Spotted Lantern Fly (SLF)
Spotted Lanternfly Adults are in almost every county now. Our honey bees will work/forage on the Spotted Lanternfly honeydew. In areas where SLF is plentiful enough, colonies were able to gain winter weight. Some beekeepers have chosen to extract the fall flow for honey sales, and others leave it on for winter feed.
Seen in the field
I am seeing some hungry bees. This drought and lack of fall nectar flow is making colonies light on honey stores for winter.
I have also eceived some calls about queen issues, such as ongoing struggles to requeen properly and keep her, including continued requeening behavior and colonies struggling to build up due to the off and on brood break.
There have also been late season swarms! This could possibly indicate virgin queen swarms and requeening very late in the season.
Northern Giant Hornets
We received some calls about possible Northern Giant Hornet sightings, including. 74 inquiries we fielded for insect identifications. This was actually significantly less than in years past. On the other hand, Yellow jackets have been a late season problem this year.
Field Watch/Bee Check
This voluntary beehive mapping tool used to improve agricultural communication is going strong. There are more beekeepers registered than any other crop! You can get more information and learn about participating at FieldWatch.com, https://fieldwatch.com.
USDA/APHIS National Honeybee Survey
Thank you to all the beekeepers that participated in the USDA/APHIS National Honeybee Survey. We were not able to complete all 24-sample sites by October, so I will be continuing in the early spring to finish 2025 sampling, In late Ppring I will start 2026 sampling. You can learn more about the survey here. Please contact me if you are interested in participating.
AGAIN, thank you to those who have already participated and to those who wish to be future participants. Anyone willing to participate in 2025 or 2026 please let me know. You must have 8 colonies located in the same apiary to qualify. I appreciate your willingness to participate!
Pesticide applicator requirements for beekeeping management businesses
If you have or are starting a beekeeping management business, or if you are being paid to apply ANY miticides to someone else's colonies you must have a pesticide applicators license. The key words are "If you are being paid, if you do not own the bees you are treating." This does not apply to mentor/mentee relationships: it is a requirement for apiary management businesses.
You can learn more about Maryland pesticide application certification on MDA's Licensing and Certification page.
New Database in Development
We are in the process of getting a new database: we are not yet able to do online registration but we may be able to do an electronic notification in the near future.
If not, we will be mailing the 2026 apiary registration form in the next couple of weeks. Please update, sign and return your registration forms as soon as possible. You can use USPS, scan and email it, send a fax... There are many ways to return the form.
Swarm Capture/Monitoring
We caught three honey bee swarms at the port of Baltimore and five swarms at the BWI airport: all were eradicated. We monitor the swarm traps and refresh the lures bi-weekly. Why? We are looking for any Apis species (and their parasites) that may have hitched a ride on shipments (like Apis cerana or dorsata or Tropilaelaps)
Apiary Inspectors
Final Note: the human Apiary Inspectors are finished for the season and Tukka the Canine Disease Detector is getting ready to start back to work: as soon as we get some colder temperatures. Maryland's AFB dogs will be back into inspections as soon as the weather gets below 50 degrees F. We will work on commercial beekeepers moving to California first.
Cybil Preston
Chief Apiary Inspector
State Apiarist
EAS Certified Master Beekeeper
Certified Maryland Honey Judge
Maryland Department of Agriculture
50 Harry S. Truman Parkway
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
cybil.preston@maryland.gov
(410) 841-5920(O)
(410) 562-3464 (M)
Website