Let’s face it. Unless you live in an isolated part of the world, if you keep bees, you will need to eventually deal with encounters between your bees and your neighbors. Encounters don’t have to be negative. There are strategies you can use to minimize ‘bad publicity’ and ‘hard feelings.’ Some beekeeping clubs have written down these strategies and developed rules, Golden Rules , for beekeepers to help guide them to keep friendly relations with their neighbors. In this episode, our fearless host...
Jun 17, 2021•13 min•Ep. 26
Packages arrive with a queen and together are installed in a hive of some kind. In a few days to a week the queen is released from her travel cage by either the bees or the beekeeper. Then the evaluation of that queen, and the bees, too, begins. How good is this queen? And when should I be able to decide if she needs replacing. A week? 2 weeks? A month? And how do you decide? There are some basic parameters you can use to evaluate her performance. You can look at the egg laying pattern she is pr...
Jun 10, 2021•10 min•Ep. 25
Today, Kim & Jim review questions and answers asked in an ancient A. I. Root Co. publication, published in 1910. What’s changed, and what hasn’t? Kim and Jim tackle questions asked 121 years ago. You’ll be surprised at what they find. Do gentle bees make as much honey as mean bees? A question you still hear because sometimes it seems mean bees are more productive, right? Maybe, maybe not. What’s the best smoker fuel? Oily rags? You’re kidding, right? Pine needles, sawdust and the like too, b...
Jun 03, 2021•14 min•Ep. 24
What is tanging? Basically, beekeepers use some sort of device, an old cooking pot for instance, to make a loud noise by beating it with a spoon or stick, while chasing an escaping swarm. It is thought this may convince the bees that a storm with thunder is approaching and they need to find a place to land, now, and then the beekeeper can capture them and return them to their home. When a beekeeper sees a swarm leave one of their hives, they will chase the swarm to recapture and return it to the...
May 27, 2021•13 min•Ep. 23
Honey bees are purchased from commercial operations in business to sell bees to beekeepers. They can be sold as complete eight or ten frame hives with a queen, frames with comb, bees and brood and some stored food. Or, they may be sold as a 5-frame small colony, traditionally called a nucleus colony, or more commonly a Nuc, with a queen, comb, food and bees. Bees can also be bought in bulk – by the pound, traditionally in a container of some sort, without frames or comb. A queen accompanies the ...
May 20, 2021•15 min•Ep. 22
Old comb. What is old comb? Old comb is that which is darkened through generations of tiny bee's feet (ok, for the technically minded, tarsus and tarsal claws...) running across its surface. Is it good for years or should beekeepers pull and replace it? At what point should it be pulled? In this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Kim and Jim discuss all things Old Comb. After listening to the episode, make sure you check out this Honey Bee Obscura video moment on the OneTewBee YouTube channel: https:...
May 13, 2021•15 min•Ep. 21
Spring inspections, especially early spring, need a balance of not too often, but often enough to avoid problems. The first thing you see is…what’s left from last fall. In the south, these inspections took place some time ago, and in the north, they are just wrapping up, but what you find early on will help determine what needs to be done now. Mite testing is certainly on the agenda, but for today, we’re going to pass on that and look at food, the queen, where the bees are in the hive and what a...
May 06, 2021•18 min•Ep. 20
Why do you keep a box full of bugs that you just know will sting? It should be an easy answer, but there’s more here that you might think, especially if you’re just getting started. Even if you’ve been doing this for years and you’re doing everything right, someday, you will get stung, no matter what. But what about the beekeeper dressed in only shorts and a T-Shirt, who will take a colony apart, remove the queen, put it back together, and walk away with a smile – and no stings. You have to admi...
Apr 29, 2021•16 min•Ep. 19
So, how do you eat comb honey? It isn’t a mystery, but until you have tried eating comb honey, it can be a tad daunting. At first, it’s a beautiful product. Snow white cappings, beautiful honey, the perfect sweetener. But then, you take a sample and that chunk of comb honey begins to leak, and the honey runs out and covers the bottom of the dish you have it on, along with tiny chunks of the wax from the cells and the cappings and the foundation. Suddenly it’s messy. Very messy. And the beauty of...
