beekeeping Archives - PolliNation Podcast

Michelle Flenniken on PolliNation with Andony Melathopoulos

Michelle Flenniken is an Assistant Professor in the Plant Sciences Department at Montana State University. She is a microbiologist investigating honey bee host–pathogen interactions and Co-Director of the Pollinator Health Center at MSU. Michelle received a B.S. in Biology from the University of Iowa, then was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana, before obtaining her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Montana State University. She did postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco prior to becoming a faculty member at MSU.

Listen in to learn how viruses affect pollinators, how virologists study them, and which ways beekeepers can best protect their colonies from infection.

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“When you think about a bee colony, it’s a great place for viral infections. They’re really crowded, if you think of honeybees, there’s over 40,000 individuals crawling all over each other.” – Michelle Flenniken

Show Notes:

How pollinators can get infected by viruses
The difference between horizontal and vertical transmission
Why monitoring your mite infestations can help minimize viral transmissions
How virologists have been studying and finding these myriad viruses
What common viruses affect United States pollinators
How the names of the viruses are determined
The process of infection with viruses and pollinators
How beekeepers can best test their colonies for viral infections
What beekeepers can do to reduce the damage caused by viruses
What Michelle sees as some of the most exciting research in virology right now
The evolution of how bees fend off viruses
How different RNA strands are used to create defenses against viruses

“I think that many of us get human centric when we start thinking about viruses and pathogens and we think that there are specific viruses that infect humans and those that affect other animals, but for insects and plant viruses, viruses can have a broader host range which include completely different genre.” – Michelle Flenniken

Links Mentioned:

Check out the Pollinator Health Center at MSU
Michelle’s favorite book on viruses: “Vaccinated: One Man’s Quest to Defeat the World’s Deadliest Diseases” by Paul A. Offit
Michelle’s favorite tool for studying viruses: the Quantitative PCR Instrument
Connect with Michelle Flenniken at her website

Mike Rodia on PolliNation with Andony Melathopoulos

Ralph (Mike) Rodia, a life time member of the Oregon State Beekeepers Association (OSBA) and the Willamette Valley Beekeepers Association [WVBA], has a PhD in Organic Chemistry, was a research scientist, college educator, occupational health inspector and supervisor (Oregon OSHA), Oregon Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal, and has been active in the OSBA at the regional and state levels for the last 20 years. His experience in the preparation and implementation of laws and rules has allowed him in the past, and now as OSBA’s Agricultural Liaison to interact with governmental agencies at all levels, to foster and advance beekeeping in Oregon, particularly as it relates to residential beekeeping.

Listen in as we talk with Mike Rodia about residential beekeeping and the ways to work with your local government to keep your local hives nuisance-free.

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“Residential beekeeping didn’t really exist 30 or 40 years ago, so the cities have had to address it as problems have come up, so each [city] will vary each time it comes up with a problem.” – Mike Rodia

Show Notes:

What residential beekeepers need to know about their local laws
How Mike got started with beekeeping
What a nuisance standard is, and how it can be used to help
Why the public misunderstanding of bees versus hornets or yellow jackets can cause such huge issues for residential beekeepers
What Mike has experienced with unnecessary rules and regulations on residential beekeeping in municipalities and counties
How Mike circumvented regulations in an Oregon house bill with education instead
How the committee behind the bill developed the education guidelines
What Mike recommends for municipalities looking to manage their residential beekeeping issues
Mike’s advice for residential beekeepers that get cited

“Rules do not make or break problems with beekeeping. They don’t really help anything, they don’t accomplish anything.” – Mike Rodia

Links Mentioned:

- Find out more at the Oregon Residential Beekeeping Website
- Check out Mike’s favorite book on pollinators: Hive and the Honey Bee
- Learn more about Mike’s favorite bees
- Connect with Mike Rodia through email

Dr. Ramesh Sagili on PolliNation with Andony Melathopoulos

Dr. Ramesh Sagili is an Associate Professor in the Department of Horticulture at Oregon State University and heads up OSUs mighty Bee Lab. He is a regular guest on PolliNation and this week he comes on the show to tell us how to manage colonies for an intense honey flow (happening right now in Western Oregon with the onset of the blackberry flow). It’s also been an unusual year with colonies brooding up early in the year and this brings on the threat of varroa mites. Dr. Sagili explains why an early spring can be both a blessing and a curse and what to do about it.

