INTRODUCING - Indoor Storage of Honey Bees: an online home for all things indoor storage

The past year has been one of unexpected changes for most of us. One thing that remained, however, was the resiliency and dedication of beekeepers. Despite all obstacles, hives had to be managed and crops had to be pollinated. Beekeepers adapted to changing conditions to keep up with demand and keep their operations strong. As we enter another season of almond pollination, it is clear that beekeepers as busy as ever and still
looking for solutions to the ever-present challenges of mites, nutrition, and overwintering.​

At the Bee Research Program at Washington State University, we’ve been keeping busy as well finishing up current research projects and looking forward to future ones. You can expect results from us soon regarding the use of CO2 in indoor storage for Varroa control, queen banking in indoor storage in summer and winter, and a big collaborative project with the Bee Informed Partnership looking at colony health and survival in winter storage. We are happy to announce that we will be able to update the beekeeping community on these results as soon as they come out all in one place.

We are very excited to announce that the future of the indoor storage guide lies online! Housed on Project Apis m.’s website, the “Indoor Storage of Honey Bees” page will be a one-stop-shop for the most up-to-date research on indoor storage. Readers can expect regular, ongoing updates with new information including research results, discussions with beekeepers, updates on regulatory issues like colony inspections and transportation into California, and more. We know this flexible format will give us the opportunity to update the beekeeping community on a more frequent basis with the most relevant information. The online indoor storage resource can be found at: ProjectApism.org/Indoor-Storage-of-Honey-Bees, and in the “Resources” menu on the Project Apis m. website.