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Beekeeping, also known by its technical name apiculture, is the practice of maintaining colonies of honey bees, typically in human-built hives. A beekeeper is the person who tends...
A honey bee colony is a community of bees living together as a single superorganism. Its social structure is highly ordered: a single reproductive female, the queen; thousands of i...
Honey bees coordinate their activities through a sophisticated blend of pheromones and movement. Queen Mandibular Pheromone (QMP) helps maintain colony cohesion, while alarm pherom...
The design of the modern hive rests on a single key discovery: bee space. Bees will not fill a gap of about \(3/8\) inch (\(\sim 9.5\) mm) with wax or propolis. Lorenzo Langstroth...
The queen's primary role is to lay eggs and produce pheromones that regulate the colony. At her peak she can lay up to 2,000 eggs per day. Early in life she undertakes one or more...
Honey is the most familiar bee product, but it is far from the only one. To harvest honey, beekeepers typically remove the wax cappings over honey-filled cells using an uncapping t...
The most damaging parasite of honey bees worldwide is Varroa destructor, the varroa mite. These mites feed on bee fat bodies and transmit a suite of viruses that weaken and eventua...
Beekeeping is shaped by the seasons. A typical year moves through spring buildup, summer peak, fall preparation, and winter survival. In spring, colonies expand rapidly as flowers...