Steve Donohoe 
“Wild” honey bees have recently been classified as “endangered” in the European Union on the “Red List” of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This seems to have been based on a paper by Patrick L. Kohl & Benjamin Rutschmann (2025) which is not yet peer-reviewed and seems, to me at least, to … Read more
Quite a while ago, I remember speaking with Randy Oliver (scientificbeekeeping.com) about some work he was interested in doing to look at pollen substitute bee-feed. He was, at that time, testing some propriety pollen patties and comparing them to natural pollen. Later, he went on to look at the ratios of the essential amino acids … Read more
I went to a talk recently, at my local beekeeping association, to hear about ‘sustainable queen production’. The speaker is a genuine chap, who believes in what he is doing, but I found myself disagreeing with nearly everything he said. Well, maybe I disagreed with half, and most of the rest was describing a type … Read more
Personally, I am becoming alarmed at the degree to which there is a shift in the way beekeepers view the rather drastic step of not treating their bees for varroa infestation. I feel similarly about the rapid rise of a certain new political party, but I can’t discuss that here. Have normal folks lost their … Read more
There is a good write-up in the October 2025 BBKA¹ News, by Clare McGettigan, giving some headlines from their survey, which was carried out in partnership with COLOSS². I understand that a much more in-depth analysis, incorporating results from other countries too, will become available in due course. For now, I will be passing on … Read more
A recently published article in Scientific Reports suggests yet another way in which varroa mites are bad for honey bees. Varroa reduces bees’ surface antimicrobial defences. Apparently, many social insects do something called “venom bathing”, which basically involves coating their bodies with venom from sting glands. The main component of bee venom is melittin, which … Read more
For those who start beekeeping, probably as a hobby, or to save the world, some will become obsessed for the rest of their lives, and many will give up within three years. When reality crashes into idealism, there are casualties. That’s actually a good thing; it makes sense to keep looking until you find your … Read more
To the handful of crazy beekeepers who wait in anticipation for my blog posts – there are a few, apparently – I’m afraid this one is basically a few photographs that I have taken this season. It’s all too much effort to string words together into sentences, because I have just MOVED HOUSE. This means … Read more