Blossom Valley Byeboerdery

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

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A new report warns of a massive pollination shortfall in Australia this year as varroa mite wipes out hives and forces beekeepers out.

28/05/2026

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24/05/2026

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A beekeeper’s homecoming: Renowned honey bee scientist Jamie Ellis returns to lead UGA Bee Program

By: Maria M. Lameiras

On the first day of his undergraduate career at the University of Georgia, Jamie Ellis did not head to orientation or wander the quad. He reported for work in the lab of Keith Delaplane, the bee scientist who had called Ellis the spring before to personally recruit him.

That morning set the tone for everything that followed.

More than two decades later, Ellis is walking back through those same doors — this time as the new director of UGA’s Bee Program. He arrives trailing an extraordinary record built at the University of Florida, where he helped build a highly successful honey bee program — one that generated nearly 1,000 publications, attracted more than $9.3 million in grants and contracts, and earned him national recognition as the top Extension specialist in his field. Now he is coming home.

“There is a bittersweet feeling associated with leaving something I built at UF,” Ellis said. “But this feels right. UGA has made a tremendous investment in its honey bee program, and I genuinely believe we can make it preeminent.”

To continue reading, please visit: https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/news/jamie-ellis-to-lead-uga-bee-lab/?utm_source=CAES+Newswire&utm_campaign=eb9f213968-Newswire_Media_Weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4cb3048305-eb9f213968-35735714

Photo Caption: Renowned honey bee expert Jamie Ellis returns to his alma mater as director of the UGA Bee Lab in June. (Photo by Amanda Hollohan)

This article was originally published by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences

22/05/2026

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Let's talk about the core reasons why your bees decide to leave you and swarm away.

Bees abscond for very specific reasons, and most of them are connected to survival pressure inside the colony itself.

You should understand something important.

Leaving the hive is extremely expensive biologically.

The hard truth is that bees are usually leaving their cozy homes mainly because of their keeper.

Since this topic is huge, today I'll be talking only about overheating.

A hive exposed to brutal direct sunlight with poor ventilation can slowly become unbearable, especially in extremely hot climates.

The colony starts losing control of internal temperature regulation and eventually decides relocation is safer and cheaper than continuing the fight against heat stress.

This becomes even worse in overcrowded colonies during heavy nectar flows (too many bees, too much humidity, too little airflow).

Overheating is essentially turning your hive into a slow cooker :), so why should they stay? Would you stay in these conditions?

To halt this disaster before the colony absconds, you must proactively adapt your equipment to the environment rather than waiting for the bees to quit.

Using screened bottom boards, adding some grass on top of the hives, creating upper ventilation gaps, and painting your hive bodies a reflective white are the foundational steps to breaking the heat trap.

If your yard is trapped in a concrete sun trap or a dead-air zone behind a solid fence, you need to install artificial shade sails or physically move the stands under a tree canopy.

When the temperature inside the box mimics an oven, the queen stops laying, the wax begins to soften, and the colony's survival instinct overrides their attachment to the combs.

You should never let your apiary reach the point where the bees are forced to cluster on the outside of the hive just to breathe.

Take control of the microclimate inside your hives, or prepare to watch your investment fly over the horizon :).

Thank you for reading 📖
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic 🧡
Please leave a like if you've found this interesting 🐝

Happy beekeeping and full barrels 🐝🍯

01/05/2026

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23/04/2026

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I'll tell you how to increase your honey production this season, but this is going to be a slightly harder read than usual so brace yourself :).

To maximize your honey crop from a specific monoculture flow, you must move beyond basic feeding and into metabolic and behavioral priming.

With 2 weeks before a main monoculture honey flow, it's a really good idea to start stimulating your bees with a 1/4 syrup that's made out of that exact plant tea, and out of that specific honey

By exposing the bees to the specific floral scents and volatile oils of the plant early, you are pre-programming their scout bees to recognize and target that exact nectar source the moment it opens in the field.

In my opinion, using the specific honey from that variety in the mix is essential because it contains the exact enzymes and sugar ratios the bees will encounter during the flow, reducing the metabolic "adjustment period" once the foraging begins.

This technique creates a "foraging bias" where your bees will mostly ignore competing weeds or secondary flows to focus entirely on your primary monoculture target, which will lead to a higher quality honey.

I strongly think that the delivery of this stimulant should be done with an internal feeder, like simple syrup bags, and should never be done as an open feeding.