Apr 22, 2021•14 min•Ep. 18
Trapping pollen will give you a source of good food for your bees, and it’s for free. And why more beekeepers don’t do it is interesting, but understandable. There are a host of pollen substitutes on the market that a beekeeper can simply buy and feed to the bees. Pollen traps add a layer of work and cost to their beekeeping efforts that many don’t want to undertake….and that’s too bad. Of course trapping pollen changes what’s going on in the hive. Removing some amount of the only protein source...
Apr 15, 2021•16 min•Ep. 17
If you keep good records every year, you’ll know about when to expect the various nectar flows your areas has almost every year and that your bees need to make a honey crop. Of course, your bees will tell you when a nectar flow starts, and when it’s over. Tell you they will. Open a colony before a flow and the bees are busy looking for food. Open one during a good flow and you will find the happiest bees in the world. Open a colony just as a flow stops and you better have a good beesuit and veil...
Apr 08, 2021•16 min•Ep. 16
Imagine this… you walk out to your beeyard. There is a lot of activity. No problem. That’s good right? Probably a nectar flow, you think. But as you get closer, there is something else going on… more frantic, more commotion, more… frenetic; All directed at one or two hives. There are hundreds of bees trying to get into those hives, through any available crack and crevice. Bees are all over in the air and it is definitely not a swarm. About the time you notice a faint smell of something like almo...
Apr 01, 2021•17 min•Ep. 15
Have you ever tried to capture a swarm while hanging on to the top of a 10-foot ladder that’s standing in the back of a pickup? No? Well, Jim Tew has and he’ll tell you all about retrieving swarms this week. Kim Flottum has a story about Richard Taylor walking into the middle of a swarm issuing from a hive, reaching up and catching the queen! No, really! It happened! If you are a beekeeper, swarms are a fact of life. Keeping bees from swarming is a challenge and capturing them when they leave is...
Mar 25, 2021•17 min•Ep. 14
How much space do bees need inside a beehive? Well, it’s between 3/16” and 5/16”, so you can figure just about a quarter inch should do. But what happens when bees don’t have bee space in a beehive? Propolis is what happens: Tighter than a drum if it’s too small and full of burr and brace comb if it’s too big. Make it just right for the bees and they’ll make it right for you! Are there differences between equipment manufacturers? (Yes) Where is the bee space? Above the frames or below the frames...
Mar 18, 2021•14 min•Ep. 13
When you have more bees at home than you want, or your family wants, or your neighbors want, it’s time to find an outyard. There’s a lot to consider when choosing an outyard. There are many things to consider, such as: Are you able to get there in all seasons? Does your family knows where it is so they can find you if your truck or car won’t start? What about access? Are there gates? Combinations to locks? Here’s a consideration… What about cattle or horses or bear? Will you need some kind of fe...
Mar 11, 2021•15 min•Ep. 12
Everybody who has bees at some time will have to requeen a colony. You killed her when moving frames, she quit laying, a colony that swarmed didn’t make a queen, you stepped on her when she fell off the frame. It happens… and now you have to requeen that colony. If she’s gone it’s easier than if she’s there. If she’s there, you got to find and replace her. Right, find her first. Good luck with that. Then, it’s where do you put that new queen in the colony and how long should she stay in that cag...
Mar 04, 2021•14 min•Ep. 11
A smoker is that extra hand you always need when working bees. It’s the right tool for the job. But how smokers get used is mostly influenced by what the beekeeper is doing whether you are working hard, fast and in a hurry, or easy going, slow and gentle. Each approach demands different behaviors and different amounts of smoke. What about smoker fuels? Certainly, what’s available helps decide what gets burned. Pine straw, wood shavings, punk wood, rolled burlap, sumac pods, even dried cow dung a...
