Sometimes it is necessary to feed honeybees through the winter, which can be accomplished by using one of several methods. That is the position we find ourselves in here on Five Feline Farm after two colonies have struggled through the fall with apparent robber bees. A colony of honeybees needs anywhere from 30 to 60 […]

Two years ago we added bees to the Chiot’s Run Family. We picked up 10,000 ladies from Dave, a local guy who sells them. He knows what he’s talking about — these were the hives in his front yard. On our way home, Mr. Chiot looked at me and said, “This has the makings of a horrible […]

Tired of buying compressed smoker fuel, I looked for alternative fuels that would work better and were available around me. I have used pine needles before, but after some research I found oodles of natural materials ripe for the picking in my backyard. The variety of materials that you can use is only limited by […]

When people ask me how they can help bees, I used to say, “Plant a pollinator garden!” I would then rattle off a list of bee-friendly flowers and shrubs to get them started. Then I had an epiphany. A tree provides much more forage than any patch of flowers ever could. It’s so obvious, but […]

Honeybees work. They work all spring and summer to store up enough pollen and honey for their colony to survive the winter. However, sometimes, their best efforts are not enough and they can end up starving to death if their supplies run out. As you have read, in the early spring and late fall when […]

Israel Bravo has been on a quest for the past decade to help bees and beekeepers. He has been keeping bees professionally for over 17 years and, while working as a team foreman for a large-scale beekeeping operation in Idaho, he was inspired to help his fellow pollinator stewards. Over the years, Mr. Bravo became […]

An herb garden is traditionally a busy place, with bees buzzing from plant to plant, their fuzzy little bodies perfect for trapping pollen and transporting it to the next flower. But declining bee populations means that we can no longer take these beneficial visitors for granted; we need to lure them with a choice selection […]

Why the smoker? A necessity for preventing bee stings, even more than wearing your trusty bee suit, the smoker disrupts the bees’ normal cascade of defense when they perceive a threat. Smoked bees will flee from the source of smoke (you!) rather than advance in a defensive reaction. The result is less flight and stinging […]

Winter survival of honeybees is one of the most common topics of discussion I have with people curious about bees. With extremely cold temperatures hitting most of the East Coast, this issue has come up again and again. A healthy full-size colony with an adequate supply of honey and a healthy queen can survive extreme […]