Willie G's Honey/Bees

11/13/2025

Northern Lights 11/12/25

06/02/2025

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04/11/2025

Update on the Yellow-legged Hornet
Dr. Gard W. Otis
Professor Emeritus, University of Guelph, Canada and Adjunct Researcher, Institute of Bee Health, Bern, Switzerland

Amidst the reports of huge colony losses and the political chaos in the USA, the Yellow-legged Hornet (YLH; Vespa velutina) seems to be far from most beekeepers' thoughts. This invasive hornet has contributed to the deaths of huge numbers of honeybee colonies in western Europe. Unfortunately, it has made its way to North America: it was first reported in Savannah, GA, in August, 2023, and 7 nests, all near the city of Savannah, were killed that year. Clearly some hornet colonies escaped detection and reared daughter queens because 50 additional hornet colonies were located and destroyed in Georgia and South Carolina last year. Overwintered queens should become active soon, but as of 18 March, 2025, there have been none reported yet.

To continue reading, please visit: https://www.beeculture.com/update-on-the-yellow-legged-hornet/

Photo Credit:
The Yellow-legged Hornet is a large wasp with distinctive yellow legs. In late summer and fall, YLHs frequently hover in front of bee hives to catch foragers as they return to their colony. Photo credit: Quentin Rome, Museum nationale d’Histoire naturelle, Paris.

04/10/2025

Several minutes after stopping the video, the queen came out of the entrance. I quickly caught her in a queen clip, and placed her inside the nuc, leaving her in the clip. I allowed a few hundred bees to enter the nuc box, then closed the entrance, regulating the bee loss from the parent hive. I’ll go back to check the colony and decide how to manage the remaining resources.

04/03/2025

Pictures from the video post

04/03/2025

An early morning swarm boxing. Received a call from the landowner telling me there were bees on a fence post. Cloudy, breezing, and cool conditions.

03/12/2025

Sorry about the shadow. I’ve never claimed to be good at this. 😂 Inspection time .

02/21/2025

Latest update on nationwide colony losses.

Here is the second release of information about the PAm Colony Loss Survey. This is for a general audience, stay tuned today for a document sharing more detailed survey results for beekeepers/survey participants.

Read the press release here: https://loom.ly/sYp-CBw