Applying The Basics Of Honey Bee Biology by Clarence Collison

A lecture given by Clarence Collison at the 2018 National Honey Show entitled "Applying The Basics Of Honey Bee Biology" The National Honey Show gratefully acknowledge the Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers for their support, and Warner Edwards Distillery Ltd for their sponsorship.

Presentation: "Applying The Basics Of Honey Bee Biology"
Understanding bee biology is the foundation of colony management. Virtually all bee activities are directly stimulated and coordinated to a large degree by pheromones. The distribution of pheromones within the colony by the workers has numerous impacts on bee biology i.e. rearing of queens, maintaining the worker caste and affecting foraging behaviour. Examining brood patterns can aid in determining the overall condition of the colony, quality of the queen, colony strength, healthiness of the bees and inclination to swarm. Observing basic bee behaviours will aid the beekeeper in making timely management decisions.

Profile: Clarence Collison
As part of my undergraduate degree program majoring in entomology, I took my first course in beekeeping in 1966 which stimulated my interest in bees. During my Master’s program, I studied nectar secretion and how it affects the activity of honey bees in the pollination of hybrid pickling cucumbers. This research area was continued during my PhD program and was concerned with the interrelationships of honey bee activity, foraging behaviour, climatic conditions and flowering in the pollination of pickling cucumbers. Throughout my career at The Pennsylvania State University and Mississippi State University, I have served as an Extension beekeeping specialist, taught beekeeping, trained graduate students, written numerous beekeeping publications, published two books and conducted many educational programs for the beekeeping community. For several years I chaired the “Master Beekeeper” certification program of the Eastern Apicultural Society of North America. I write a monthly column “A Closer Look” and prior to that “Do You Know” for Bee Culture magazine.