The Varroa mite is a Pandora’s box that humans will never be able to close. They are here to stay and they aren’t going anywhere despite all our efforts to treat them away. According to USDA’s Report on Honey Bee Health (PDF), published in 2012, the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, remains the single most detrimental […]

When you open your hive and look at the busy moving mass of tiny golden bodies, it is but a mere snapshot of the working hive. The bee colony is constantly regenerating itself. In fact, every 6 weeks or so you essentially have a new hive. Any bees that were born two months ago have […]

As beekeepers, the ability to monitor our hives comes in short bursts of activity usually  in the form of regular hive inspections. For the most part, unless you have an observation hive, this time spent deep in the nitty gritty of the bee’s daily life is only for a few short moments. As we remove […]

In order to explain treatment-free beekeeping in a manner that is productive, it is first necessary to understand that there are many definitions of what exactly “treatment-free” means. In this article, I bring to light various opinions that exist and put forth a definition that attempts to clarify the topic of treatment-free beekeeping for the […]

Join beekeepers Becky Tipton, Dawn Combs, Robert Riley, and Steve Tipton as they discuss their different beekeeping methods and what they can suggest to a beginning beekeeper. To hear more podcasts from MOTHER EARTH NEWS and Friends, click here.

If you’ve been on social media lately, I’m sure you’ve heard of the new Cheerios Bring Back the Bees initiative to help bees around the country by giving away wildflower seeds to consumers to plant in their backyards.   At first it sounded like a great idea! When I saw the Cheerios ad I headed […]

There are a few different ways to purchase a new colony of bees but packages or nucs are two of the most common. In this article I describe what each is, and some of the benefits/drawbacks to each.     What is a Bee Package?   A bee package is a wooden frame box with […]

In most ways, it’s a great time to be a beekeeper. The mystery surrounding the increase in bee mortality has brought beekeeping into the public eye. We are celebrated, fawned over and sought out for guidance. Some even tout us as environmental heroes. But with all this attention also comes criticisms. So, how can we address and […]

On a very frigid winter day a couple of months ago, I bundled up in my down parka and went to the bee yard to do my daily “Clear Away.” Two of my Top Bar hives came with bottom entrances—those long slits that run across the bottom of the hive face. Taking a thin stick […]