Many pollinator species have suffered serious declines in recent years. Unfortunately, most of our landscapes offer little in the way of appropriate habitat, forage, and housing. Even the most beautiful gardens are not always healthy ecosystems for pollinators. Design choices, plant selections, and maintenance practices can make a huge difference in creating your own healthy […]

The following is an excerpt from Keeping Bees and Making Honey by Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum (F&W Media, 2008). This spectacular book offers an in-depth profile of nature’s most effective pollinator and covers all aspects of modern beekeeping, including where and when to get your bees, different types of hives, how to harvest and […]

Cranky Bees. They are one of the worst nightmares of a beekeeper. Cranky bees are not enjoyable to keep. They have aggressive tendencies and are overprotective of the hive. Often when you have cranky bees, you will be unable to get near the hive or you will get stung. Sometimes these bees chase you for just […]

The international bee crisis is threatening our global food supply, but this user-friendly field guide shows what you can do to help protect our pollinators. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation offers browsable profiles of 100 common flowers, herbs, shrubs, and trees that support bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. The recommendations are simple: pick the […]

The international bee crisis is threatening our global food supply, but this user-friendly field guide shows what you can do to help protect our pollinators. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation offers browsable profiles of 100 common flowers, herbs, shrubs, and trees that support bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. The recommendations are simple: pick the […]

The international bee crisis is threatening our global food supply, but this user-friendly field guide shows what you can do to help protect our pollinators. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation offers browsable profiles of 100 common flowers, herbs, shrubs, and trees that support bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. The recommendations are simple: pick the […]

Maybe you’ve heard people talk about siting your yard for bees. If you’ve looked into beekeeping online for any amount of time, there’s a good chance you’ve come across this topic. Let’s cut to the chase – siting your yard means picking where you’re going to set up your hive. It’s an important first step […]

As you plan for the arrival of your new bees, you have many exciting things to consider. Is your equipment ready? Do you have all the tools and protective clothing needed?  But one factor that is sometimes overlooked is hive placement. While any beehive can be moved to another location, the beekeeper and the bees will be […]

I have allergies…let…me…tell…you…do I have allergies. Indoor, outdoor, seasonal…everything makes my sinuses upset. When I was a kid I did the whole allergy shot ritual, which seemed to do absolutely nothing except make me afraid of needles. I lived at our ENT specialist, tried every allergy medicine, nose spray, antihistamine there is and after all […]

No one can deny the benefits that bees give to the world. The world’s food industry depends on them for proper pollination to feed people around the globe. Plants depend on bees to spread their pollen and many homesteaders appreciate the extra help with their crops. Bees are all around helpful to have if you […]

I can see in their face that they expect a finite answer. They want my blessing or a warning against a certain hive style, but they are destined for disappointment. As with so many questions in beekeeping, my answer is not a simple “yes” or “no”. Read on for an exploration of this common query.

Uncapping our honey harvest is probably the most satisfying job on our farm. Watching that luxurious curl of wax that slices off the frame and rolls away revealing the smooth golden honey is one of life’s great pleasures. There are several ways to uncap your honey frame. Whichever you choose, the end goal is to […]

In the winter months, just thinking of my beehives bursting with loads of bees and honey puts me in the mood to go through and inspect all my honeybee equipment and replace and renovate. I want to have all my equipment ready to go at a moment’s notice when the spring rush happens. All of […]

When the worst happens and you lose a hive, it’s hard to know what to do with what’s left behind. Do you try to save the comb so that you can reuse it on another hive? How do you deal with a moth or beetle invasion? What kind of things are safe to use for […]

Sunny yellow blooms fringed with a green ruff green poking through snow is my first sign that spring has sprung. Eranthis hyamalis, in the buttercup family, is a spring ephemeral, which means that it is a short-lived plant above ground with a burst of blooms, and disappears, remaining under ground until next winter. Beaming a […]