Nathalie B. takes us on a journey of sustainably raising your own queens right in your backyard. She discusses the difference between commercial queens vs locally raised queens, as well as the reasons you might consider requeening a colony to begin with. Plus, Nathalie walks us through the process of the 2 into 3 split! Tune in now to learn more…
Join us, as we look back from 2062 and thank you all for forty years of Hive Jive in our lives.
Nathalie B. sits down with James Lee, a natural beekeeper and licensed clinical social worker who founded the Sustainable Beekeepers Guild of Michigan, to discuss the cognitive bias and dissonance that can be found in all human interactions. Can we find a way to have tolerance for other beekeeping styles (and humanity) by empathizing with our fellow beekeepers instead of assuming they are wrong because their goals and fears do not line up with our own? This episode strives to spark an intelligen...
Has John completely lost his mind? Well, that remains to be seen. Join us for a special stand-alone episode of The Hive Jive and learn all about the wild and crazy things that have taken place since we went off the air in 2021, and possibly catch a glimpse of what's still to come in 2022.
Consider this a reminder that to love and to be loved is the most important thing there is in this world. In his own words and from his personal trials, John takes us on a somber tribute to those people in our lives we have lost over the past year, and a reminder to those left behind that you are not alone. Always bee kind to one another!
(Original Air Date: June 4th, 2020) In their latest misadventures, Ken comes across an ice chest full of bees, and John is called to a swarm that has over 5 virgin queens in it!
(Original Air Date: May 28th, 2020) Its time for another Random Clips episode. Just like the title implies, these clips are random and don't necessarily have anything to do with one another. They are all items that originally were left on the cutting room floor and didn’t make the final version. But now you can hear some of these behind the scenes moments and pick up on some of the randomness that goes on when you're not listening.
(Original Air Date: May 21st, 2020) In this bonus episode John continues his rant from the main segment about the irresponsible beekeeper and the chaos the "Bad Bees" caused; while Ken recounts the rest of the story of Max’s attempt at catching and dispatching with a bad queen, and tries to keep straight all the different races of queens they now have.
(Original Air Date: May 14th, 2020) Ken and John question the new temp soundboard operator, Shannon, about her thoughts on the show, as well as her experience with Honey. The guys also discuss Ken's ongoing trap-out scenario and the logistics of if he's already gotten all the bees in such a short time.
(Original Air Date: May 7th, 2020) The saga continues with Ken and Max and their re-queening attempts. Plus, does the color of your bee really matter?
(Original Air Date: May 1st, 2020) The trial-and-error part of the learning curve continues as Ken and Max attempt their first round of re-queening on a hive that originally contained feral stock. John and Ken discuss this, as well as Ken's new Chickens!
(Original Air Date: April 23rd, 2020) While we continue our Quarantines with horrible audio quality, Ken has been working on more trap-outs from old oak trees that are going to be knocked down and Max is still putting up swarm traps around the land. Ken still has the swarm commander in this truck, of course, and John has something to say about that. John also reminds Ken what an inspection actually is, and talks about the unexpected nectar dearth that hit Central Texas.
For our 9th installment of the Natural Beekeeping Corner, Nathalie is again joined by Les Crowder as the pair discuss ideas based on an article from 2020 titled “Natural Selection, Selective Breeding, and Evolution of Resistance of Honey Bees – Apis Mellifera – against Varro.” Do the findings of the article line up with Les’ view points on natural beekeeping, and what does this mean for the future of beekeeping?
(Original Air Date: April 9th, 2020) Ken and Max had a heck of a week trying to work their bees. So much so that Max has flipped from keeping the feral stock to wanting to requeen them all. Tune in now to hear about how it all went haywire.
The social distancing and lock-down of Austin continues, so the guys carry on with their telecommute remote broadcast… In this episode they discuss some of the various projects that Ken and Max has gotten themselves into, including a Trap Out of a couple different colonies. John gives a bit more insight into how that type of process really works. Tune in now to learn how to get yourself into some sticky situations. (Original Air Date: April 2nd, 2020)
In this latest edition of the Natural Beekeeping Corner, Les Crowder joins Nathalie for a chat about Hive Intensity Thresholds verses available forage in a region. The pair also discuss some aspects of how important the queen is to your natural beekeeping practices, as well as a plea for beekeepers to resist the urge to purchase and resale honey from commercial operations when you are running low on your own honey supplies. Tune in now to learn more!