On today’s episode, learn how to keep your bees healthy and productive, what is most important in maintaining your bees, and how to prevent varroa mites.

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“Close to 50% of the nectar that [honeybees] bring in around the year is from blackberries.” – Dr. Ramesh Sagili

Show Notes:

How beekeepers can get ready for blackberry nectar season
What the process is of getting honey into the colonies
What honey supers and queen excluders are
Why wax production is such an important factor and can’t be overlooked in honey production
Why this season is the perfect time to consider dividing your colony
What other opportunities are available for beekeepers during this season
How to learn when to perform key maintenance with your bee boxes
How to use your honey supers
Why beekeepers should be concerned with mites for this season’s bees
What treatments are available for varroa mites
What Sagili’s lab is doing this upcoming year at Oregon State University

“Oregon is not a great place to raise queens, but I think between the window of June through August, it’s a good time raise your own queens here.” – Dr. Ramesh Sagili

Links Mentioned:

Learn more about Oregon State University’s Honey Bee Lab and Oregon Master Beekeeper Program
Watch how sampling for Varroa mites is done through OSU Extension
Look at the OSU publication on the timing of making colonies and how to make them “balanced” as Dr. Sagili mentions in the episode:
Overwintered Honey Bee Nucleus Colonies: Big Solutions in Small Packages (2015) Sagili, Breece, Torgerson and Vanderpool
Watch a Youtube video from the University of Guelph on Supering
Watch a Youtube video from the University of Guelph on Honey Harvesting
Connect with Dr. Ramesh Sagili at Oregon State University

Bee Buddies on PolliNation with Andony Melathopoulos

This week we are joined by Heath Keirstead and Jerry Paul from the Benton Soil and Water Conservation District (BSWCD). Heath is BSWCD’s Communication and Community Engagement Manager and Jerry has been involved with BSWCD as a volunteer and Board Member. PolliNation caught up with Heath and Jerry at the BSWCD office to talk about caring for orchard mason bees (Osmia lignaria) in the spring and their outreach initiative – the Bee Buddies program – that is encouraging stewardship of people cultivating these bees.

Listen in to learn how best to take care of your mason bees, when to place them outside, and how the Bee Buddy program helps the pollinator community.

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“If any of you have the chance, take a mason bee or any pollinator, look at it under the microscope and I think it’s going to open up a whole new world to you.” – Jerry Paul

Show Notes:

When is the best time to put out mason bees
Why mud preparation is the best thing you can do for your mason bees
How to tell if your flowers are ready to be pollinated
How to protect the larval mason bees during transport
Why the location of the nest box is so important to the mason bee’s success
Which plants are the most beneficial to the mason bee
Why the Bee Buddies program was started, and what it’s goals were
How caring correctly for mason bees can give them a 90% survival rate
How the Bee Buddies program is bringing attention to larger environmental issues
What the outreach of Bee Buddies looks like
How to get involved with Bee Buddies
What other organizations are contributing to environmental conservation

“With a mason bee, you can target your crop. They only fly up to about 300 feet from their nest box.“ – Heath Keirstead

Links Mentioned:

Check out the Urban Meadowscaping Handbook
Learn more about BSWCD’s Resources for Pollinators
Check out Jerry and Heath’s recommended book on pollinators:
Find out more about Jerry’s favorite tool: woodworking tools for making mason bee homes
Learn more about Heath and Jerry’s favorite bee, Osmia lignaria

Ellen Topitzhofer works for the Bee Informed Partnership, an innovative organization across the U.S. that works with commercial bee keepers to tackle some of their most pressing pest management issues.

In this episode, we discuss the unique pest issues in the Pacific Northwest, and explore the universal problem of varroa mites in bee colonies. We talk about how best to manage those pests, the relationship of the mites to the bees and pollination patterns, and more.