Feb 25, 2021•14 min•Ep. 10
If you need or want to get some honey bees this spring, the two traditional means are to get a 3-pound package or a (usually) 5 frame nucleus colony. There are advantages and disadvantages to both and like so many things in beekeeping – it depends on the situation of which might be a better choice. Packages aren’t cheap, and they are slower to develop, which is good for a less experienced beekeeper, but for somebody who wants a fast buildup, not so good. That first winter for a package is usuall...
Feb 18, 2021•21 min•Ep. 9
So, you just built brand new wooden hive boxes, tops and bottoms. It all sure looks nice, doesn’t it? How do you keep it from rotting, falling apart or just wearing out? For many beekeepers using white latex paint on their equipment is the go-to. But for some, painting isn’t on the agenda this season. Painting takes time and colors can vary. Is it OK to use different colors different sized supers? Should you use oil base, or latex, or some other kind of water base material? How long will those b...
Feb 11, 2021•14 min•Ep. 8
What beekeepers choose to wear for protection is determined by many factors. Kim and Jim explore several of the most influential choices today when talking about Protective Gear. Choices are mostly determined by what you have and what you will be doing during any particular visit. Or is it? Do you need to wear the same gear for a quick inspection as you do for moving hives? What about gloves? What kind of veil? There are so many different types to choose from. The catalogs are full of things to ...
Feb 04, 2021•13 min•Ep. 7
Kim and Jim trade notes of the things about bees and beekeeping that are fun, enjoyable, educational and generous. It’s about honey, gardens, a spring day, being an expert, capturing swarms and the things that work well when you work hard. The pluses outweigh the minuses, every time. __________ Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast . Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom Honey Bee Obscura is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, L...
Jan 28, 2021•13 min•Ep. 6
When you look at a hive, you will see many different variations in hive equipment, components, tools and things to “make the beekeeper’s job easier”. So, what kind of equipment do you use? In this episode, Kim and Jim talk about covers and the rocks we put on them, inner covers, queen excluders, slatted racks and all kinds of bottom boards. It’s amazing how much stuff beekeepers use. Listen today! __________ Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping...
Jan 21, 2021•20 min•Ep. 5
Checking your colonies on a cold, snowy, winter day isn’t something you probably want to do, but colonies in our care need to be looked after – no matter the season. How and what you can and cannot check depend on where your bees are. A cold and blustery northeast Ohio is where Kim and Jim are today, but what about warmer places, like far southern Alabama, where Jim used to live? Kim and Jim explore what a beekeeper should be looking after and what to do when something is amiss, such as: Missing...
Jan 14, 2021•15 min•Ep. 4
Once you look at it, managing your space is probably the biggest challenge most beekeepers have. You have more bee equipment inside in the winter than the summer. What do you do with all of it? And once processing honey gets started, and done… what do you do with it all? Figure this out and keeping bees gets a lot less challenging. __________ Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom Copyright © 2021 by...
Jan 10, 2021•15 min•Ep. 3
Of course, it’s best to leave enough food on going into winter so the bees don’t get stressed or starve, but sometimes that isn’t in the equation. You take too much honey or they simply didn’t make enough during the summer. Then what? Several possibilities – fondant can work, sometimes or simply putting dry sugar on the inner cover or sugar blocks or what’s probably best, sharing honey from colonies that have more than enough with those that don’t. __________ Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you ...
Jan 10, 2021•13 min•Ep. 2
Honey Bee Obscura is a brand new podcast focusing solely on honey bees and honey bee management. In fact... all things honey bees. Join each week as former Bee Culture editor and current cohost of Beekeeping Today Podcast, Kim Flottum and long time Bee Culture contributor and former OSU Extension Specialist, Dr. Jim Tew meet to explore and discuss important topics important to beekeepers everywhere in short, concise episodes. __________ Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media...
Jan 10, 2021•2 min•Ep. 1
