Insect Pollination & Apiculture

   By Bill Evans, JD1 1Alabama Beekeepers’ Association & Alabama Master Beekeeper In the last few years, many people have embraced agritourism as a method to educate the public about agriculture. Activities like navigating a corn maze, picking fruit, feeding animals, or visiting a bee yard (aka an apiary) are popular kinds of agritourism activities. … More The story behind The Sign: the Alabama Agritourism Statute

@AuburnAg‘s Bee Lab and biologists from @acadiauniversity recently published a paper in the journal Ecology & Evolution about the quality of food encountered by bees in agro-ecosystems. Unsurprisingly, diet quality and pesticide exposure heavily depends on crop type! Check out the full Open Access article here!

By William Rowe1 & Geoff Williams2 1The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Fairhope 2Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn Will you have to deal with a swarm at some point? Do bears poo in the woods? But, by employing a few simple, yet effective management strategies you can keep swarming to a minimum, … More Season of the Swarm – Part 3: OK Then, How Do I Stop This?

By William Rowe1 & Geoff Williams2 1The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Fairhope 2Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn All colonies are prone to swarming at some point or another. In Part 1 we briefed you about the consequences of swarming. Here in Part 2 of our Season of the Swarm series, we … More Season of the Swarm – Part 2: Why, oh why???

By William Rowe1 & Geoff Williams2 1The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Fairhope 2Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn So far 2017 is full of Earliness. Early Spring, early blooming, early bee colony build-up, early mite populations, and definitely early swarming. Reports of swarms in late January and early February across southern Alabama … More Season of the Swarm – Part 1: What the…?!?!

@AuburnAg‘s Bee Lab recently teamed up with the @USDA, @UniBern, @agroscope, @science.cmu and @MaeFahLuangUniversity to publish a review article on Tropilaelaps mites of honey bees in Asia. Finger’s crossed that this parasite does not spread elsewhere! Check out the article here in the @entsoc‘s Journal of Economic Entomology. The UK’s National Bee Unit Tropilaelaps Leaflet … More AU-bees co-authors review paper about Tropilaelaps mites of honey bees

By William Rowe1 & Geoff Williams2 1The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Fairhope 2Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn If you spotted our last post, you already know that our Spring hasn’t merely sprung, it’s a bear-trap whose steely jaws are clapped shut on your colonies. As a result, colony build-up is off … More Fear the Bee Ticks!

Alongside @UniBern and @agroscope, we recently published an article in the peer-reviewed journal Ecology & Evolution. We found that the microsporidian Nosema ceranae and the trypanosome Lotmaria passim can be found throughout Switzerland, but that they don’t necessarily interact with one another. Check out the Open Access article! For more information about Nosema, check out … More New AU Bees pub in Ecology and Evolution

By William Rowe1 & Geoff Williams2 1The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Fairhope 2Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn So, in case you’ve not been outside for the last 2 months, you’ve noticed that Winter in Alabama was held in the first full week of January. After putting in that week of work, … More Your Honey Bees and an Early Spring

In collaboration with colleagues from @UniBern and @agroscope, we recently published an article in the scientific journal Insects. We found that cold weather promotes  Nosema  infections – most likely because workers experience fewer cleansing flight opportunities. Check it out here! And… it’s Open Access!