Bees are expensive and you don’t want to lose the swarms that come off your hives and hopefully catch others to increase your population. For an investment of about $25 in materials with scrap wood, paint, flashing, and lemon grass oil, I ended up with three additional hives with very little effort.

In this episode, Hilary Kearney of Girl Next Door Honey teaches Charlotte French and Zach Foley  about catching a swarm. She also goes into detail about her business as a beekeeper.     Our Guest Hilary Kearney is a full-time beekeeper in her hometown of San Diego, California. Her business Girl Next Door Honey provides educational opportunities for hundreds […]

This podcast episode features Emma Arnold and Abby Olcese. Emma shares her busy lifestyle as an on the road comedian, parent, and beekeeper!   Our Guests Emma Arnold  In addition to being a successful touring comedian, Emma is a single mother of three sons, third generation beekeeper, and published author.  Equal parts outrageous, thoughtful, engaging […]

Capturing a swarm from your hive or from others is an essential skill that every beekeeper should learn

When swarm season comes, you never know when you’ll get the call for bee rescue and there’s no worse feeling than missing the opportunity to catch a swarm because it left before you arrived. That’s why I always keep a swarm catching kit in my car! Read on to find out what to include in your own kit […]

Catching a swarm is one of my favorite parts of beekeeping. Even though my phone rings off the hook in spring with live bee removal requests, I still feel a thrill when someone calls about a swarm. Most beekeepers love to catch swarms because they are docile and easy to remove. But, even the most […]

Winter survival of honeybees is one of the most common topics of discussion I have with people curious about bees. With extremely cold temperatures hitting most of the East Coast, this issue has come up again and again. A healthy full-size colony with an adequate supply of honey and a healthy queen can survive extreme […]

Swarm season!! It will be here before you know it and are you ready? It is still winter and you aren’t doing a lot in the bee yard. But there are things that you can do to get ready for swarm season in the spring. If you keep bees, you more than likely will have […]

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 […]