honeybee-swarm-attractant-wipe/
about 2 months ago
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How do thousands of
#honeybees
fly in a
#swarm
without colliding and creating chaos.
#Seeley
showed how 'streaker' bees direct the swirling mass but what else is going on? Models suggests that each bee is in communication with up to 10 flying neighbours.
physics.aps.org/articles/v19...
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What Network Structures Reveal About the Birds and the Bees
Representing bird flocks and insect swarms as nodes connected in a complex structure yields new insights into animal collective behavior.
https://physics.aps.org/articles/v19/s45
about 2 months ago
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The onward march. The yellow-legged
#hornet
has reached the
#Algarve
in
#Portugal
.
www.portugalresident.com/asian-hornet...
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Asian hornet nests detected in Algarve – Portugal Resident
The presence of the Asian hornet has recently been confirmed in the Algarve, prompting a public alert from PortimĂŁo council.
https://www.portugalresident.com/asian-hornet-nests-detected-in-algarve/
2 months ago
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How do
#honeybees
not poison themselves with their own
#venom
? Workers have mechanisms to counter it, but
#drones
succumb.
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
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How worker bees protect themselves from their own venom
Honeybee venom is a potent toxin. Stings cause pain, trigger a racing heart, and sometimes result in life-threatening allergic reactions. But Dalibor KodrĂk from the Biology Centre, Czech Academy of S...
https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/229/6/jeb252484/371126
2 months ago
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How are your
#bees
looking this northern hemisphere
#spring
? We are hearing reports of higher than usual losses. Do your colonies need a lift? Try VitaFeed Power to stimulate egg laying and accelerate colony growth.
www.vita-europe.com/beehealth/pr...
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VitaFeed Power: Pollen Supplement - Vita Bee Health
VitaFeed Power is a nutritional stimulant packed with easily-available essential amino acids and vitamins. VitaFeed Power should be used in spring to stimulate egg laying and accelerate colony growth....
https://www.vita-europe.com/beehealth/product/vitafeed-power-pollen-supplement/#
2 months ago
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A paper in a well-respected journal claims to have a novel, portable, low-cost microwave-sensing system to detect
#fake
#honey
. As you might imagine, it's quite technical though.
ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/doc...
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Low-Cost Microwave System Development for Analysis of Classification and Adulteration of Honey
This article presents a novel, real-time, portable, and low-cost microwave sensing system for the classification and adulteration detection of natural honey using a log-periodic circular microstrip fi...
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/11428228
3 months ago
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Insects are the front line victims of invasive species. It's not just
#habitat
destruction,
#climate
change, and
#pollution
that are the issues. 52 studies in 6 continents show that the number of terrestrial
#insect
species is reduced by 31% on average.
www.futura-sciences.com/en/bees-ants...
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Bees, ants, grasshoppers: a global invasion is threatening insects - Futura-Sciences
A threat hiding in plain sight Led by Grace Skinner, a data scientist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, the analysis drew on 52 studies spanning six continents, the first attempt to quantify t...
https://www.futura-sciences.com/en/bees-ants-grasshoppers-a-global-invasion-is-threatening-insects_27781/
3 months ago
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There's more
#honeybee
disease around than you'd think. The UK's National Honey Monitoring Survey analysis of DNA in 150 honey samples has revealed that 13% had
#chalkbood
, 11% had
#nosema
. Less than 2% had
#EFB
.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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Molecular detection of honeybee pathogens in honey from a UK citizen science program
Fruits, legumes, oilseeds and nuts have a high dependency on insect pollination, of which the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) is a critical contributor.…
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167701226000631
3 months ago
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This looks good and is coming soon:
youtu.be/Mej2usrRCl0
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Secrets of the Bees | Official Trailer | Narrated by Bertie Gregory | National Geographic
YouTube video by National Geographic
https://youtu.be/Mej2usrRCl0
3 months ago
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A
#honeybee
satnav of sorts. Every honey bee finds its own flight path to forage and sticks with it -- a
#drone
, a UAV one -- has shown that.
www.earth.com/news/every-h...
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Every honey bee has its own flight path - and sticks to it
Honey bees follow personal and highly precise flight routes using landmarks and memory, according to new research.
https://www.earth.com/news/every-honey-bee-has-its-own-flight-path-and-sticks-to-it/
3 months ago
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Video of yesterday's webinar about invasive
#hornets
in Europe. Presentations by Vita partner Prof Alex Papachristoforou and Prof Xesús Feás.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_voH_DjYq9s
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EBA Webinar - Knocking on Our Door: Invasive Hornets • Now or Never!
