The Schmidt Sting Pain Index: Where Bees Rank
A honeybee sting rates a 2 out of 4 on entomologist Justin Schmidt's famous insect sting pain scale. Here's how the full ranking breaks down.
BeeKeepersRealm Editorial Team
Articles published under this name are the work of the BeeKeepersRealm editorial team rather than a single writer. Drafting is AI-assisted. These articles have not yet had the two-person review described in our editorial policy, in which a named beekeeper takes responsibility for an article and a second team member reviews it. As each article goes through that review it is re-published under that person's byline, so an individual name means an individual has taken responsibility for that page. See the team page for who writes and who reviews.
How Commercial Bumblebees Became Invasive Pests
The bumblebee greenhouse growers rely on worldwide has also become an invasive species blamed for pushing a native bumblebee toward extinction.
Did Stradivari Really Use Propolis in His Varnish?
Violin enthusiasts have repeated the propolis-varnish claim for decades. Here's what real chemical analysis of Stradivari's own violins found.
L.L. Langstroth: The Minister Who Found Relief in Bees
The minister behind the modern beehive spent his life fighting severe depression, and found more relief in his bees than in his own profession.
How Hotels Turned Rooftops Into Working Apiaries
The Fairmont Royal York put the first known beehives on a hotel rooftop in 2008, and hotel rooftop beekeeping has been growing ever since.
Aristaeus: The Greek God Who Taught Beekeeping
The Greek god credited with founding beekeeping has a myth that's really about losing every bee he owned overnight — and how he got them back.
The Malia Pendant: Minoan Crete’s Gold Bee Jewel
A tiny gold pendant found in a Bronze Age Cretan tomb in 1930 remains the most famous piece of Minoan jewelry ever discovered.
The World’s Last Varroa-Free Bee Sanctuaries
A small handful of islands have never recorded the Varroa mite — and in 2025, one of the oldest bee sanctuaries in the world came under real threat.
Frozen for the Future: The USDA’s Honeybee Genetic Gene Bank
The USDA has stored frozen honeybee semen from subspecies around the world since 2016, preserving genetic diversity breeding programs need for traits like Varroa resistance.