Poly nuc boxes made from expanded polystyrene insulate roughly five times better than wooden equivalents (R6 vs. R1.2), weigh noticeably less, and can last 30-40 years — but they dent more easily, need UV-protective paint, and cost 30-60% more upfront…
Cordovan bees are not a separate honey bee race — they’re a naturally occurring, recessive color variant within Italian honey bee stock that turns the normal black exoskeleton a light brown or golden “blonde” tone, prized by beekeepers and breeders…
Pol-line honey bees are a hygienic Italian breeding line built over roughly 20 years by USDA-ARS researchers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, working with Louisiana State University and the University of Exeter, to combine the Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) trait with…
Russian honey bees are a genetically distinct strain of Apis mellifera from the Primorsky region of far eastern Russia, imported into the U.S. in 1997 specifically because roughly a century of natural coexistence with varroa mites in their native range…
Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) is a specific, scientifically documented genetic trait, first identified at the USDA’s Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Laboratory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that lets worker bees detect and remove mite-infested brood before the mites inside…
Buckfast bees are a honey bee hybrid developed over more than five decades by Brother Adam (born Karl Kehrle) at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England — bred specifically for gentleness, strong honey production, low swarming, and disease resistance by deliberately…
Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) is the nonprofit that built the largest annual U.S. colony loss survey and, since Fall 2023, is no longer the organization running it — its founders’ 16-year-old survey now continues under a new partnership between Auburn…
The Bee Buddy is a real, patented Australian device — but it is not a lever-operated machine that lifts a whole loaded super off the ground. It’s a wheeled inspection-and-extraction trolley built to keep honey frames off your back and…
Table of Contents What Master Beekeeper Certification Actually Means The EAS Master Beekeeper Program University-Affiliated Programs State and Regional Certification Programs Typical Requirements Across Programs What Certification Actually Gets You Certification vs. Years of Hands-On Experience Choosing the Right Program…