Beekeeping knowledge
Practical knowledge for the work at the colony – from the first cleansing flight to the winter treatment in December.
Beekeeping knowledge
Pollen-replacing feed halves winter losses – what the new long-term study shows
A new long-term study from the USA shows that a nutritionally complete pollen-replacing feed can nearly halve winter losses in bee colonies. We put t…
Beekeeping knowledge
New study: honey bees navigate with centimetre precision – more precise than the waggle dance
A research team at the University of Freiburg tracked honey bees in flight using drones. The surprising result: every bee has its own route – and hit…
Beekeeping knowledge
Varroosis is now a notifiable disease – what applies to beekeepers since March 2026
Since 10 March 2026, varroosis has formally been a notifiable disease in Germany. We explain what the new animal-disease reporting regulation covers …
What you will find here
The articles in this section follow the beekeeping year. They answer questions that come round every season and rest on what holds up in practice rather than on what reads well.
By season
Spring. The first inspection decides which colonies get away – and most of it can be read without opening the hive. From April, swarm control follows on a nine-day cycle.
Summer. After the harvest comes varroa treatment: timing formic acid, extracting summer honey and preventing robbing as the flow dries up.
Late summer and autumn. Feeding and wintering settle how the colony comes into spring.
Winter. In the broodless colony it is time for the oxalic acid treatment – the last chance to bring the mite load down before spring.
Rules and records
Anyone selling honey records their treatments. What that means in practice, and what has had to go on the label since June 2026 under the new origin labelling, is covered in separate articles. The exact obligations depend on the country you keep bees in.
Calculate instead of guess
Several topics come with free calculators: the varroa indicator projects a mite drop onto the colony, the water content calculator places your refractometer reading, and the winter feed calculator tells you how much sugar you need.