YouTube video by European Beekeeping Association
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_voH_DjYq9s
4 months ago
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See you at the
#Ulster
Beekeepers' Conference this weekend?
ubka.org/events/confe...
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Annual UBKA Conference | Ulster Beekeepers' Association
UBKA Conference 2026 - The shape of things to come The coming UBKA Conference will take place on 13th and 14th February in the Greenmount Campus. We have a truly international cast of first-class spe...
https://ubka.org/events/conference/
4 months ago
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A fascinating series of
#macrophotography
showing the progressive and natural
#wing
wear of
#honeybee
wings in Bee Culture.
beeculture.com/a-beekeepers...
4 months ago
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A question so many people ask: what effect does hive
#insulation
have? In Punjab in
#Pakistan
they tested several types of wooden hives. One was insulated and it "exhibited superior colony growth across all assessed variables".
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#beekeeping
#beehives
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Comparative analysis of colony growth in honeybees (Apis mellifera) in wooden and insulated Langstroth hives under varied environmental conditions - Biologia
Honeybee (Apis mellifera) productivity and colony growth are significantly influenced by hive material and environmental conditions. This research aimed to conduct a comparative analysis of A. mellife...
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11756-025-02099-9
4 months ago
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Free webinar:
#hornet
experts speak about combating them. Prof Alex Papachristoforou (a Vita partner) on
#VespaOrientalis
and Prof Xesus Feas on
#VespaVelutina
.
ebaeurope.eu/new-webinar-...
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NEW WEBINAR: UPCOMING SESSION ON INVASIVE HORNETS | EBA Europe
The European Beekeeping Association (EBA) continues its commitment to education and knowledge-sharing with a series of free webinars for beekeepers and stakeholders. The next session, titled “Knocking...
https://ebaeurope.eu/new-webinar-upcoming-session-on-invasive-hornets/
4 months ago
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For those who can access BBC Radio 4, there is a 45-minute feature "The
#Honey
Trap" on
#fakehoney
, including a visit to
#Apimondia
and interviews with academics and campaigners.
4 months ago
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Do
#honeybees
fly at night? It seems so. Two colonies in
#Brazil
show different foraging time preferences, but it's 24/7.
www.researchgate.net/profile/Arth...
4 months ago
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45 yellow-legged
#hornets
and 32 nests found in Auckland,
#NewZealand
. "Biosecurity NZ believed it was unlikely they were outside of the city."
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
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More yellow-legged hornet queens found in Auckland
The number of yellow-legged hornet queens found in Auckland has risen to 45 - 32 of them with nests.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/585142/more-yellow-legged-hornet-queens-found-in-auckland
4 months ago
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#QueenCamilla's
breakfast, as revealed by her son: "porridge every day - plain, aside from a little of her own honey ... [The
#honey
] is delicate and mild, as fine stirred into a good Darjeeling tea as it is mixed with porridge or yoghurt."
www.kentlive.news/news/health/...
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Queen Camilla's simple breakfast could be key to healthy heart
Queen Camilla eats the dish every winter morning - she adds a 'delicate and mild' ingredient
https://www.kentlive.news/news/health/queen-camillas-simple-breakfast-during-10775224
4 months ago
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The dark arts of deception. Larvae blister
#beetles
emit a scent like a flower so that solitary
#bees
are attracted to them, they hitch a ride on the bee back to the nest and there consume the bee eggs.
www.science.org/content/arti...
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Bee-hunting beetles are the first animals known to fake the smell of flowers
Study of parasitic blister beetles reveals a new form of chemical deception
https://www.science.org/content/article/bee-hunting-beetles-are-first-animals-known-fake-smell-flowers
4 months ago
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Young
#bees
learn to avoid contaminated
#pollen
. Researchers have shown consumption reductions of 10-20% when pollen has been laced with
#glyphosate
or imidacloprid (a
#neonic
). Researchers think this is a learned response.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Young honey bees Apis mellifera learn to avoid pollen contaminated with glyphosate or imidacloprid - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Young honey bees Apis mellifera learn to avoid pollen contaminated with glyphosate or imidacloprid
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-35416-6
4 months ago
0
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Pollen deficiency = hangry bees. Colonies deprived of
#pollen
became more defensive and immature bees likely reared in a way that influenved their gene expression and behavior as adults. So make sure your
#bees
have good nutrition.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
4 months ago
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When they were trying to eradicate the
#varroa
mite from
#honeybee
colonies in
#Australia
, fiprinol was put in bait stations to eradicate colonies in Emergency Eradication Zones. The results were mixed. contd...
