Episode notes
Featured Guest: Dr. Tom Seeley – Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, renowned honey bee researcher, and author of six influential books including Honeybee Democracy and Piping Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz Runners.
🐝 Topics Covered:
- The difference between Langstroth hives and natural bee homes
- Collective intelligence in bees and parallels to the human brain
- Worker bee piping: how to know when a swarm is about to launch
- Bee lining/Bee hunting: how to track wild honey bee colonies using this ancient technique
- Natural hive insulation and its benefits for overwintering
- Early experiments with dissecting bee trees
- Varroa control and genetics-based resistance methods
- The behavioral genius of honey bees and what it teaches us as beekeepers
🐾 Bonus Story: Meet Maple, the energetic springer spaniel helping detect hive diseases at Michigan State University, sporting a custom-made dog-sized beekeeper suit!
EPILOG FROM DR. SEELEY: I wrote Honeybee Democracy, The Lives of Bees, and Piping Hot Bees & Boisterous Buzz-Runners to make it easy for beekeepers to learn about what has been discovered in recent decades about the amazing behaviors of worker honey bees. (No sense in leaving these findings hidden away in the scientific journals!) Moreover, I worked with a publisher that sells these beautiful books at reasonable prices.
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Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/wpjLC9ZpbZk
Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/
Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your first $100 order.
https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/
Don’t Miss Part Two! This is only part one of our discussion with Dr. Seeley. Subscribe to Bee Love Beekeeping so you don’t miss next week’s episode where Tom shares even more behavioral insights and his wildest beekeeping story yet!