Statistics from 2025
- Registered beekeepers: 2,389
- Active beekeepers: approximately 4,400
- Apiaries: 2,957
- Colonies: 18,738
- Apiaries inspected 232
Registration letters and changes to come
The first round of apiary registration letters were sent out in November: if you have not yet done so, please register.
MDA has finally gotten a a new database: we are in the process of migrating the information over from an Oracle system to Salesforce. This is likely to be a long, painstaking process: please be patient.
However, Salesforce will eventually allow MDA to offer online, electronic registration. Please remember, we are not there yet! We are now able to send out the Apiary Registration Certificates electronically. So, expect an email from MDA with the certificate attached!
The second apiary registration mailing (weather permitting) will go out around Valentine's Day.
Please send in or scan your updated form to cybil.preston@maryland.gov
Get registered to get BeeCheck!
If you wish to use the Bee Check voluntary mapping site we must have a current registration form on file for you to utilize the free site.
Winter observations
With our frigid temperatures and prolonged clustering weather, I am hearing about a lot of dead outs. Our colonies have had very few cleansing flight days.
Dead outs have dead clusters with heads in cells, some with no food left but some with supers of honey above. Some readouts have had a smallish cluster left behind, leading me to think that there may have been heavy die off on cleansing flights. Some causes could be (but not limited too):
- Nosema
- Trachea Mite
- Varroa/Viral load that shortened life span.
Nucleus colonies moving across state lines?
Please remember that, if you are purchasing nucleus colonies from out of state, you will need to have them inspected prior to entering the State of Maryland.
Nuc suppliers! Please schedule your spring inspection. If nucs are made in Maryland and sold to an out of state beekeeper, they must be inspected before movement across state lines.
The beekeeper/nuc seller is responsible for finding out from the buyer where it is going. Every state has the same laws for the movement of bees into the state. Please contact me if you need to schedule a spring inspection.
USDA/APHIS National Honeybee Survey
We will be participating in the USDA Aphis National Honeybee Survey again this year. I am looking for volunteers who would like to participate. To qualify you must have 8 colonies in your apiary. When we perform your apiary inspection, we take small samples of adult bees and larva from each colony and send them to the University of Maryland for analysis.
All of the above is free to the beekeeper. You will receive a report of which pests and virus were present and their prevalence.
Learn more at : www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-pests-diseases/honey-bee-surveys
K-9 Inspectors
Tukka was able to inspect this year's hives leaving for California: 1,800 were inspected in November.
The next bee disease detector trainee will be (drumroll) Lucy! I hope to have Lucy Lulu trained and certified by next Fall.
Varroa Control Registrations and Label Instructions
Please remember, when you are choosing your varroa control, that the instructions on the label are the only legal use, and only approved products are allowable for use in your colonies.
If you are choosing to use oxalic acid, the products allowable for use are Api-Bioxal, EZ-OX, VarroxSan. You have your choice of powder, tablets or extended-release strips. The RTU (ready to use dribble) is not yet licensed in Maryland...though it is in the process.
Remember: beekeeper concoctions of wood bleach and shop towels or Swedish sponges are illegal and should not be used in your colonies.
AFB Reporting Changes
American Foulbrood is in the process of being put on the Maryland Veterinary Reportable Disease list. It will be required for veterinarians to report it to the MDA if they see it in an apiary and write a feed directive for antibiotics.
Invasive education!
Please educate your self concerning two significant invasives that could possibly be on the horizon.
- Tropilaelaps mites: Not here in the United States
- Yellow legged hornets: They predate on honey bees; adults and nests have been identified and eradicated in Georgia and South Carolina.
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