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https://www.entsocnsw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GAE-53-19-25-Nguyen-fipronil-residues-in-managed-hives.pdf
5 months ago
1
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A new and short paper from
#Australia
outlines the small hive beetle's
#SHB
lifecycle and the threat it poses to
#honeybees
.
www.entsocnsw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GAE-53-79-81-Varroa-and-small-hive-beetle.pdf
5 months ago
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New paper on how the Japanese
#honeybee
defends against
#VespaMandarina
: it collects fungi and plants from the environment and puts it around the hive entrance. It's thought to help stop mass attacks by
#hornets
.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
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Client Challenge
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13355-025-00952-6
5 months ago
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#NewZealand
has recorded 39 queen yellow-legged
#hornets
, 26 of which had begun nest building. They are all in 'Zone A' near
#Auckland
. 780 traps are in place. The government has committed $NZ12 million in the campaign for the next six months.
www.apiaristsadvocate.com/post/hornet-...
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Hornet Response – A View Beyond Auckland Needed, and Beekeepers Implored to Act Now
As a yellow-legged hornet (Vespa veluntina) biosecurity incursion response winds into month three, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is simultaneously being praised by the beekeeping community...
https://www.apiaristsadvocate.com/post/hornet-response-a-view-beyond-auckland-needed-and-beekeepers-implored-to-act-now
5 months ago
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We've heard of
#bees
nesting in odd places, but never this: bee fossil nests have been found in the bones of mammals -- their vertebrae remains to be precise. And these nests weren't one-off nests, they were multi-generational!
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...
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Trace fossils within mammal remains reveal novel bee nesting behaviour
Abstract. Bees (Anthophila) are well known for their species and remarkable behavioural diversity, ranging from solitary taxa that nest in burrows to eusoc
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/12/12/251748/366124/Trace-fossils-within-mammal-remains-reveal-novel
6 months ago
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The effects of deformed wing virus (exacerbated by varroa): - start foraging younger - shorter lifespans - poorer nectar foraging - more likely to forage for pollen. In short -- disruption and poorer nutrition.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
6 months ago
1
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#Honeybee
personalities: individuals performed better at some tasks than others. So it's not just a big
#brain
thing.
journal.iaabcfoundation.org/24872/
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Unveiling Cognitive Consistency: Do Honey Bees Have Distinct Learning Types?
An IAABC Foundation Publication
https://journal.iaabcfoundation.org/24872/
6 months ago
0
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#Australian
beekeepers place more trust in chemical methods to treat the
#varroa
mite. Biomechanical controls are considered too time consuming and impractical, especially for commercial
#beekeepers
.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
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Beekeeper attitudes towards the management of Varroa destructor in Australia - Ambio
Varroa destructor, the most damaging pest of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera), arrived in Australia in June 2022. This parasitic mite weakens bees and spreads harmful viruses. We investigated Au...
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-025-02307-5
6 months ago
0
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Study of 89 managed and 164 feral
#honeybee
colonies in
#Oklahoma
, USA.
#Nosema
ceranae - more common in managed colonies. 27 v 2.4% Spiroplasma melliferous - 2.8% v 0%
doi.org/10.3958/059....
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https://doi.org/10.3958/059.050.0404
6 months ago
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A good overview of the yellow-legged
#hornet
story in the
#UK
and the resources needed to try to combat it:
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
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Asian hornets creep north as hi-tech hunt races to contain invasion
There has been a 666 per cent increase in sightings this year and inspectors fear for Britain’s bees as the species is spotted near Liverpool and York
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/asian-hornets-britain-l8d70h2t0
6 months ago
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At what temperature do you store your
#honey
? It depends on the honey, but in these
#Brazilian
honeys, general refrigeration caused more changes than storage at 28C or -20C. And in the honeys tested, refrigeration led to fastest crystallisation.
www.scielo.br/j/aabc/a/Ccd...
6 months ago
0
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