Platform for Professional Beekeeping Knowledge and Practice

► Read for you

A colony may replace its queen for several reasons: advanced age, insufficient egg-laying, poor fertilization, injury, or general weakness. But a recent study suggests that another factor may sometimes be at play: a severe viral infection in the queen could impair her reproductive function and alter her pheromonal signal, to the point of triggering supersedure.

Planning the beekeeping season makes it possible to prepare optimally for upcoming activities with our bees. Thanks to the operating concept developed by apiservice, this is easy to implement for all beekeepers. It is an indispensable tool for effective apiary management. The operating concept can be personalised and allows for a clear visualisation of beekeeping activities and the planning of the appropriate work.

► Personal operating concept

The introduction of queens always entails a significant risk for the introduced queen. Some publications report failure rates of up to 50 %. For successful acceptance, all conditions must be optimal. The highest success rates are achieved when a young colony with a young queen is combined with an older colony. In general, favourable conditions must be deliberately created in order for a colony to accept an introduced queen.

► Read for you

Pesticides do not necessarily remain where they are applied: residues can travel through air, dust, water, pollen, bee bread and wax into the hive environment. This article puts two recent analyses on exposure, regulation and bee health into context, with a particular focus on what the Swiss data suggest.

► Read for you

Queen ringing is presented as an emerging method to temporarily interrupt egg laying without confining the queen. This summary examines what the first studies actually show, what remains uncertain, and what Swiss beekeepers can — or cannot yet — cautiously take from it for Varroa control.

► Read for you

Crowded hives are not only a matter of apiary layout: they may also increase drifting and the spread of varroa between colonies. The study by Seeley and Smith shows how spacing, robbing and reinvasion can influence overwintering success. For beekeepers, the practical message is clear: good apiary organisation can reduce risk, but it never replaces rigorous varroa monitoring and control.

Although the wax moth has a very bad reputation, beekeeping manuals often underestimate the damage caused by the larvae of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella and the lesser wax moth Achroea grisella, which consume everything that comes within reach of their mandibles (wax, food reserves, pollen stores, wood, polystyrene—not to mention the brood!). It is commonly assumed that strong colonies can defend themselves very easily against wax moths … but this is not always the case. In fact, wax moths reproduce very rapidly, and the larvae of the greater wax moth feed on capped brood, sheltered from counter-attacks by worker bees. As a result, the bee population may decline, as may the colony’s defences against this formidable pest. Selection for overly gentle bees and the pheromonal mimicry of the wax moth, which imitates queen pheromones, can ultimately lead to colony collapse.

Despite these harmful effects, it should be emphasised that wax moths fulfil an important hygienic function, especially in the context of “poor” beekeeping practices. They destroy abandoned bee nests and return the recovered materials to the natural cycle. In this way, pathogens responsible for diseases such as American foulbrood and European foulbrood are also eliminated.

It may happen, for example during the first spring inspection, that one encounters a moribund colony with no food reserves, with frames showing scattered brood of the male type … What has happened?

Figure 1: Drone-laying colony: very small population, scattered drone brood, no worker brood, low food reserves, no visible queen, deformed combs, drone cells.

What is the legal status of beekeepers in Switzerland? When does a beehive become a structure requiring a permit? This article summarizes the legal opinion drafted in 2023 by Prof. Thierry Largey (University of Lausanne), whose conclusions shed light on beekeeping practices without, however, replacing a legal analysis of a specific case.

Every May 20, World Bee Day returns to the calendar. Behind this date lies a broader question: Why have we dedicated a day to pollinators? What is its specific purpose, and what does science tell us about the actual status of these species? The following provides some context based on the available evidence  (See the official website: World Bee Day).

A hive inspection should be prepared in advance to avoid omissions and to improve efficiency. Any inspection, even a brief one, disturbs the colony, which perceives it as an intrusion; the resulting stress causes the bees to consume between 0.5 and 1 kg of honey. Inspections should therefore only be carried out when necessary. The following tips make inspections more effective: