This refreshing cocktail uses a simple syrup made of honey that is simple to make indeed! No mead needed.

A thing of beauty-perfect teardrop swarm   Swarm forming on branch As a new contributor to Keeping Backyard Bees, I have lots of swarm stories from 20 years of beekeeping. Averaging between 2 and 4 hives each season, I have certainly seen my share of mass exodus of carefully tended bees that decide to look for a new […]

You might just find that you can save money on a honey extractor after you check out this method of harvesting your natural honey.

I teach a series of beginning beekeeper classes called Bee-Centered Beekeeping: Putting Bees’ Needs First. My approach is non-treatment and minimal intervention, trusting the bees to take care of most things themselves. My guiding principle—“What do bees like?”—informs how I work with my hives.

The land of milk and honey…literally.   When our goats are in milk, we can potentially get over two gallons of milk per day. That’s a lot of milk for two people to consume. I’d love to sell it, but unfortunately milk laws being what they are, make that difficult.   Over the years, I’ve […]

Honey is a unique food in that it never spoils. Properly saturated honey should stay safe to eat forever.   In fact, one study found “stored honey from Ancient Egypt to be over 3000 years old and still completely edible”. http://www.compoundchem.com/2014/08/21/chemistryofhoney/   So Why Doesn’t Honey Spoil?   Honey safely stores for long periods of […]

Bees are important to anyone who likes to eat, and not just those who like honey. Bees are responsible for the pollination of many different foods including coffee beans, cacao beans (where chocolate comes from) and many fruits like apples, squash, peas and many, many more.   The bee population is in turmoil right now […]

guest post by Brushy Mountain Bee Farm Brushy Mountain Bee Farm has been serving the beekeeping community since 1977. Throughout our years of helping beekeepers succeed, we’ve realized that starting this exciting hobby can be daunting. Brushy Mountain Bee Farm wants to alleviate the stress of not knowing where to begin. The video below will explain […]

GIVEAWAY! Enter to win a tube of Stops the Sting! Entry details at the bottom of the post! When I was about 11 my dad was stung by a Bald Face Hornet. It was a Saturday. He was mowing the lawn. Suddenly the mower engine stopped and my dad came rushing in the house. He […]

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 […]

Bees are amazing! It’s strange to think that I have a relationship with an insect, but truly I do. And not just one insect, but thousands! A whole insect family! When I’m out in the yard, pulling weeds in the garden and I see a honey bee, my heart smiles. “That’s one of our bees” […]

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:

Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are behind us, I like to start thinking about the spring to come. I’ve already separated our Buff Orpington chickens for breeding this spring. The seed catalogs are coming in and dreams of warmer weather and longer days are on my mind. Each night I sit […]

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.

These turkey place card holders are very easy to make, and they give the Thanksgiving table a little something extra. I love the warm golden hue of the beeswax and the scent of the honey-infused wax. It’s the perfect color to compliment the late autumn palette. When packed carefully, they can be used for many […]