The syrup should be mixed at a very thin ratio, 1 part honey + 3 parts tea (maybe add some Protofil there too) to mimic the high water content of natural nectar and stimulate the queen's laying rate.

You should deliver small, frequent quantities, such as 250ml to 500ml every two days, rather than a single large feeding.

The goal is not to have the bees store this syrup, but to keep them in a constant state of "discovery" and high activity.

In my opinion, any more than this volume risks plugging the brood nest with syrup, which would leave the queen with no room to expand the workforce before the flow hits.

You don't want this syrup inside your hive once the bees are in the field, so stop the feedings with 3 days before moving them.

A workforce that is already metabolically and behaviorally tuned to a specific plant will out-produce an unprimed colony by a significant margin during a short, intense honey flow.

If you loved this post, please leave a like and a comment with your thoughts 🧡
Thank you for reading 📖
Happy beekeeping and full barrels 🐝🍯

28/02/2026

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What you can learn about your hive without opening the lid? 🐝

One of the most overlooked — and most powerful — skills in beekeeping is learning how to read the hive from the outside.

Before we reach for our tools, the bees are already communicating. We just have to slow down long enough to watch… and listen.

I’m going to share seight simple activities you can observe around your beehive that tell you a surprising amount of information about what’s happening inside.

You don’t need to open the lid — you just need to slow down, watch, and give the bees a moment to speak.

🐝Pollen coming in = brood inside
-This is one of the most reliable signs we have.
-Worker bees collect pollen only when larvae are present
-Larvae need protein to grow, and pollen is their main source
-Steady pollen loads coming in usually mean active brood rearing

🐝Orientation flights = new bees
Those bees hovering, looping, and facing the entrance?
-Those are young worker bees learning where “home” is
-Bees emerge from brood → orientation flights follow
-This tells you brood was capped weeks earlier
Without opening the hive, you’ve just read a timeline of colony growth.
This is one of my favorite things to watch — it’s literally the next generation taking flight.

🐝After orientation flights… what comes next?
Orientation flights don’t mean a bee immediately becomes a forager. Once you see the orientation flights you can be fairly certain that you have workers that will:
-nurse the brood
-Tend the queen
-Process nectar
-Build and repair comb
-Help regulate hive temperature
-Only later — often around 18–21 days old — do they become full foragers.
-A strong colony allows bees to follow this natural progression. When bees are pushed outside too early, it can be a quiet sign of stress.

🐝Entrance traffic tells you colony strength
-Strong colonies show steady, purposeful traffic
-Weak colonies often have sparse or hesitant movement
-A sudden drop in activity (with good weather) can be an early warning sign
One moment doesn’t tell the story — patterns over time do.

🐝Guard bees = confidence
-Calm, alert guards usually mean a colony that feels secure
-Excessive defensiveness without disturbance can point to stress (queen issues, hunger, pests)
-No guards at all can sometimes signal a very weak colony

🐝What they are (and aren’t) carrying
-Pollen → brood rearing
-Nectar → forage availability or feeding response
-No pollen for several days in good weather → possible brood pause
Context matters. Season, weather, and local forage all play a role.

🐝Housekeeping behavior
-Bees removing debris or dead bees isn’t a problem — it’s a sign of good hygiene.
-A hive that cleans itself is a hive investing in its health.

🐝Listen to the hive
You don’t need to open it to hear it.
-A soft, steady hum = content bees
-A loud, unsettled roar (especially after disturbance) can suggest stress or queen issues
Your ears are tools, too.
Bee Haven 2026
Inspections matter — but so does restraint.
Observation builds timing, confidence, and trust in your bees.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your hive…
is simply sit, watch, and let them tell you their story 🐝

11/02/2026

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For Jaco Wolfaardt, commercial beekeeper and founder of Ubusi Beekeeping, bees have been a part of his life since he was a student. During his studes at Saasveld Forestry College in George, Western Cape, he was part of a woodworking club where he built his first beehive in 1992.

He eventually expanded to 12 hives to maintain as a hobby, selling honey for extra income. After a career change in 2010, Wolfaardt decided to turn his hobby into a business, establishing Ubusi Beekeeping in 2012.

Ubusi is based in Swellendam in the Western Cape, which places Wolfaardt’s team within easy reach of some of the country’s largest fruit, nut and vegetable producers, who all require pollination services.

His company is a multifaceted operation involved in crop pollination, honey supply, and beekeeping projects focused on the development of pollination and honey production in five African countries.

Click the link to read the full article: https://bit.ly/4rLKQi9

03/12/2025

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