One of the hives failed in a cold snap this February. Last weekend we harvested the honey. We ended up with 2 ½ gallons of honey from one failed colony.

Watch the video to see what the inside of a natural beehive looks like.

Harvesting Honey from Jeremy Marr on Vimeo.

I am on my way to becoming a melissapalynologist. I’ve purchased a microscope and a bit of equipment for cataloging the pollen that is collected by my bees. I hope to be able to identify what flowers they are visiting by examining the morphology of the pollen they bring in. I’ve found several databases so far. If you can recommend any please send me a note.

I hope to eventually create my own database for southwest Michigan. Something that could be useful regardless of your scientific background or lack thereof.

Fun times to come!

Now I’m wondering if I can make a centrifuge into a car’s hub cap…

BRISBANE, Australia, Feb. 1 (UPI) — Bees can navigate using the sun even on cloudy days using clues from polarized light to determine the hidden sun’s position, Australian researchers say.

Mandyam Srinivasan of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, says that because sunlight passing through the atmosphere is polarized in a pattern that reveals the location of the sun, it has long been suspected bees use special photoreceptors in their eyes to navigate on cloudy days, NewsScientist.com reported Tuesday.

via Study: Bees can follow sun on cloudy days – UPI.com.

ALAMO — While scientists around the world try to unravel the ongoing mystery of dying honeybees, an Alamo man has vowed to do what he can on a simpler scale to save bees, one hive at a time.

Jeremy Marr is throwing out almost everything beekeepers have tried to make life better for honeybees and, instead, will let Mother Nature decide how to run the show.

via Alamo Township beekeeper Jeremy Marr goes back to nature to save his hives | MLive.com.

The fund raising has been an amazing experience. I’ve met quite a few very interesting and creative people along the way so far. Thanks to everyone who has participated!

The project on Kickstarter: Saving the honeybees, One hive at a time.

I’m raising money for my new bee yard. Can you help? Every dollar counts! Click here for more.

OTTAWA — Four out of 10 honey jars sold in Canada contain elevated levels of chemical residues, newly released government test results show.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency last year found that 61 per cent of honey complied with federal chemical-residue requirements — far short of the agency’s compliance target of 95 per cent, according to CFIA’s 2009/10 performance report.

via Nothing sweet about this: 4 in 10 honey jars fail chemical-residue test.

KALAMAZOO — Bees looking to build a new hive may see small holes in roofs or siding as the perfect place to infiltrate a home and start a new colony, and homeowners need to be cautious when evicting the winged invaders. Home remedies like spraying insecticide in the wall can cause costly damage and attract other unwanted guests, and there are plenty of local beekeepers available to transport the bees so they can fulfill their honey-making destiny.

via Got hives? As in bees? Call in a professional keeper, don’t make it a DIY project | MLive.com.

The first time I looked at a bee’s eye magnified I was amazed to see a field of hexagons, just like honeycomb. I wondered, is this a coincidence or a clue? Is it simply that hexagons are ubiquitous in nature, or is there a deeper correspondence between the structure of the bee’s vision and the structure she builds – in other words, similar frequencies being expressed in similar form?

via Rose-Lynn Fisher / BEE.

When faced with a choice between carb loading and a protein-rich, Atkins-style diet, honeybees let their guts decide.

Insulin signals from fat cells in the bees’ abdomens help determine whether they forage for high-protein pollen or sugar-filled nectar, a new study shows. The study, published April 1 in PLoS Genetics, is the first to manipulate insulin signals in honeybees and to show how changes in the signals influence behavior.

via Bees Forage With Their Guts – Science News.