One purpose of the newsletter is to serve as a digest of new content additions to the Bee Health site. With 32 new pages linked in this issue, there is much for you to survey. Enjoy!

New Content Category: Basic Beekeeping Techniques

Its that time of year again for new beekeepers across the country to learn the basics of beekeeping. These new additions will help to get them started! From the University of Tennessee, we have added some pages from John Skinner's Beekeeping in Tennessee.

• Beekeeping Protective Gear
• Hardware and Tools for Beekeeping
• Wooden Components of a Modern Bee Hive
• Working with a Bee Colony
• Inspecting a Colony
• Starting a Colony
• Collecting a Swarm
• Dividing a Colony
• Queen Marking and Requeening
• Moving a Colony
• Removing Surplus Honey

From the University of Minnesota, Gary S. Reuter and Marla Spivak contribute web-page versions of their posters,

• Wrapping a Colony for a Northern Winter
• Basic Mead Making
• Smoker Maintenance

All beginners should also see our previously added Honey Bee Biology Pages

Bee Anatomy Illustrations from Snodgrass and Nelson

Although these works are a century old they are still some of the best descriptions of honey bee anatomy and morphology available. The National Agriculture Library scanned Anatomy of the Honey Bee for the eXtension.org website, and then Paul Rhoades, University of Tennessee converted some of the best images from this and Nelson's publication into large and small format .jpg's for your viewing and downloading convenience. These two publications are in the public domain for your use.

• Illustrations from Anatomy of the Honey Bee by R.E. Snodgrass
• Illustrations from Morphology of the Honey Bee Larva by J.A. Nelson

Longitudinal sections through head of worker and drone.

CAP updates

• Sustainable Beekeeping

In the above article, Nancy Ostiguy from Penn State, discusses a number of questions that we all should consider to develop "A Sustainable Beekeeping Management Plan".

• Honey Bee Medical Records: The Stationary Apiary Monitoring Project

Here, Marla Spivak, University of Minnesota updates us about progress on the Stationary Apiary objectives of the Managed Pollinator CAP.

Students working with the stationary apiary project located at Carver Nature Reserve in Minnesota examine and sample colonies for disease and pesticides.

Multi-State Research Updates

"Sustainable Solutions to Problems Affecting Bee Health", NC1173, is a multi-state committee for research and extension related to bee health. Their 2010 annual meeting occurred in Orlando, FL in conjunction with the American Beekeeping Federation conference. From that meeting 12 reports were developed describing diverse strategies to address bee decline and pollination needs. Review the following to see the direction of the latest bee research.

• Multistate Research in Bee Health NC1173

Image courtesy of Greg Hunt and Kathy Keatley Garvey

Examining colonies for Nosema

With a small investment in equipment; beekeepers, associations, inspectors, or your friend at a local lab or school can use the following information to determine the level of nosema infection in honey bee colonies.

• Testing for Nosema Spores From: University of Minnesota, Gary S. Reuter and Marla Spivak

Native Bee Profiles

Some common, native bees you may see are described in the following page from the publication Native Bee Benefits via Neal Williams, Bryn Mawr College and Rachael Winfree, Rutgers University

• Identification of Native Bees

New FAQ's

Has research been done on honey bees comparing 5.4 mm comb cell size with 4.9 mm? I have heard that small cell (4.9 mm) beekeeping can control varroa mites.

Review Process Under Review

The process we use to review and publish articles is being reviewed. To ensure accurate content and efficient work flow, we will probably end up with three tiers of review. The 'tiers' that will be applied to any given piece of content will depend on the level of detail, or previous publication. The 3 tiers include:

1. Initial content editors
2. Informal review process
3. Formal review process

This is the method we are currently using, however it is desirable to make the process more clear. The Bee Health leaders should look forward to communication and request for input about the review process in the future.

Until then, please feel free to contact me (Michael Wilson mailto:mwilso14@utk.edu ) about any concerns, clarifications, etc. about content on the Bee Heatlh eXtension pages. Each bi-monthly newsletter will contain the content additions since the previous newsletter issue, therefore you can use this instrument to remain aware of content additions.

Thank you for your time and attention,
Michael Wilson
University of Tennessee

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