Blue Sky Bee Supply Blog

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 healthy bees managed by Jonathan Garaas are checked every two weeks for signs of a possible mite infestation.        -Dan Gunderson/MPR NewsJonathan Garaas has learned a few things in three seasons of backyard beekeeping: Bees are fascinating. They're complicated. And keeping them alive is not easy.Every two weeks, the Fargo, N.D., attorney opens the hives to check the bees and search for var …

“I see the world through a viewfinder. The work that I do is about the diversity of pollinators, their importance in our food supply and ecosystem, the beauty and the awe, and how we can protect them. Bees are responsible for pollinating one-third of the food we eat. They are crucial to our ecosystem.” – Kathy Keatley Garvey Teresa O’Connor, assistant editor of UC Food ObserverOn most days, you’ll find Kathy Keatley Garvey outside finding, photographing and documenting insects, especia …