Blue Sky Bee Supply Blog

Zero, zilch, nothing, is a pretty hard concept to understand. Children generally can’t grasp it until kindergarten. And it’s a concept that may not be innate but rather learned through culture and education. Throughout human history, civilizations have had varying representations for it (the ancient Romans, for instance, had no numeral for zero, but the ancient Mayans did).Yet our closest animal relative, the chimpanzee, can understand it. And now researchers in Australia writing in the journal …

In spite of concerns about freezing weather during almond bloom, the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is predicting a record crop in 2018.MODESTO, Calif. – According to the NASS 2018 Almond Subjective Forecast issued today, California almond orchards are expected to produce 2.30 billion pounds of nuts this year, up 1.3% from last year’s 2.27 billion-pound crop.[1]“Almond farmers used a variety of techniques to manage freezing nighttime temperatures i …

Blue Orchard Bee (Osmia)Image Credits:USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab via Flickr (Homepage Image Credit: Suzi Rosenberg via Flickr)Colony collapse disorder has devastated honeybee populations over the past decade and brought a major push from beekeepers and scientists to commercialize a native pollinator for orchards in California and beyond. The most promising pollinator for the job is the blue orchard mason bee (Osmia lignaria). The challenge: figuring out how to produce enough of the fi …

The black bump on this honey bee’s back is a varroa mite. Mites weaken bees’ immune systems, transmit viruses, and siphon off nutrients. Photo by Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service. By: Scott Weybright – College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – Saving honey bees is easier when varroa mite infestation is reduced. WSU researchers are hoping mid-season hibernation can help in the fight against the mighty mites.Varroa mites are pests t …