John and Ken talk about some of the current events and John gives a high level walkthrough of a bee removal from a shed floor, and if you toss in a little crazy talk about smoke you will have rounded out this Bonus Episode! (Original Air Date: March 26th, 2020)
In random string of thought fashion, this episode covers Ken's discover of Tom Seeley and his books; his incoming packages of bees; to treat or not to treat your hives; and even a little background on pure mated bloodlines in queens! Tune in now to learn all about it. (Original Air Date: March 19th, 2020)
We continue our conversation with Mary Reed, Chief Apiary Inspector for the state of Texas where we join the gang amid a fit of laughter. All bets are off pretty much right from the start as the group tries to compose themselves. But, there are some great bits of information that sneaks in there between the outburst of laughter. Oh, and did we mention the Beedazzled Queens? Yes. It’s a queen. It needs a crown!
What happens when you take the motor cowling from an 85 horsepower V4 Johnson outboard boat motor and turn it into a swarm trap? Well, we don’t actually know. However, Ken and his son Max are willing to find out! Tune in now as Ken and John discuss this, and a few other random topics to round out a truly random bonus episode. (Original Air Date: March 5th, 2020)
Bees employ various strategies in order to fend off pest and diseases. Join Nathalie as she discusses how bees do this naturally at both the colony and individual level and how this understanding can help you choose bees that will give you the best chances of success in your natural beekeeping endeavors.
Grab yourself a slice of strawberry cake and pull up a chair while Ken and John ramble on. Did you know that a bad combo of bee genetics can be the cause of a spotty brood pattern? Could Ken finally get his Bahama Mama? You’ll have to go brave the DropBears to find an Australian Penguin in order to get the answers. Well, that… or you could just tune in to this bonus episode. (Original Air Date: Feb 27th, 2020)
Join John and Ken in cabin 13 just off the shore of lake Buchanan as they discuss Ken's absence from the last main episode, his surgery, and him missing out on all the studio fun. This includes a little PSA for Men and prostate issues. Ken also gets to taste the Jerrabomberra Urban Honey for the first time. For longtime listeners of the show, this is where his obsession with Jerrabomberra honey started. (Original Air Date: Feb 20, 2020)
Who knew that clover and alfalfa could cause such a fuss? Well, John is happy to tell us all about it while he vents about a recent encounter he had on this bonus episode... (Original Air Date: Feb 12th, 2020)
(Original Air Date: Feb 6th, 2020) This episode has it all… no till gardening, potato tipping which is not to be confused with cow tipping, planting by the phase of the moon, paper cows, and even purple mushrooms! Oh, and bees of course.
(Original Air Date: Jan 30th, 2020) In a fully hyped-up caffeinated sugar high type of morning, the guys are in rare form. They run through a series of seemingly unrelated (though mostly bee related) topics from commercial beekeeping routes, to pesticide usage, and even a couple of rants about social media influences who do more of a disservice to their followers than they might realize. Bees on Tinder anyone?
In this 6th segment of our Natural Beekeeping Corner, Nathalie talks about some of the key factors that are often attributed to honey bee colony decline… namely Varroa Mites and Viruses. However, could there be more to it than just that? Nathalie challenges you to look beyond the forest, so to speak, and think a little bit about the unintended consequences that can come from other sources, like pesticides and even mite treatments.
(Original Air Date: Jan 22nd, 2020) The guys are suffering from delirium after the never-ending listener question episode, and todays topic seems to reflect just that. Yep, Alien Bees! Don’t worry though, they also talk a bit about mites, and hive beetles too. Enjoy your latest bonus episode.
(Original Air Date Jan 15th, 2020) Welcome to your first new Bonus episode for all you Hive Jive Junkies out there. Ken and John figured they should just start off with a bang, and what better way than by insulting two very large groups of people... Commercial Beekeepers and Vegans! How dare they!
It is time to say goodbye to yesterday… Season three of the podcast comes to a close and as the guys wrap up this little beginner beekeeping adventure that has spanned the last three years, they recap on where the show started and some of the milestones along the way, all the while paying tribute to our beloved redneck who allowed us all to join him on his journey to becoming a beekeeper… Mr. Ken Milam.
