Swarming is a good thing—really! And naturally-mated queens will give you the best chance for a thriving, surviving hive.

For the past hundred years, we’ve been keeping bees according to what works best for beekeepers. What would it look like if we began putting the bees’ desires and needs first? It looks something like this…

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.

Top Bar hives are so cool. One of my very first colonies was a booming top bar hive that became our first “honey cow” for the backyard. I love watching the bees work the comb down the length of the hive. If you build one, make an observation window so you can check them out […]

When people mention beekeeping, it’s the sweet golden stuff that gets all the attention. But bees also make another useful and rather remarkable product in the form of comb. What is beeswax exactly? How does it come into existence in the hive? Do bees collect it? Is it part of the pollen that they carry? […]

What’s better than surfing the web or watching Netflix? Having your very own observation bee hive of course! Whether you are a newbee or a long time veteran beekeeper an observation bee hive is the coolest addition to any home.

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:

About a month and a half ago we split our hive. After an inspection, we noticed that the bees had almost filled the original hive with honey and brood. We decided that it might be a good time to split the hive so that the bees wouldn’t split themselves and take off in a swarm […]

What do you do when your buddy from over in the next county calls and says he has some wild honeybees in a strange location and can you help him? If you are like me, you agree to help and only later consider the consequences.

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.

If you like the idea of getting bees for free then you’ll want to check out setting up bait hives.  Bait hives are just that – a bait or type of lure designed to attract a swarm of honey bees that are looking for a new home.  Prior to the actual swarm casting from a […]

Last night we opened the bee hive for the first inspection in three weeks. Our goal in this inspection was to do some maintenance and to see if our queen was laying brood, and if the hive seemed to be growing. We trimmed some of the overgrown grass around the hive entrance. The weeds have […]

“How high off the ground is your hive stand going to be? We didn’t realize how this decision could make for one tall bee hive.

You may be surprised by the many benefits of using a top entrance either exclusively or in addition to a bottom entrance in your hives. Check out this DIY piece including a video tutorial.

Last year our colony was doing great! So well infact that we bought another hive thinking that our robust colony might split and swarm. We had an excellent honey crop the year before, and expected things to go just as well last year. Until we did an inspection in late summer.         […]