Every year has brought different experiences and changes in my beekeeping philosophy. Because of my experiences, I believe beekeepers have to be flexible and able to change.

I can’t help feeling guilty, tucked into the warm farmhouse, the wood burning furnace roaring and blasting heat up through the vents. We bundle up, and hurry through the outdoor chores so we can get back inside and warm ourselves indoors. But my conscience always nags at me as I leave the barn and the […]

Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate and provide our bees what they need when they need it. It is up to the beekeeper to help a new package of bees get established.

Now is the perfect time to get a jump start on spring time preparations by building equipment like frames. Using a frame jig is an excellent way to build lots of frames and cut your work time down considerably. Here’s how:

While scientists are not entirely certain what’s causing colony collapse for sure, this easy-to-understand animation carefully explains the phenomenon and why we need to help the honeybee if not for their species, at least for ours.

I normally use an open feeder in the fall when we start to get cool weather and there is not much out there for the bees to forage on.  I’ve used liquid sugar water feeders as an open source for feeding, but with cooler temps it has to be very thick syrup or the bees can’t […]

There comes a time when the beekeeper has to step in and play referee.

It came earlier this month when I had to decide to squish an underperforming queen bee for the health of the hive.

What happened To the Drones The weather has started cooling in NE Ga, and hive activity has changed with the season. One very noticeable change is the drone activity. As I walk the bee yard observing the hives and performing final inspections of the season, it is not uncommon to see lots of drones wandering […]

Goldenrod provides the bee yard with a peculiar smell. It is different from the usual pleasant beehive smell. I thought my bees were dead or had some serious issues going on inside the hives!

Well, NOW is the time to start preparing your bees for late fall and winter. I wanted to share some things that will help you get your bees ready in time so they can ride out the cold weather that will be here before you know it.

If you have multiple hives you want to elevate, you may want to consider a hive stand. You could easily fit four production colonies on just one hive stand, and if you’re using only nucs, you could put even more. Learn how to build the hive stand in this great video tutorial below.

What exactly is Bee Bearding? Is it: A. When a bee collects pollen under its chin resembling a human beard? B. When bees gather outside the hive entrance in a shape resembling a beard? C. Bees who are exceptionally fuzzy? D. Hipsters who keep tiny beehives in their beards? If you answered B then you’re […]

Below, I show you how my friend and I cut bees out of an invading hive in order to re-home them. Follow along to learn more about the process. By the way: If you or someone you know notices an invasion of bees, the first, second, or third call you make should definitely not be to an […]

If you live in a generally warmer climate, you may run into small hive beetles.  These pests are NOT indigenous to North America or Europe, and the European honey bees have some difficulty managing to keep their numbers under control in the hive.  Hive beetles left unchecked will either cause your colony to abscond, or […]

Recently, Anand Varma was asked to photograph the life of bees for National Geographic. He found a local Berkeley beek named Alice Rosenthal who agreed to let him use her hive for the project in exchange for a warm place for her hive to recover over winter. What resulted is nothing short of spectacular. Learn […]