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“Some of the most beautiful places I’ve been to have been bee yards.” – Ellen Topitzhofer

Show Notes:

What the Bee Informed partnership is and how it started
How they educated commercial bee keepers
What makes Pacific Northwest beekeeping different than other regions of the country
An introduction to varroa mites
How to treat for these types of mites
What the tech transfer team does
The logistics of sampling for mites
Why varroa mites increase when colonies go into Pollination
How mites move from an apiary to another
How their research changes the way that commercial bee keepers operate
Why some bees drift to different colonies

“We help bee keepers colonies by testing colonies, to assist commercial bee keepers in making management decisions about queen breeding, pests, and colony health. .” -Ellen Topitzhofer

Links Mentioned:

Jen Holt is the brand new Coordinator for the Oregon Master Beekeeper Program at OSU.

In this episode, we’ll learn about how Jen got interested in bees, what she sees for the future of the program, and the ins and outs of how the program functions today.

We discuss beekeeping education from the start to the master – how to take a regular person and turn them into a beekeeper. Jen is co-appointed to the OSU Pollinator Health Program, so we talk about creating synergy between the two programs.

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“We don’t want people to be turned away from beekeeping just because they don’t have the knowledge to succeed.” – Jen Holt

Show Notes:

How Jen learned to become a beekeeper
Some of the things that people who are interested in working with bees worry about
The many levels of the master beekeeping program in Oregon
How the geographic diversity of Oregon presents challenges and opportunities
How the master beekeepers teach the program in different part of the state
How the curriculum is developed for the program
How the program is powered by volunteers
What Jen Holt sees going forward for the program
How beekeeping connects us back to ancient times

“I would like to increase the partnership in the program between honey bees and native bees, because honey bees are often a gateway to learning about native bees.” – Jen Holt

Links Mentioned:

Today on the show we explore bees and their social impact.

In 2012, Sarah Common co-founded Hives for Humanity Society, alongside her mother, Julia, in response to a gap she saw in opportunities for connection to nature, to community and to meaningful work for marginalized citizens.

She has coordinated partnerships between a variety of organizations and businesses, developing programming that builds self-worth and community pride.

We talk about how it got founded, how it works, and tips for other groups looking to do something similar in their communities.

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“We are looking to enhance communities through apiculture.” – Sarah Common

Show Notes:

How beekeeping can keep people healthy as well
What her organization does to bring together marginalized communities
How planting seeds creates a transformative moment for disadvantages communities
Why you have to be focused when handling bees and how it helps people stay present
What’s been the hardest thing about getting this garden project growing
How she pulled together the resources to get this projected started in the community
How the beekeeping community has responded to this project
What is specific about keeping bees in this part of Vancouver, BC
What the project is doing to collaborate with professors and other experts
Where they want the Society to be in the future
How to get the project to a point where it will be self-sustaining
What foundations could do to better support the organizations

“Holding a frame of hundreds of living, vibrating, colorful bees creates an interaction and a responsibility that builds self worth .” – Sarah Common

Links Mentioned:

Francis Ratnieks on PolliNation with Andony Melathopoulos Welcome to the first episode of PolliNation Podcast.

“A hairy vegetarian wasp.”

That’s how professor Francis Ratnieks of the University of Sussex describes the bee.

Professor Ratnieks has done a lot of research on bees, from honeybee biology to practical solutions for beekeepers and homeowners interested in encouraging pollinators.

This wide-ranging interview is full of tips for how to select pollinator plants, reasons for becoming a beekeeper, and common myths that people have about bees.

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“If you a beginning beekeeper, I would greatly advise getting some assistance from an experienced beekeeper.” – Francis Ratnieks

Show Notes:

Where Francis got his interest in honeybees
Why the advice on honeybees given to the public is not often that good
What the benefits are to keeping bees in cities
The unique challenges to keeping bees in urban areas
Tips for keeping bees in a way that doesn’t bother your neighbors
How many bee colonies a city block can support
Why planting floral resources may be the best way to save the bees
Why foreign species of plants may be just as good for honeybees as local varieties
How honeybees can fly up to 12km to find pollinators
Dispelling the myths that the public has about bees
How to recognize different species of bees
Avoiding bee stings and telling the difference between a bee sting and yellow jacket sting
What you can do to help bees in urban areas

Links Mentioned:

“Bees only sting if you get close to the hive, not when they are foraging.” – Francis Ratnieks

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Show Notes:

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